OT: Russia-Ukraine War

[The Lamma]

I think that in a world of good and whatever you want to call it (bad, evil, selfish, ignorant, James Dolan, etc.), “good” is losing. Look at yhe state of the world. Pandemic, war, imminent climate disaster. Famine is probably around the corner.

But I’m all for being convinced otherwise.

I'd love to convince you otherwise, but I can't, because I agree with you. But in a long term way, things will work out.

And here's why: Love always prevails in the end. Because love is sustaining. Hate is not.

Think of a world where everyone gives and loves. The whole world thrives. Now think of one where everyone takes and hates. They perish. Because everyone is attacking and ultimately nothing is left. "In the end, there can only be one!" Yeah great. Be that guy and who do you share our planet with? You'll die too, of a lonely heart.

So even if we perish (humanity), whatever replaces us enters that same equation. Ultimately love will prevail because it's the only way for a contained system with rational thought guiding the way to self sustain. Hopefully the human race will live to tell the story of us evolving as stewards of this planet. Because The Earth itself won't cease to exist. Life will continue on here despite what we choose to do. Even if the planet is reduced to single cells because of our own idiotic self destruction, life will continue. And humanity will become a piss poor legacy in the history of this planet.

It would be a shame if humanity chose to eliminate itself because that includes everyone contributing here... we have great writers, plus the legendary Knicks who are our subjects: Bernard King, John Starks. Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Alonzo Mourning's leg. Don't kill that, please. I'm not sure who I hold more dear at this point. Probably you all.

The very concept of nukes is insanely self defeating. Humans invented them, and they are ultimately a tool to destroy all of us...? That is pure insanity. What are we doing? Who are we trying to defeat? We are shtty stewards of a planet. Yes Wingy, "good" is not winning. Nukes should not be an option. Ever. Wtf.

This is where we are right now, and that's why things are crumbling. Selfishness (money) is guiding the way. Making decisions that kill ourselves and our very home. If that continues to dominate eventually we all crumble, it all comes to an end, as far as "us." Can we change? Can we evolve? It's up to everyone to contribute to that.

Humanity is on the clock.

[Jethrobodine123]

Oh wow, you live in another country? Perhaps you told us already. What part of the world?

Canuckistan, Nova Scotia to be more precise. But a frequent visitor, pre covid of your United States, more precisely New York and California with a few detours to Hawaii.

J

I spent several Summers as a kid on Cape Breton Island. It was magical

Small world isn’t it. Cape Breton is beautiful for sure, a bit too isolated and laid back for my liking. I prefer the capital city, more to do and world class beauty also. It’s the “Ocean Playground” after all.

J

[BKlutch]

I think that in a world of good and whatever you want to call it (bad, evil, selfish, ignorant, James Dolan, etc.), “good” is losing. Look at yhe state of the world. Pandemic, war, imminent climate disaster. Famine is probably around the corner.

But I’m all for being convinced otherwise.

I'd love to convince you otherwise, but I can't, because I agree with you. But in a long term way, things will work out.

And here's why: Love always prevails in the end. Because love is sustaining. Hate is not.

Think of a world where everyone gives and loves. The whole world thrives. Now think of one where everyone takes and hates. They perish. Because everyone is attacking and ultimately nothing is left. "In the end, there can only be one!" Yeah great. Be that guy and who do you share our planet with? You'll die too, of a lonely heart.

So even if we perish (humanity), whatever replaces us enters that same equation. Ultimately love will prevail because it's the only way for a contained system with rational thought guiding the way to self sustain. Hopefully the human race will live to tell the story of us evolving as stewards of this planet. Because The Earth itself won't cease to exist. Life will continue on here despite what we choose to do. Even if the planet is reduced to single cells because of our own idiotic self destruction, life will continue. And humanity will become a piss poor legacy in the history of this planet.

It would be a shame if humanity chose to eliminate itself because that includes everyone contributing here... we have great writers, plus the legendary Knicks who are our subjects: Bernard King, John Starks. Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Alonzo Mourning's leg. Don't kill that, please. I'm not sure who I hold more dear at this point. Probably you all.

The very concept of nukes is insanely self defeating. Humans invented them, and they are ultimately a tool to destroy all of us...? That is pure insanity. What are we doing? Who are we trying to defeat? We are shtty stewards of a planet. Yes Wingy, "good" is not winning. Nukes should not be an option. Ever. Wtf.

This is where we are right now, and that's why things are crumbling. Selfishness (money) is guiding the way. Making decisions that kill ourselves and our very home. If that continues to dominate eventually we all crumble, it all comes to an end, as far as "us." Can we change? Can we evolve? It's up to everyone to contribute to that.

