Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Defending ruSSians of not protesting because dictatorship, fear, yada yada, as well as defending them at all is frankly quite dumb nowadays. For your memory refreshment - they organized themselves in masses in a very short time to support regime in May. Even in Ireland around 1000 ruSSkies organized for themselves a sh1tshow in May. So, if they wanted to protest, they could, they just dont want.

Watching a lot more footage from both sides the last few days and while massive losses for Russia and Ukraine I'm convinced Russia is suffering more.

It's depressing watching changes on a map and how slow Ukraine are at taking territory but it's clear that Russia is throwing bodies at the breakthrough areas to stop it at all costs.

They keep flooding the frontline trenches with mobilised reserves who get picked off by Ukrainian artillery and drones. They've about 2 more months to hold out so the question is can they keep throwing bodies to plug the holes for that long.

At the current rate that would be about 30k reserves dead so in reality they probably can. I wonder will Ukraine be happy to just bleed them as much as possible before settling for another winter where they'll inevitably be better equipped come next spring with western fighter jets and Abrams.

At least during the winter they Will be able to hit more Russian long range target's now that they have long range missile's from France and the UK and hopefully Germany and the US by then.

Assuming next year from May to October we see the war playing out similar to how it is now just with Ukraine having more of an upper hand including a bigger artillery advantage by then. I'd guess Russia could be looking at losing around 100k men to hold the southern frontline for another year.

Another explanation could be the uncomfortable truth for some here that the majority of the public actually support Putin and the war on Ukraine.

Also the silence from Russian expats living abroad is deafening except for those that’s are openly supporting Russia whether it’s in Germany, Ireland or at the podium of sporting events!

Actually, just like all Germans where collectively vilified after the WW2, also white South Africans during the years of apartheid, I'm very comfortable in castigating all russians for not speaking out, call it guilty by association. russians, no matter where they live, should expect to be despised for at least a generation following on from this war!

Unfortunately not always the case. Assad still going, Maduro, Lukashenko, the Burmese Junta, Mugabe was there until his 90's, the Kim dynasty in N Korea has been there for 3 generations. If an authoritarian leader can keep control of most of the military and the security apparatus they can often stay in power indefinitely. There is little or no threat to Putin's leadership in Russia.

I've met quite a few Russians abroad who oppose their government. They often volunteer to help Ukrainian refugees or host them. Unfortunately it's the Z idiots who tend to make more noise in public, while the better ones often focus on action.

Though it's true many seem indifferent and silent and that's hard to excuse

Not making much sense here I'm afraid. I don't see our government having many similarities to Putin's regime.

There seems to be quite a few people around who don't understand just how good we have it here, and how lucky they really are.

Is it perfect? No. Could it be better? Yes. But at the present time the majority of the people living on this little island of ours are living, peacefull, longer, healthier, and more afluent lives than at any time in the entire history of humanity here.

near Roboytne. As you can see Russia isn't just sitting behind defensive lines waiting for the Ukrainians. They're attacking the Ukrainians hence all this destroyed Russia armour in the open.

I said it before it's like 2 boxers meeting in the middle of the ring and slogging it out. This is good for Ukraine as Russia will be depleted faster but the downside is it will be very slow progress who have to fight for every inch gained.

For those arguing that it's on the Russian population to stop the war through protests or a general uprising, about 6 months I shared your opinion and posted as much in this very thread. Like yourselves, I had grossly underestimated just how beaten down the average Russian is.

One of the things that changed my view was this documentary series:

Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone: What It Felt Like to Live Through The Collapse of Communism and Democracy

It's a seven part BBC documentary by Adam Curtis made up of unused archive footage that the BBC's Moscow bureau shot for the BBC News desk at the time. It's utterly stunning film-making IMO and a real insight into what's lived history for most Russians over the age of 30.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSjQL8MYniTTLA3wnZ25U-s6RgR4uJNvL