Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Yes, it is surprising (to me). It is enjoyable to speculate I suppose. I wonder did the Wagner march back to Russia or whatever the hell that was exactly (?) put the willies up him, make him decide to get what he can out of the US now (aircraft upgrades etc.) in exchange for dropping this veto.

Putin may not be in a position to be of use to Erdogan/Turkey in exchange for keeping sitting on the fence the way he is (relative to positions adopted by most of NATO).

It’s ideological brainwashing (similar to the merry Irish duo of W&D) combined with the fact that after all, a lot of people did do very well for themselves in the communist systems, as long as they were able to be conniving, grasping and unbothered by ethics or logic as card-carrying (literally) members of the CP. So their kids grew up being inducted into the same “lefty” world-view that the parents and grandparents did so well out of; only the kids, now deprived of the one-party communist structure that would enrich them, carry the ideological flame more symbolically, so to speak, and are waiting out turns of events in democratic societies that would eventually deliver them to the levers of power (as they sometimes do). Corruption is a trickier beast to unleash in a democracy because of various check mechanisms that are baked in, but at the end of the day, it is a part of human nature and it’s there in all our societies on both sides of the left and the right. However, the CPs around the world have always been able to make it a fine art and to leave a big testament to human avarice and immorality by way of practicing it. It’s why I’m always distrustful of traditionally leftist politics; some western idiot lefties that sometimes cross my path don’t even know what the hell it is they are talking about, so in love are they with their idealistic ideology, and of the eastern lefties, the least said, the better.*

*I grew up in a communist country so this is my “lived experience”, if you will; there are some good things about growing up in the way I did, vs. capitalism, although very few and far between; but that is for some other post.

Must be the Ambien talking again...

Jesus they all look the same.

A bloated mess.

Well, we now know where all the front line rations went......

Pretty scary stuff here- Irish soldier in the Ukrainian Army returning home having done his bit. Guy nearly died a few weeks back having been chased by a T72

Rhys Byrne aka "Rambo"

He previously appeared on this thread ,

Claimed to have been an Irish soldier,

French foreign legion soldier,

Exorcist,

Buddhist monk,

Ghost hunter,

Walt

What a circus.

So a group that undertook a mutiny against the Russian state and have been called traitors on state tv are going back to fight with the Russian army ???

Madness

Quite the CV

A bit, actually, yeah. I'd have thought they'd be fairly sick of Ukraine by now and would prefer to face down barely-armed African rebels rather than a HIMARS strike. Doesn't seem as though Ukraine has been a happy time for them, characterised by bloody attritional fighting and bickering with the regular Russian military.

I guess that that if Wagner reenters Ukraine, then it's full proof that Russia needs Wagner at least as much as Wagner needs Russia.

The story that Putin has tasked Prigozhin with finding and killing Zelensky certainly suggests that Wagner's mission in Russia would change from an assault force to something more covert.

Good analysis of the offensive to date.

https://youtu.be/8fR9HJnYXoc

Probably better armed and equipped now he's shown he could take bakhmut and a few weeks later gets to the gates of Moscow with little or no losses,as it stands Wagner are Russias vanguard forces going forward

I have not listened to this guy before, he's a Danish military analyst, its very refreshing to get a balanced opinion on the status of the Ukrainian offensive.

All that talk we have being hearing about for months is unfortunately wishful thinking.Ukraine still have a huge task to beat back and out Putin who will use any means at his disposal.