Humanity is on the clock.

Everyone says that people who believe as you do are just hopeless dreamers and not living in reality. But you know what? We’re still here. We haven’t perished as a species. Maybe that’s the true result of the dreamers.

[HarthorneWingo]

I think that in a world of good and whatever you want to call it (bad, evil, selfish, ignorant, James Dolan, etc.), “good” is losing. Look at yhe state of the world. Pandemic, war, imminent climate disaster. Famine is probably around the corner.

But I’m all for being convinced otherwise.

I'd love to convince you otherwise, but I can't, because I agree with you. But in a long term way, things will work out.

And here's why: Love always prevails in the end. Because love is sustaining. Hate is not.

Think of a world where everyone gives and loves. The whole world thrives. Now think of one where everyone takes and hates. They perish. Because everyone is attacking and ultimately nothing is left. "In the end, there can only be one!" Yeah great. Be that guy and who do you share our planet with? You'll die too, of a lonely heart.

So even if we perish (humanity), whatever replaces us enters that same equation. Ultimately love will prevail because it's the only way for a contained system with rational thought guiding the way to self sustain. Hopefully the human race will live to tell the story of us evolving as stewards of this planet. Because The Earth itself won't cease to exist. Life will continue on here despite what we choose to do. Even if the planet is reduced to single cells because of our own idiotic self destruction, life will continue. And humanity will become a piss poor legacy in the history of this planet.

It would be a shame if humanity chose to eliminate itself because that includes everyone contributing here... we have great writers, plus the legendary Knicks who are our subjects: Bernard King, John Starks. Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Alonzo Mourning's leg. Don't kill that, please. I'm not sure who I hold more dear at this point. Probably you all.

The very concept of nukes is insanely self defeating. Humans invented them, and they are ultimately a tool to destroy all of us...? That is pure insanity. What are we doing? Who are we trying to defeat? We are shtty stewards of a planet. Yes Wingy, "good" is not winning. Nukes should not be an option. Ever. Wtf.

This is where we are right now, and that's why things are crumbling. Selfishness (money) is guiding the way. Making decisions that kill ourselves and our very home. If that continues to dominate eventually we all crumble, it all comes to an end, as far as "us." Can we change? Can we evolve? It's up to everyone to contribute to that.

Humanity is on the clock.

Everyone says that people who believe as you do are just hopeless dreamers and not living in reality. But you know what? We’re still here. We haven’t perished as a species. Maybe that’s the true result of the dreamers.

There’s a confluence of many things coming to a head at the same time. I think we vastly underestimated how far along the way we are with climate change and I don’t think those in charge have the will or desire to do much about it. They lie and create their own alternate reality based on lies and we’re always trying to catch up, debunk those lies, and then try to set the record straight. While we’re doing that, they’re onto the next scheme. It’s like trying to play a board game with a child who refuses to follow the rules of the game and keeps messing up the board when they see they’re about to lose.

[KnicksGadfly]

I think that in a world of good and whatever you want to call it (bad, evil, selfish, ignorant, James Dolan, etc.), “good” is losing. Look at yhe state of the world. Pandemic, war, imminent climate disaster. Famine is probably around the corner.

But I’m all for being convinced otherwise.

I'd love to convince you otherwise, but I can't, because I agree with you. But in a long term way, things will work out.

And here's why: Love always prevails in the end. Because love is sustaining. Hate is not.

Think of a world where everyone gives and loves. The whole world thrives. Now think of one where everyone takes and hates. They perish. Because everyone is attacking and ultimately nothing is left. "In the end, there can only be one!" Yeah great. Be that guy and who do you share our planet with? You'll die too, of a lonely heart.

So even if we perish (humanity), whatever replaces us enters that same equation. Ultimately love will prevail because it's the only way for a contained system with rational thought guiding the way to self sustain. Hopefully the human race will live to tell the story of us evolving as stewards of this planet. Because The Earth itself won't cease to exist. Life will continue on here despite what we choose to do. Even if the planet is reduced to single cells because of our own idiotic self destruction, life will continue. And humanity will become a piss poor legacy in the history of this planet.

It would be a shame if humanity chose to eliminate itself because that includes everyone contributing here... we have great writers, plus the legendary Knicks who are our subjects: Bernard King, John Starks. Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Alonzo Mourning's leg. Don't kill that, please. I'm not sure who I hold more dear at this point. Probably you all.

The very concept of nukes is insanely self defeating. Humans invented them, and they are ultimately a tool to destroy all of us...? That is pure insanity. What are we doing? Who are we trying to defeat? We are shtty stewards of a planet. Yes Wingy, "good" is not winning. Nukes should not be an option. Ever. Wtf.

