Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Interviewer: The first bus with men are leaving, what do you think?'

Man on street: They are going to fight for the motherland, I'd say even for Stalin.

Interviewer: 'Who are we protecting the country form?'

Man on street: I don't know...

That's as bad as the kill "orcs", that pervades this thread. No wonder the Russian government pulls most of its mobilisation from outside the main cities. Bear in mind there is a public answer and a private answer and most people know what answer to give in public. Morale is not low for people who have not been stuck on the frontlines for several months and the expectation is they do their patriotic duty.

After the current Ukrainian push, There will probably be a lull, followed by the Winter war when the ground is frozen and movement is possible. Probably the Russians will reopen the northern front, they are also gathering men and materials in Crimea so either a push to Zaparozhia or else finish off Donbass. If they can hold the west bank in Kherson over the Winter, that opens the possibility for a push to Nikolayev next year and on to their goal of Odessa. Whether that becomes a reality is another question.

The combination official declaration of annexation and blowing up of the pipelines means the sides involved (Russia, Ukraine and NATO) have drawn their demarcation lines. I have a contact currently stationed in Romania who expects to be on the ground in Ukraine next year as part of a NATO force and are preparing with that in mind. Whether than happens is another question. A lot of mobilistion and concentration of forces happening in the Russian oblasts (Kursk,Belgorod and Vononezh) surrounding the Ukraine border. Regrettably this war is far from over.

We haven't had anything about washing machines in a while so here you go:

To protect his stolen washing machine until he can get it safely back to the nest, where his mate waits patiently with her brood of little Orcs, the male Orc cleverly fashions a shipping crate from ammunition boxes.

@Pa ElGrande

Ukraine will be able to use a Winter rest period as well as the Russians can, only Ukraine will be getting more NATO weaponry and time to fortify what lines they think need fortifying. The Russians, on the other hand, will have to do an impromptu episode of Scrapheap Challenge.

Perhaps, but I just can't see a people's revolution happening. I think the screws are too tight for that to happen.

And I can't see how enlightened members of the inner circle could organize a change of leader and policy. They could, annouce that Putin had reached a point where his obsessive imperial fantasies were leading the country to destruction, but how do they reverse the current Ukraine/West doctrine, which has Russians thinking today it's Lyman, tomorrow its Moscow. It's very hard to see someone in the Kremlin saying "Russia is embarking on a new chapter in relations with its neighbour, in the spirit of peace and friendship". I just can't see how the Kremlin can get out of this trap of expanionism they have made for themselves. It's a conundrum.

Ruskies will freeze to death, this will be the first time in history when the cold weather is against them.

I feel that Putin's inner circle, might retire him out to pasture and present it to the World as he being in ill health.

The likes of Peskov, Lavrov and Abramovich might offer an olive branch to the West, agreeing to withdraw from the four regions but insisting on clinging on to Crimea and then selling it in Russia as the only way to end an unwinnable war with NATO.

I see this as the only way that the Russian ruling 'mafia' can be sure to hold on to their power. They are all cronies of Putin and have been hand picked by him for the last 20 years. If they can't negotiate/manage a way out of this debacle, they are likely to eventually be ousted by the army and the people.

Those around him calling for escalation are only spoofers and are attempting to frighten the West and to impress Putin.

They ratified the annexation today.

So game on now.

The problem is the Russians didn't get punished for starting WW2 in conjunction with the Germans.

They played the victim card because they got attacked in 1941 and the carving up of Poland in 1939, the invasion of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in 1940 was forgotten and they were allowed to ferment this Russian martyr myth.

Nope there is absolutely nothing to suggest that Russia have the capabilities of a massive offensive from the North and South.

If anything it is the complete opposite, pillaging the villages for conscripts are at best for consolidation, the are not offensive trained or capable combat troops.

One of the main problems facing Ukraine in the next couple of months is what they will do with the 10s of 1000s of Russian POWs, a logistical nightmare, they will probably need help with.

Nobody on here, with the exception of 1/2 posters maybe able to answer who have knowledge of Russian politics,

Putin gets whacked tomorrow nothing changes in Ukraine,the current occupation force won't leave and whoever takes over putin will stay the course what ever that may be

Putin gets whacked tomorrow nothing changes in Ukraine,the current occupation force won't leave and whoever takes over putin will stay the course what ever that may be

I wouldn't say that is absolute, it would be quite stupid not to use it as an off ram to get themselves out of this unwinnable pickle.