Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I'm not saying they won't be kicked out of Ukraine.

I'm just saying that, unlike Germany & Japan, they aren't being threatened on their own turf (not militarily anyway, not really).

They'll never sign any surrender agreement, they'll simply say that they're so delighted with their SMO that they're going back across the border.

The trade it lost with Europe is nothing compared to what it gained from India / China. Mostly those countries are taking advantage of this situation to buy Oil at greatly discounted prices. on top of that China is pushing to land grab from the south. Russia has no real friends. As time goes by the outlook for Russia gets bleaker.

While War's required boots on the ground that is changing, precision weapons do that grunt work, starving the opposition of supply lines, demoralising them as they get picked off. That's my guess as to why UKR hasn't yet driven its counter-offensive, why risk their troops when they are having such success. Another couple of months of this and the Russian front line will be dysfunctional. The days of the ww1 western front slog is over, Russia could possibly hold out if such a tactical battle was fought, but it won't be.

There you go, that is your reply. You deflected directly to Israel.

I see russia like a pack of wild animals. If Putin shows weakness he's finished. It won't take the crushing defeats of the world wars, Russia being forced to retreat with nothing but body bags and continuing sanctions will do the trick. Sanctions continue to tighten which is cutting off the final lifelines the rich and wealthy Russians have. The tide is turning and the noose is getting tighter for Putin.

West has to seperate the war from the barbaric missile striking and give Ukraine weapons to counter the russian missile origin sites in Russian territory and it operators I think f16s on the way but tomahawks CM will only end this.

Militarily Russia is spent it continues to under deliver so time to bring it to an end.

Indiscriminate missile firing is terrorism on civilians all world leaders & even the pope should condemn this separately to the invasion

I doubt it. She was invited on the show, by Ukrainians in the audience, to go there.

Somebody was asking about this

...

"A very small portion of its people is being dragged into the war in Ukraine mostly its poor."

That may be true if you look at the raw numbers of men fighting in Ukraine versus the total population of the country. That's a simplistic way of looking at things though. When you start looking at the working age men then things start getting more concentrated especially in the regional areas that have been disproportionately affected. In Republics like Buryatia it's difficult to find any able-bodied men who haven't been called up. That's the sort of thing that will cripple a local economy and devastate demographics for generations to come.

"but Buryatia is poor" you may say. Well the likes of Moscow and St. Petersburg don't have many men fighting, in proportion to their populations but they have their own crisis - that of young men fleeing the country. Many of these are highly skilled - since it takes means to flee and support oneself abroad. This is a veritable brain drain. That's a monumental disaster for any country.

Of course, you don't actually need to sent to the front or have fled to have been affected by this war. The entire country has been affected in one way or another. Every man who is fighting will have an entire family network who is personally affected through their relations with him. Repressions have gone up throughout society as the Kremlin has tightened the screws on its people. Many goods and services, including medicines, are no longer available - or have been replaced by inferior products. Thousands of men will be re-entering society, many of whom are freed prisoners with a history of violent crime. A stint at the front will likely have honed their skills at violence and destruction and that will have ripples in society for years to come.

Even the elites in Moscow have been affected. Many have met premature deaths as the pie that they loot has shrunk and mouths need to be eliminated. The nature of society is that everyone who has been allowed to rise through the ranks has kompromat on them - a sword of Damocles that can fall at them at any time. If you aren't murdered who can end up in prison for corruption. The likelihood of any of that happening has gone way up since the invaston happened. Beyond all of that their international mobility has been affected as they have become pariahs in many of the western circles that they previously swanned through.

The entire country has been dragged into this way in one way or another.

So instead of presenting their opinions alongside a range of other opinions make it a binary shouting match that does nothing to continue to polarise people and show absolutely no nuance?

@circadian don't feed the trolls.

The attempt to deflect from Russia's crimes by referencing Northern Ireland is a classic Kremlin tactic and the notion that Ukraine's western allies blocked a "deal" in April 2022 is pure fantasy disinfo / conspiracy theorist nonsense.

The only point of interest in grumpy's post is referencing Ukraine and it's supporters as "the allies"... it seems even Putinbots have accepted that this time around, Russia are the nazis! 😉

You posted a link to a blog which you claimed was "an amalgamation of war news". The blog you referred to is a shameless pro-russian propaganda vessel, with articles full of lies, ridiculous consparicy theories, racist hatred of Ukrainians and deliberate misrepresentations of western media reports. I (reluctantly) post your link again so that people can make up their own minds.

When you're challenged about its contents, you post in response a link to an academic study confirming that bots are successfully spreading misinformation about the war. Perhaps you're the only person reading this who doesn't appreciate the irony of your own post?

You realise that on a discussion forum that kind of response doesn't wash? There's also an unpleasant arrogance about it; it infers that you believe your views are too complex and insightful for others to understand. I find regular posters on this thread are generally well informed, regardless of their views on the war, and will see through bullshit like this no matter where it emanates from.

Interesting detail here. I have timestamped the relevant section

Can anyone tell me why those planes would fly for several hours in order that they fire their cruise missiles over the Caspian Sea? Is it so that if they fail and fall to ground they will only end up in the sea or is it maybe something to do with the flight path from that position?

Putin planning local elections in occupied territories for September, looks like he's actually doubling down trying to legitimise his land grab

naive - maybe delusional might be more appropriate ?