This is where we are right now, and that's why things are crumbling. Selfishness (money) is guiding the way. Making decisions that kill ourselves and our very home. If that continues to dominate eventually we all crumble, it all comes to an end, as far as "us." Can we change? Can we evolve? It's up to everyone to contribute to that.

Humanity is on the clock.

Everyone says that people who believe as you do are just hopeless dreamers and not living in reality. But you know what? We’re still here. We haven’t perished as a species. Maybe that’s the true result of the dreamers.

Well, we've only gained the ability to kill ourselves the last hundred years or so. And we're kind of on our way.

I think my first argument with you both is that what you write makes love sound inevitable, but it's not. I do think love is powerful, but at the heart of a lot of these movements about love, though, is sacrifice. It requires willingness to die, not just for yourself, but for those around you, and those that hate you. And a lot of these authoritarian regimes, they'll take you up on that challenge. Take the Tiananmen Square incident. Student protestors fighting for democracy in China. Army called in. Some people refuse to take up arms against their own people, but enough do. Hell, the Civil Rights movement here was effin brutal. Hell, I was in Poland, and reading up on the story of this Catholic priest named Father Jerzy, who was trying to help the people deal with the authoritarian government and refused to run away. He got kidnapped, brutally tortured for nobody knows how long, dropped in a river. A crapton of people attended his funeral, but it still took years before Poland was free, before people could even talk about what happened. That's love. That's the type of love people need if you want to win that way. It's that willingness to sacrifice, even if you're not even sure your sacrifice will succeed, but you hope and know it'll be one more step.

The other argument I have is that a lot of your argument relies upon the acknowledgement of the inherent worth of human life. I believe in that worth, but others may not. This regime in Russia frankly doesn't give an eff about its own people. Look up the Kursk tragedy in 2000, I think. Russian navy trapped in a sub for 4 days, about to die, and Russia doesn't want to ask for international help because of pride. Putin skis and laughs while the servicemen die. The "Chechen" bombings, perpetuated by Putin, to solidify Putin's hold on Russia. I'd say the same applies to China. Hell, even in America now.

[BKlutch]

I'd love to convince you otherwise, but I can't, because I agree with you. But in a long term way, things will work out.

And here's why: Love always prevails in the end. Because love is sustaining. Hate is not.

Think of a world where everyone gives and loves. The whole world thrives. Now think of one where everyone takes and hates. They perish. Because everyone is attacking and ultimately nothing is left. "In the end, there can only be one!" Yeah great. Be that guy and who do you share our planet with? You'll die too, of a lonely heart.

So even if we perish (humanity), whatever replaces us enters that same equation. Ultimately love will prevail because it's the only way for a contained system with rational thought guiding the way to self sustain. Hopefully the human race will live to tell the story of us evolving as stewards of this planet. Because The Earth itself won't cease to exist. Life will continue on here despite what we choose to do. Even if the planet is reduced to single cells because of our own idiotic self destruction, life will continue. And humanity will become a piss poor legacy in the history of this planet.

It would be a shame if humanity chose to eliminate itself because that includes everyone contributing here... we have great writers, plus the legendary Knicks who are our subjects: Bernard King, John Starks. Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Alonzo Mourning's leg. Don't kill that, please. I'm not sure who I hold more dear at this point. Probably you all.

The very concept of nukes is insanely self defeating. Humans invented them, and they are ultimately a tool to destroy all of us...? That is pure insanity. What are we doing? Who are we trying to defeat? We are shtty stewards of a planet. Yes Wingy, "good" is not winning. Nukes should not be an option. Ever. Wtf.

This is where we are right now, and that's why things are crumbling. Selfishness (money) is guiding the way. Making decisions that kill ourselves and our very home. If that continues to dominate eventually we all crumble, it all comes to an end, as far as "us." Can we change? Can we evolve? It's up to everyone to contribute to that.

Humanity is on the clock.

Everyone says that people who believe as you do are just hopeless dreamers and not living in reality. But you know what? We’re still here. We haven’t perished as a species. Maybe that’s the true result of the dreamers.

Well, we've only gained the ability to kill ourselves the last hundred years or so. And we're kind of on our way.

I think my first argument with you both is that what you write makes love sound inevitable, but it's not. I do think love is powerful, but at the heart of a lot of these movements about love, though, is sacrifice. It requires willingness to die, not just for yourself, but for those around you, and those that hate you. And a lot of these authoritarian regimes, they'll take you up on that challenge. Take the Tiananmen Square incident. Student protestors fighting for democracy in China. Army called in. Some people refuse to take up arms against their own people, but enough do. Hell, the Civil Rights movement here was effin brutal. Hell, I was in Poland, and reading up on the story of this Catholic priest named Father Jerzy, who was trying to help the people deal with the authoritarian government and refused to run away. He got kidnapped, brutally tortured for nobody knows how long, dropped in a river. A crapton of people attended his funeral, but it still took years before Poland was free, before people could even talk about what happened. That's love. That's the type of love people need if you want to win that way. It's that willingness to sacrifice, even if you're not even sure your sacrifice will succeed, but you hope and know it'll be one more step.

