Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Yes but if I understand it correctly, Stradaz was not speaking about the war effects as such, he was talking about Russian Society itself, even long before the war. What will come after the war if Putin is still in power will make matters 1'000 times worse for Russian society.

I reckon if Ukraine can physically cut-off Crimea and also take back northern Luhansk there will be an inevitable victory. They can cut off Crimea and leave it's liberation until last. If their entire force was focused on the Donbass I can't see the Russians holding them back.

Of course they'll stay on the defensive there as long as hordes of Russians run at them but whenever that stops they'll go on the attack and I can't see Russia stopping them if there's no other fronts to worry about.

They could easily tie up a large Russia force in Crimea at the same time by just threatening to take it along with probing strikes.

The mig had only entered service in 82 and has been upgraded regularly to keep it flying,

Definitely not the the same category as the b52 ,sure plenty of countries are still flying mig 21s introduced during Vietnam

Yes indeed, if you watch those 1420 videos, rural Russia has scarcely changed at all since the 1920s or 1930s Soviet Union.

It does illustrate though that the current dictator has done nothing to improve their lives in the last twenty years. Letting them live in poverty and squalor, but pumping nightly propaganda through their TV screens about how they are living in the greatest nation on earth and are so lucky not be part of the decadent and corrupt West. The fact that so many people turn to alcohol though would suggest that large numbers of them know full well they are living in a depressing kip of a place.

There is an American who sees the US limited assistance in the same way I do - nothing like enough or what their moral obligation calls for, given the Budapest memorandum swindle that made this war possible in the first place.

Replacing a barrel is maintenance. Due to the sheer volume of shells being fired the barrel has to be replaced.

It's not being replaced because they are 'table scraps' as you put it.

Ukraine have been given pretty modern western artillery, a lot more modern than the Soviet era equipment they were using.

He'd have no problem getting on Margarita and Solovyov's Muppeteer show......he would fit right in.

Well considering the xm177 hasn't been produced for years,it's not uncommon,and the Ukrainans have been making solid progress with what they have . and are still receiving more weapons regularly

The M777s and HIMARS are not table scraps, but compared to A-10s, F-16s, Typhoons, AH-64s, Patriot missiles, Predator and Reaper drones - they are. And every hours hesitancy in supplying more standoff and capable systems, is costing significant numbers of Ukrainin lives.

Some people think, 'oh isn't it nice what the US is doing for Ukraine', wheras I see it as barely enough and not nearly enough in terms of their moral obligation after hoodwinking ukraine in Budapest.

I want these kids to have daddy come home unscathed, and not just be left with fading memories of what he was like when he still had two legs.

More capable systems would greatly increase the chances of that.

This protecting technology argument is as believable as thinking a collander is as good at holding water as a bucket.

The Chinese hacked the US and got the complete blueprints and specs of not just the F-22, but the F-35 as well, so any time you hear how someone doesn't want secret tech falling into enemy hands, they are spoofing. The Iranians managed to hijack and land intact, an RQ-170 Sentinel drone.

Russia hasn't come to the table, if that is what it is demanding.

Russia says the West's refusal to recognise "new territories" seized from Ukraine makes peace talks harder, after President Joe Biden indicated he would be ready to meet Vladimir Putin.

Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions at the end of September, without controlling any of them.

Nine months into its invasion, it has lost more than half the land it seized.

Even in "normal" society like we have in the west, US, Australia etc. addiction of one sort or another can be found, no matter how fine the safety net of society is. Now consider the ruthless destruction of Russian Society by Putin, which forces people into a hopeless existence, and that addiction (no matter what form it takes} will be many times worse. If that was not bad enough, add in a war situation, and the situation becomes intolerable. And that's why people seek solace in drink, drugs and suicide in Russia.