Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Easy to have no rough sleepers in Russia when they can be just rounded up and sent to the front lines to obsorb bullets, and no one dares to question it for fear of the same happening to them,

Interesting .. probably all off to the Ukraine front. Also a possible sign that he RA is spread too thin now

Russia will pull out all of its nearly 2,000 troops from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, the Kremlin said in a surprise announcement just six months after they watched a forced mass exodus of the region’s Armenian population.

Where did you get your 300 billion from? In Afghanistan, the US spent 30 trillion, no problem. Still standing strong. Really? As soon as there's an uptick in the weapons supply, (and there will be) Europe is still getting its act together when it comes to weapons production, then we will see just how strong Putin will stand. He's not going to be allowed to win, which would be rewarding him for his illegal invasion. You do regard Putin's invasion as being illegal Veda Kind Yak? Yes or no?

I should think it more surprising if they'd stayed. In fact, I was surprised they'd still been there 'til now. Artsakh was dissolved in January.

Your knowledge of recent happenings in Russia seem to have several gaps Veda Kind Yak… can it really have escaped your attention the shortages of eggs? and when all the Fuel suppliers were selling their fuel abroad because of the higher prices they were getting, until Putin banned the practice because the whole country was coming to a halt? And even now, they have to import fuel again? What could be wrong I wonder? Why is Putin's marvellous Russian dream turning into a nightmare for ordinary Russians….????

Oh, does it rhyme with 'billeagal bwar'?

Oh and I almost forgot Poon Tank, as if the everyday life for ordinary Russians was not bad enough, they (the ones that can afford and are free to travel, because not everyone is) have to contend now with not only the problems that everyday living brings to them, but now also those damn Ukrainian drones are everywhere, recently, airports in Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, and Sheremetyevo are closed for flights due to the threat of drone attacks, causing chaos for travelers. Ah well, maybe better luck with your flights next week……or maybe not!!! Slava Ukraini!!!

I've also seen the classic RU branding on some hard drives and solid state drives and on various PC components. But I do agree with the overall point. It's one of the reasons I think Russia is going to fall behind in this war eventually.

You'd want to be stark raving mad to be thinking of a long term future as computer/electronic technician or software engineer in the Russian state as it is. Indeed a huge chunk of this workforce already absconded abroad when first mobilization was announced. And if any further mobilizations are announced I'm sure that trend will continue.

These people may not be immediately obvious in a war that has thus far relied on grunts sitting in a trench or firing a mortar. But when it comes to drones…. Even specifically AI enabled drones. You know? The kind of drone that doesn't f*cking care if your tank has EW capabilities duct taped to it. These kinds of technologies are in their infant stage right now, but they won't be for long. And that's just one example

If you're too busy hemorrhaging your tech workforce to other countries or using them to soak up 155mm shells then that's going to come back to you tenfold eventually.

Anyways.

I notice a new trend in Russian trolls on YouTube comments trying to distance themselves from the USSR and labeling people as ignorant for associating the two. They are arguing that Russia was “oppressed” by the USSR and most of its leaders were non Russian. And therefore NATO should not exist either seen as their adversary is gone.

The Russian SSR was nearly the entire USSR minus Ukraine , Belarus, the southern republics etc. it was led from the very same Kremlin with power centralized in Moscow. I know modern day Russia is very different to the USSR. But Russia oppressed by the USSR wtf? If that’s the case Gorbachev should be a hero in modern day Russia and he clearly isn’t. But the foreign ,Georgian, oppressor in chief, Josef Stalin is held in higher regard . Putin resurrected the old Soviet national anthem in the mid noughties as well. So it’s clear this is just more scutter for the scutter gun of falsehoods.

Just to add to the Russian Economic growth conversation. That's what happens in war time. Turning their resources over to making things that will be destroyed in Ukraine counts toward GDP figures even though it has limited value to the real economy.

Here's the UK's GDP figures during WWII. Note the 4 years of growth after the outbreak of the war that included a time when cities were being bombed by the Luftwaffe:

Lada were selling to the impoverished Russian people, not the government and oligarchs, hence the disparity.

Weapons manufacturers can make (relatively) technologically advanced stuff because the government funnel money into it, instead of investing in things that help the masses.

Anything they need to import they just pay a premium and someone gets it shipped to Uzbekistan and rolls it over the border to evade sanctions