The other argument I have is that a lot of your argument relies upon the acknowledgement of the inherent worth of human life. I believe in that worth, but others may not. This regime in Russia frankly doesn't give an eff about its own people. Look up the Kursk tragedy in 2000, I think. Russian navy trapped in a sub for 4 days, about to die, and Russia doesn't want to ask for international help because of pride. Putin skis and laughs while the servicemen die. The "Chechen" bombings, perpetuated by Putin, to solidify Putin's hold on Russia. I'd say the same applies to China. Hell, even in America now.

Of course - everything you say is true.

That's why it's so extraordinary that people keep trying and sacrificing to make things better. Without those who have done this already, we wouldn't be here.

[The Lamma]

I'd love to convince you otherwise, but I can't, because I agree with you. But in a long term way, things will work out.

And here's why: Love always prevails in the end. Because love is sustaining. Hate is not.

Think of a world where everyone gives and loves. The whole world thrives. Now think of one where everyone takes and hates. They perish. Because everyone is attacking and ultimately nothing is left. "In the end, there can only be one!" Yeah great. Be that guy and who do you share our planet with? You'll die too, of a lonely heart.

So even if we perish (humanity), whatever replaces us enters that same equation. Ultimately love will prevail because it's the only way for a contained system with rational thought guiding the way to self sustain. Hopefully the human race will live to tell the story of us evolving as stewards of this planet. Because The Earth itself won't cease to exist. Life will continue on here despite what we choose to do. Even if the planet is reduced to single cells because of our own idiotic self destruction, life will continue. And humanity will become a piss poor legacy in the history of this planet.

It would be a shame if humanity chose to eliminate itself because that includes everyone contributing here... we have great writers, plus the legendary Knicks who are our subjects: Bernard King, John Starks. Jeff Van Gundy holding onto Alonzo Mourning's leg. Don't kill that, please. I'm not sure who I hold more dear at this point. Probably you all.

The very concept of nukes is insanely self defeating. Humans invented them, and they are ultimately a tool to destroy all of us...? That is pure insanity. What are we doing? Who are we trying to defeat? We are shtty stewards of a planet. Yes Wingy, "good" is not winning. Nukes should not be an option. Ever. Wtf.

This is where we are right now, and that's why things are crumbling. Selfishness (money) is guiding the way. Making decisions that kill ourselves and our very home. If that continues to dominate eventually we all crumble, it all comes to an end, as far as "us." Can we change? Can we evolve? It's up to everyone to contribute to that.

Humanity is on the clock.

Everyone says that people who believe as you do are just hopeless dreamers and not living in reality. But you know what? We’re still here. We haven’t perished as a species. Maybe that’s the true result of the dreamers.

There’s a confluence of many things coming to a head at the same time. I think we vastly underestimated how far along the way we are with climate change and I don’t think those in charge have the will or desire to do much about it. They lie and create their own alternate reality based on lies and we’re always trying to catch up, debunk those lies, and then try to set the record straight. While we’re doing that, they’re onto the next scheme. It’s like trying to play a board game with a child who refuses to follow the rules of the game and keeps messing up the board when they see they’re about to lose.

I was reading somewhere that a huge chunk of ice in Antarctica (something the size of a major city iirc) is predicted to fall off sometime within the next 5 years. And the article stated that this would cause the ocean levels to rise 10 feet all over the globe. A quick google search revealed this: The ground elevation in Lower Manhattan ranges from 7 feet above sea level between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges to a high of 13 feet at the base of the Freedom Tower. And also this: At 6 feet of sea level rise, 20,000 acres of the city and about 280,000 residents will be underwater. That's at 6 feet, and we'd be talking about 10 in this case. Think of the consequences of something like this happening.

Now of course global temperatures throughout history go up and down on their own, but what's happening right now is us putting our fingers on the scale and pushing down. I'm too lazy to go and find them, but I recall seeing graphs which illustrate this, and that it has become more dramatic in recent years. One of the major problems with everything is that there is a very small number of people in power who make huge decisions that affect us all, and it's all done to simply increase their wealth.

