The problem is the prospect of the coming to power of the far right via mass manipulation of the instruments that a functioning democracy depends on. Mass manipulation like mass Russian propaganda - supported by western kleptocratic interests - both online and in traditional media, in alliance with western kleptocrats.
Functioning democracy and the basic freedoms we enjoy then likely come to an end.
It seems to me you may not have much of a problem with that.
Explain exactly how you've come to that conclusion.
There is about a dozen nato countries training now, Norway was last announced few pages back, there is this now
You’ve totally misinterpreted my post- you’ve added 2 and 2 and got 427 -calm down dear
Ah yeah- I never said I disagreed with NATO. Intervention . But they’re in for a penny in for a pound at this stage- this continuous trickle of support as opposed to much more assertive military support will just keep the war going with a stalemate on both sides.
The Russian army is on the verge of collapse IMO.
People have been saying that since March. One day it'll be true, but when.
Give that the UK and US are probably training 20-25k, giving the others an average of 3-3.5k give a potential battle group of 50k troops trained to near NATO standard
The far right are only theoretically existent in most of Europe.
It was true then two in the context of the Kyiv offensive by the Russian army. They had to make a rapid retreat so as to reorganize in the east. And they has way better air cover then.
One aspect of the invasion that's getting slightly overlooked is that Putin seriously underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian military. He seems to have thought it would be like invading Latvia or Estonia and that it would be all over within 48 hours. A scenario where 40,000 Russian troops get killed would have been utterly unthinkable to the regime on February 24th (ditto with the six month stalemate).
Reports from whom? Twitter? Ukrainian sources? I'm quite sure Russian sources on Telegram and the like paint a very different picture. Both sides of this propaganda war - and make no mistake that's what it is and it's as important as bullets, and the Ukrainians are winning that with ease - are painting all sorts of pictures against the fog of war.
The facts are even with their half baked army, no sea fleet to speak of and an airforce that's lacking ,they've taken control of a large chunk of Ukraine, now have a land bridge to Crimea and removed a goodly chunk of her Black Sea access. They're not moving much at all of late, but they're not going backwards either and seem to have enough of the ammo they're running out of to keep firing it at Ukrainian positions.
There's a huge difference between a total balls up in strategy and them being on the verge of collapse. If they were on said verge back then they couldn't have reorganised in the east and south hammering towns and cities into rubble and taking a huge chunk of the east and south of the country and sustain a thousand kms front. As I said it's not moving much, but it's not moving backwards either.
They are almost certainly vulnerable to counterattack, especially as more Western gear and Western trained Ukrainian soldiers starts to move back into Ukraine, but this talk of Russian collapse is more wishful thinking IMHO.
We have being hearing about lack of weapons soldiers deserting etc since the first week or so I hope its true but Putin can still keep going for quite a while unfortunately. It clearly hasn't gone as he expected but he certainly not done by a good bit yet .
Just 2 more weeks.
One day, but not soon. The west and NATO are playing the long game here instead of escalating it iinto WW3. Unfortunately this can and probably will go on for years.
That is not a reality-based opinion.
I really wonder how long Russia can keep going. Ukraine has no choice and does have weapons coming, but what's Russian appetite and resources like? Already they have probably lost half as many as the US did in Vietnam, but from a much smaller population in a much shorter time. Of course the Russians don't have a free press to inform them, but can Putin keep this level of attrition going for a couple of years without pushback internally?
Even if they were to achieve their original goals now, which they won't, the 'special military operation' would still be a failure given the level of casualties and how it has galvanised the west.
I can't remember the sources but I did post a link here on burned out artillery. One Russian soldier is quoted as saying 2 out of 3 guns were in a bad way. Many reports are saying the Russians have a troop numbers problem (Sky News). Low Russian morale is coming from a lot of sources. I can't say for sure but the consensus is that they are fairly battered.
Also Russian paratrooper condemns his country's war in Ukraine - CNN
The problem for Putin is that once he launched the invasion and headed straight for Kyiv, there was no way back out of the invasion for him, not without losing a huge amount of face. He gambled that it would be over within a couple of days.
Excluding the complete mess of Italian politics, Orban and Orban wannabees, their ability to get into power is fairly non-existent. In most countries The Greens have more support!
What does that video show them running from ? 🤣 I was going to ask, but not allowed on the thread.
Sure he did, but what interests me is what happens now. Can Russia take these losses indefinitely without a public backlash? Maybe they can. It makes total sense for them to look for talks now, take what gains and guarantees they can and leave it at that. But they rarely do the sensible thing, or there'd have been no war.
Yes, trying to sift out the fakery from the real thing is hard amidst the fog of war. Let's wait a while before trying another assessment!
Sadly what you say about the Republicans and the threat they pose not just to their own country but to the whole world is all too accurate IMHO.
If you were in that Russian force, what do you think your motivation would be? Blind obedience to officers higher up the pecking order, money, love of mother Russia, a belief that Ukrainians are Nazis??
The first is really the only thing that can sustain them - blind obedience and a willingness to suffer as ordered.
If Ukraine military continue to harass them with unpredictable missile and other strikes, make life a misery, strike at supply lines - then these Russian units will surely come under serious strain. Their strategy would be to send Russian units back for a few weeks rest & recuperation and replace with fresh units. There seems to be doubt over whether than can do this though, can they raise sufficient volunteer battalions. Can they draw troops from other duties around the borders and will those troops willingly go to a 'special military operation'?
Yeah, if he had stuck to the Donbas 'Republic' and its sister puppet republic, he could have claimed victory and probably had a few sanctions, but nothing like now. He could have added and Belarus to a Greater Russia and probably got away with it.
But the moment he tried to take Kyiv, everything changed.
There really are some good Russians
You're making a lot of assumptions about the feelings and drives among the Russian forces. I'm quite sure there are many that are disillusioned among their ranks and I'm equally quite sure there are many of the same among the Ukrainian defenders especially those under Russian artillery fire. Do you not think they're under "serious strain"?
Look how many see the Russians as "nazi orcs" even on this thread and are quite convinced of that position and the majority of them going by what they're seeing in the media. There will be a similar number of those among Russians at home and in theatre that feel they are indeed fighting "Ukrainian nazis" egged on by a lifetime of propaganda and dying for Mother Russia and going by what they see in their media. Hell many of our own media outlets in the years before this war were pointing to the threat of "nazis" and extreme right wingers in Ukraine and have since gotten a strong case of mass amnesia.
Many Russians too who see places like Crimea as very much Russian, ditto for the Donbas, where there were quite the number of Russian separatists and that percentage will have gone up since this invasion kicked off and Ukrainian nationalists had to run for their very lives.
I get your drift but nazism in Ukraine is a response to Russian aggression (it began in WW2). Donbas always had Russian speakers but their number was increased by Stalin in the 50s. You can't seed a place with people who speak your language and then claim it is yours. I realize you are speaking from the Russian perspective, not necessarily your own.
Look interest in Ukraine waning /s
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