If you saw that movie "Who Killed The Electric Car?" it's all about big oil wanting to keep their position of power and money, so they destroyed all those cars at that time. Meanwhile the concept of us transitioning to all electric cars would eliminate a tremendous amount of air pollution, which currently is all of us contributing to global warming. Of course electric cars are gaining traction once again, but we'd be much further along that timeline had that not happened.

Big money calls all the shots, so ideally you would hope that the majority of those who have it and the power that goes with it are "good" people, wanting the best for humanity. And that certainly just doesn't seem to be the case at this point in time, which goes back to your original point. They're the kings and queens on the chessboard, we are the pawns. We do have a say in things, it just doesn't count for as much as theirs.

[HarthorneWingo]

The author of the tweet is the Defense reporter for The Kyiv Independent.

Read on Twitter

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[Stannis]

The author of the tweet is the Defense reporter for The Kyiv Independent.

Read on Twitter

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"No result"??

The result is Israel, China, and India getting closer to Russia.

Ukraine is just a prelude to what's going to happen for the next decades. Win or lose for Russia, this is nothing more than a blip.

[HarthorneWingo]

Everyone says that people who believe as you do are just hopeless dreamers and not living in reality. But you know what? We’re still here. We haven’t perished as a species. Maybe that’s the true result of the dreamers.

There’s a confluence of many things coming to a head at the same time. I think we vastly underestimated how far along the way we are with climate change and I don’t think those in charge have the will or desire to do much about it. They lie and create their own alternate reality based on lies and we’re always trying to catch up, debunk those lies, and then try to set the record straight. While we’re doing that, they’re onto the next scheme. It’s like trying to play a board game with a child who refuses to follow the rules of the game and keeps messing up the board when they see they’re about to lose.

I was reading somewhere that a huge chunk of ice in Antarctica (something the size of a major city iirc) is predicted to fall off sometime within the next 5 years. And the article stated that this would cause the ocean levels to rise 10 feet all over the globe. A quick google search revealed this: The ground elevation in Lower Manhattan ranges from 7 feet above sea level between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges to a high of 13 feet at the base of the Freedom Tower. And also this: At 6 feet of sea level rise, 20,000 acres of the city and about 280,000 residents will be underwater. That's at 6 feet, and we'd be talking about 10 in this case. Think of the consequences of something like this happening.

Now of course global temperatures throughout history go up and down on their own, but what's happening right now is us putting our fingers on the scale and pushing down. I'm too lazy to go and find them, but I recall seeing graphs which illustrate this, and that it has become more dramatic in recent years. One of the major problems with everything is that there is a very small number of people in power who make huge decisions that affect us all, and it's all done to simply increase their wealth.

If you saw that movie "Who Killed The Electric Car?" it's all about big oil wanting to keep their position of power and money, so they destroyed all those cars at that time. Meanwhile the concept of us transitioning to all electric cars would eliminate a tremendous amount of air pollution, which currently is all of us contributing to global warming. Of course electric cars are gaining traction once again, but we'd be much further along that timeline had that not happened.

Big money calls all the shots, so ideally you would hope that the majority of those who have it and the power that goes with it are "good" people, wanting the best for humanity. And that certainly just doesn't seem to be the case at this point in time, which goes back to your original point. They're the kings and queens on the chessboard, we are the pawns. We do have a say in things, it just doesn't count for as much as theirs.

I fear for those who will be around in another 50 years.

I heard/read something about engineers discussing the possibility of building some kind of wall in the water to protect Manhattan from sea level increases. That’ll probably be done too late as well.

The rich are hoarding money while making a grab for anything in their sight. We’re living in our own oligarchy right here in the US. The Money Grab is in.

[HarthorneWingo]

The author of the tweet is the Defense reporter for The Kyiv Independent.

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=HrHlQnVDqlMePLExSWjHNA

"No result"??

The result is Israel, China, and India getting closer to Russia.

Ukraine is just a prelude to what's going to happen for the next decades. Win or lose for Russia, this is nothing more than a blip.

First, he was talking specifically about Kyiv, nothing more.

As to your larger point:

Get closer to Russia? Putin is now severely weakened, the Ruble is worthless, the Great Russian Military has been exposed as inept and weak. Putin has suffered almost 18,000 casualties and who knows how many more captured. The Russian people will go NUTS when they find out how badly Putin lied to them. Can you say Russian Revolution? Those Russian people want to have normal lives. They certainly don't, IMO, want to live like the people in China or India do. They have nothing in common with those peoples. The Russians have more in common with Americans, I think. THEY LOVE ROCK AND ROLL for crying out loud!

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/west-ukraine-war-ruin-putin_n_62470202e4b068157f76818d

Caged, Weakened, Misled: Why The West Thinks The Ukraine War Has Ruined Putin
U.K. and U.S. officials have claimed that the Russian president is in trouble due to his failing offensive in Ukraine.

By Kate Nicholson
Apr. 1, 2022, 10:38 AM EDT

Western intelligence has repeatedly suggested that the failing offensive in Ukraine has ruined Vladimir Putin over the last week, leaving him “in a cage he build himself,” “misled” by his own army and immensely “weakened.”

As Moscow’s attack on Ukraine runs into its fifth week, Russia appears to be reorganizing its troops in response to the strong resistance from Ukraine.

Although the devastating attacks on Ukraine continue, there is a general consensus that the war has not exactly gone according to the Russian president’s plan and troops have moved back from the capital of Kyiv.
Here’s what officials from the U.K. and the U.S. have said about Russia’s efforts:

‘Trashed’ Reputation

U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace ripped into Putin over his military failures in Ukraine on Thursday, and declared that the Russian president is now caught “in a cage he built himself.”

Wallace told Sky News: “President Putin is not the force he used to be.

“He is now a man in a cage he built himself. His army is exhausted, he has suffered significant losses.
“The reputation of this great army of Russia has been trashed.

“He has not only got to live with the consequences of what he is doing to Ukraine, but he has also got to live with consequences of what he has done to his own army.

“We have seen it before. It always get worse. It goes for more civilian attacks, more civilian areas.”
Russia has repeatedly denied that it is attacking civilian areas as part of its “special military operation” in Ukraine, despite evidence that bomb shelters and maternity hospitals have been targeted.

‘Misled’ By His Generals

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the U.K.’s chief of defense staff, expressed a similar point of view when he said Russia’s attempts to seize the whole of Ukraine have “fallen apart.”

Speaking at an Institute for Government event on Thursday, he said that Putin was a “weaker and more diminished figure” than he was prior to the invasion — while “NATO is stronger and more united today than at any time I can remember.”

He also alleged that Putin had been “misled” about how effective his forces were amid reports that Russia is withdrawing from Ukraine.

Some Kremlin aides are allegedly too afraid to tell the president how the invasion is actually going, although Moscow has denied this charge.

Radakin also said that the Kremlin appeared to be moving the emphasis onto the east and south of Ukraine, but predicted: “Ukraine armed forces will attack those Russian forces as they retreat.”

He also said: “In many ways, Putin has already lost. Far from being the far-sighted manipulator of events that he would have us believe, Putin has damaged himself through a series of catastrophic misjudgments.

“Like all authoritarians, he allowed himself to be misled as to his own strength, including the effectiveness of the Russian armed forces.”

Sir Jeremy Fleming, head of GCHQ intelligence agency, shared a similar warning Wednesday.

He said: “Even though we believe Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what’s going on and the extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime.”

‘Unexpected Losses’

On Thursday night, the ministry of defense tweeted that Russia is now redeploying elements of its military forces from Georgia.

It claimed: “It is highly unlikely that Russia planned to generate reinforcements in this manner and it is indicative of the unexpected losses it has sustained during the invasion.”

The Kyiv Independent shared the Ukraine’s Armed Forces estimates when it comes to what Russia has lost since the war began on February 24.

Approximately, 17,700 troops have been lost, along with 1,220 vehicles, and 1,751 armored personnel carriers.

The newspaper’s defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko also tweeted: “Russians basically came to Kyiv with an unbelievably stupid and unrealistic plan, killed a lot of people, ruined a lot of homes, and sustained heavy casualties. No results, no reserves.

“Now they just have to leave before they get slaughtered in a pocket northwest of Kyiv.”

‘Strategic Disaster’

In the U.S., the White House claimed there has been “incontrovertible evidence” that the war on Ukraine has “been a strategic disaster for Russia” on Thursday.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s communications director Kate Bedingfield told the press that Russia was trying to “redefine the initial aims of their invasion” as a result.

She continued: “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership.”

She also pointed out that it is becoming clearer Putin’s war will leave Russia “isolated on the world stage.”

[Stannis]

Get closer to Russia? Putin is now severely weakened, the Ruble is worthless, the Great Russian Military has been exposed as inept and weak. Putin has suffered almost 18,000 casualties and who knows how many more captured. The Russian people will go NUTS when they find out how badly Putin lied to them. Can you say Russian Revolution? Those Russian people want to have normal lives. They certainly don't, IMO, want to live like the people in China or India do. They have nothing in common with those peoples. The Russians have more in common with Americans, I think. THEY LOVE ROCK AND ROLL for crying out loud!

I think people forget just how Asian Russia actually is.

We are all in for a surprise.

[Jethrobodine123]

Russia accuses Ukraine of helicopter strikes on fuel depot in Russian territory

[youtube]

Watch on YouTube

/youtube]

Interesting development: We don't know if the Helicopter (an Mi-24) which both the Russians and the Ukrainians own was a opportune hit of a high valued target by the Ukrainians or a false flag operation by the Russians.

J

[HarthorneWingo]

Russia accuses Ukraine of helicopter strikes on fuel depot in Russian territory

[youtube]

Watch on YouTube

/youtube]

Interesting development: We don't know if the Helicopter (an Mi-24) which both the Russians and the Ukrainians own was a opportune hit of a high valued target by the Ukrainians or a false flag operation by the Russians.

J

[KnicksGadfly]

Get closer to Russia? Putin is now severely weakened, the Ruble is worthless, the Great Russian Military has been exposed as inept and weak. Putin has suffered almost 18,000 casualties and who knows how many more captured. The Russian people will go NUTS when they find out how badly Putin lied to them. Can you say Russian Revolution? Those Russian people want to have normal lives. They certainly don't, IMO, want to live like the people in China or India do. They have nothing in common with those peoples. The Russians have more in common with Americans, I think. THEY LOVE ROCK AND ROLL for crying out loud!

I think people forget just how Asian Russia actually is.

We are all in for a surprise.

Agreed. I think support for Putin has only risen in recent polls in Russia among the people. The other thing is that there’s a bunch of fake news and a history of yearning for Russia to be a great nation. All the shat that Putin did with the far right here was perfected in Eastern Europe and Russia. There are definitely protests, but it’s not enough yet. People are riding that high of protecting their homeland and fake news but mothers tend not to like it when their sons are drafted into a war and die. If it was China doing this, I’d be more scared. Russia has Asian and autocratic elements but they’re just not as competent as the CCP. I do see this as getting drawn out.

At the same time, we shouldn’t minimize the damage Russia has done to itself during the war. They’ve helped out NATO more than anything, brought together the EU (except for the Trojan horses), and kinda exposed themselves as weak. They’ve even weakened the hold of pro-Putin propaganda in America, and even someone like Orban is weaker now in Hungary. Yah, there are concerns with China, India, Hungary, Israel, and more, but I think Russia put a lot of work into weakening the West and they’ve really undermined that.

[thebuzzardman]

Get closer to Russia? Putin is now severely weakened, the Ruble is worthless, the Great Russian Military has been exposed as inept and weak. Putin has suffered almost 18,000 casualties and who knows how many more captured. The Russian people will go NUTS when they find out how badly Putin lied to them. Can you say Russian Revolution? Those Russian people want to have normal lives. They certainly don't, IMO, want to live like the people in China or India do. They have nothing in common with those peoples. The Russians have more in common with Americans, I think. THEY LOVE ROCK AND ROLL for crying out loud!

I think people forget just how Asian Russia actually is.

We are all in for a surprise.

Guess we should have just let them take Ukraine. Probably Poland too.

[8516knicks]

at the beginning I felt sorry for the younger Russian soldiers totally in the dark about the meatgrinder they were getting into BUT now after all the war crimes (not just Putin/command level but soldier on the ground rapes, tortures, murders, etc.) they're no better than later-day SS.

[Jalen Bluntson]

I keep seeing a lot of chatter about the Petro dollar and the removal of the dollar as world reserve currency. One side says it's happening soon. The other side acts like it isn't possible. This is the scary part of what's going on right now IMO. How long before this is a reality? That's what I wanna know. Is it a reality? Many other countries citizens are all for it and have an imperialist view of America. Then I see Americans acting like it isn't even a possibility. Then there's the Great Reset talk and all of the rest. Scary time to be alive.

[Zenzibar]

The author of the tweet is the Defense reporter for The Kyiv Independent.

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=HrHlQnVDqlMePLExSWjHNA

"No result"??

The result is Israel, China, and India getting closer to Russia.

Ukraine is just a prelude to what's going to happen for the next decades. Win or lose for Russia, this is nothing more than a blip.

First, he was talking specifically about Kyiv, nothing more.

As to your larger point:

Get closer to Russia? Putin is now severely weakened, the Ruble is worthless, the Great Russian Military has been exposed as inept and weak. Putin has suffered almost 18,000 casualties and who knows how many more captured. The Russian people will go NUTS when they find out how badly Putin lied to them. Can you say Russian Revolution? Those Russian people want to have normal lives. They certainly don't, IMO, want to live like the people in China or India do. They have nothing in common with those peoples. The Russians have more in common with Americans, I think. THEY LOVE ROCK AND ROLL for crying out loud!

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/west-ukraine-war-ruin-putin_n_62470202e4b068157f76818d

Caged, Weakened, Misled: Why The West Thinks The Ukraine War Has Ruined Putin
U.K. and U.S. officials have claimed that the Russian president is in trouble due to his failing offensive in Ukraine.

By Kate Nicholson
Apr. 1, 2022, 10:38 AM EDT

Western intelligence has repeatedly suggested that the failing offensive in Ukraine has ruined Vladimir Putin over the last week, leaving him “in a cage he build himself,” “misled” by his own army and immensely “weakened.”

As Moscow’s attack on Ukraine runs into its fifth week, Russia appears to be reorganizing its troops in response to the strong resistance from Ukraine.

Although the devastating attacks on Ukraine continue, there is a general consensus that the war has not exactly gone according to the Russian president’s plan and troops have moved back from the capital of Kyiv.
Here’s what officials from the U.K. and the U.S. have said about Russia’s efforts:

‘Trashed’ Reputation

U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace ripped into Putin over his military failures in Ukraine on Thursday, and declared that the Russian president is now caught “in a cage he built himself.”

Wallace told Sky News: “President Putin is not the force he used to be.

“He is now a man in a cage he built himself. His army is exhausted, he has suffered significant losses.
“The reputation of this great army of Russia has been trashed.

“He has not only got to live with the consequences of what he is doing to Ukraine, but he has also got to live with consequences of what he has done to his own army.

“We have seen it before. It always get worse. It goes for more civilian attacks, more civilian areas.”
Russia has repeatedly denied that it is attacking civilian areas as part of its “special military operation” in Ukraine, despite evidence that bomb shelters and maternity hospitals have been targeted.

‘Misled’ By His Generals

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the U.K.’s chief of defense staff, expressed a similar point of view when he said Russia’s attempts to seize the whole of Ukraine have “fallen apart.”

Speaking at an Institute for Government event on Thursday, he said that Putin was a “weaker and more diminished figure” than he was prior to the invasion — while “NATO is stronger and more united today than at any time I can remember.”

He also alleged that Putin had been “misled” about how effective his forces were amid reports that Russia is withdrawing from Ukraine.

Some Kremlin aides are allegedly too afraid to tell the president how the invasion is actually going, although Moscow has denied this charge.

Radakin also said that the Kremlin appeared to be moving the emphasis onto the east and south of Ukraine, but predicted: “Ukraine armed forces will attack those Russian forces as they retreat.”

He also said: “In many ways, Putin has already lost. Far from being the far-sighted manipulator of events that he would have us believe, Putin has damaged himself through a series of catastrophic misjudgments.

“Like all authoritarians, he allowed himself to be misled as to his own strength, including the effectiveness of the Russian armed forces.”

Sir Jeremy Fleming, head of GCHQ intelligence agency, shared a similar warning Wednesday.

He said: “Even though we believe Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what’s going on and the extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime.”

‘Unexpected Losses’

On Thursday night, the ministry of defense tweeted that Russia is now redeploying elements of its military forces from Georgia.

It claimed: “It is highly unlikely that Russia planned to generate reinforcements in this manner and it is indicative of the unexpected losses it has sustained during the invasion.”

The Kyiv Independent shared the Ukraine’s Armed Forces estimates when it comes to what Russia has lost since the war began on February 24.

Approximately, 17,700 troops have been lost, along with 1,220 vehicles, and 1,751 armored personnel carriers.

The newspaper’s defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko also tweeted: “Russians basically came to Kyiv with an unbelievably stupid and unrealistic plan, killed a lot of people, ruined a lot of homes, and sustained heavy casualties. No results, no reserves.

“Now they just have to leave before they get slaughtered in a pocket northwest of Kyiv.”

‘Strategic Disaster’

In the U.S., the White House claimed there has been “incontrovertible evidence” that the war on Ukraine has “been a strategic disaster for Russia” on Thursday.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s communications director Kate Bedingfield told the press that Russia was trying to “redefine the initial aims of their invasion” as a result.

She continued: “We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership.”

She also pointed out that it is becoming clearer Putin’s war will leave Russia “isolated on the world stage.”

First the ruble has bounced back, closing in to it's pre-war value and the movement towards payments in rubles or gold will cost the West billions in petro-dollars and causing tremendous inflationary repurcussions. BRICS is real and Russia will be the center of natural resources exportation at a hugely discounted prices to its members.

Secondly I'd say that the retreat and eastern redeployment move caught eveyone by surpirse.
The desire of the West to get them into a prolonged urban warfare has been altered. Was it a wise military chess move remains to be seen. It will also remain to be seen what this retreat means to the West and what counter-moves are forth-coming.

[thebuzzardman]

Glad I can skip reading RT and just get the recaps here