Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Putin will continue on the same path, because for him, it's a do or die situation. The US coming through with the 60Billion, and discussions ongoing about future aid was a massive kick in the teeth to Putin. Ordinary Russians (and the Silovicki and Oligarchs too) are feeling more and more the bad effects of the costs of the war, and it will get worse for them as the available cash fund dwindles. The next 6 mths will be critical, especially when the effects of the new armament's make themselves felt.

Ah, but there was a plan, including the end game, all thought out and organized. Just like Crimea, the Russian military would " Blitzkrieg" Ukraine, it would all be over in a week or two, and the new Putin Government installed. The new rulers had already picked out which buildings and apartments they would occupy (after the rightful owners were ejected, of course) and they had even packed their dress uniforms for the celebratory ball. And then came Zelenski……and as they say, the rest is history. So now, it's all on Putin's head.

CNNs new take

Russia is making daily tactical gains in eastern Ukraine, as concerns swirl around Ukrainian military reporting

Seems to be gist of it.

Fair play to them that's some going.

The price being paid for lack of delivery of weapons these last months

This - as we have already discussed here - is the inevitable outcome

At those prices, we couldda bought them.

Not verboten at all. It's been debated plenty on here before. It's just that you sing one tune and have been called out on it countless times, with no comeback other than "they should be forced to fight to the death". Your arguments are less than persuasive - that's discussion for you… people can air their opinions but equally others will call nonsense, nonsense. They'll call disguised xenophobia, xenophobia. They'll call small mindedness, small mindedness. They'll call keyboard warriors, keyboard warriors. It is interesting to see that you're about the only person in agreement with that poster though, everyone else seems to see them as a pro-Russian troll.

It's not our war, for the moment anyway. We are taking a hit, every one of us in various ways, but it is necessary to support or it could well become our war. No need for us to sign up to defend Ukraine at present except on a voluntary basis and we should honour anyone who does.

As to the rest of your point, it is a primary duty of citizens to defend their own groups/ states. Thus it has been since the days of our own Gaelic kingdoms when you joined a hosting to battle neighbouring clans. Through to major world wars. If my ancestors thought like you, we'd be speaking German now likely. They didn't sign up in 1914 or 1945 but in 1916 and 1942, when they clearly saw they would need to do their bit at whatever cost. You, I and anyone else in this position would do the same basic duty as a citizen. Love your country and be prepared to suffer for it.

Another opinion on Russian so called successes …..

I tend to be suspicious of any Russia related news/pr lately. So many naff story's coming from a verity of outlets that can turn out to be fabricated yahoo. I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be some lousy PR gig of some kind. Those Ruskkies mahhh

Up to you what you believe (or not) Dan, but I believe it happened and it is a regular occurrence. I remember funerals in Chechnya only too well from the time I was there.

Wars are pretty inevitable, sadly. There are a couple of reasons for this which I can think of - one is that war is a product of when a particular country's power level or ambition isn't matched by the existing power structures in the world. The other is that people, or maybe I should say societies, seem to have a primal need to fight. As horrible and bleak and brutal as war is, and no matter how much individuals seem to recognise that fact, it seems to remain that groups of people still have that deep-set tribal 'us vs. them' thing going on and get swept up in a desire to test their mettle in pursuit in some kind of ideal.

It isn't so much that we don't learn the lessons of the past, but that they recede from memory as more base human tendencies come to the fore.

People talk about wars being concocted by power hungry old men for personal gain, but I think that's a little bit simplistic, although I believe there's also a strand of truth in that in the sense that they're guilty of beating the drum, but people in general are guilty of picking up the weapons to wage the wars, and if they didn't do that, the old men at the top could do nothing about it, so I think it's a case of one hand washing the other.

Lastly, it seems that peace is a reliable precursor of war because some grievances build up which are never addressed due to fears of open conflict being renewed. Some nations grow complacent and others sense an opportunity and use the fear of war to agitate with little blowback until their actions can no longer be tolerated.

For all folks who are caught up in Russia's endless reserves of manpower and weaponry, here is a copy paste of an article on current housing problems in Russia:-

Quote:- Russia doesn't have 4 trillion rubles to repair dilapidated housing in the country but has no problem spending billions of dollars on destroying homes in Ukraine.
News from Mordor:
“The volume of dilapidated housing in apartment buildings is increasing every year. By 2030, Russia will have 40 million square meters of uninhabitable housing. This statement was made by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.
According to Khusnullin to repair this housing will cost 4 trillion rubles, and now there is no money for it.
"We don't have 4 trillion, so, colleagues, we need to take a very serious look at the ways to approach this," he said.
According to Khusnullin, in order to solve the problem, it is necessary to find a balance between the repair and the sources of its financing. The politician added that more investors should be attracted to this investing in this area. Unquote .

This is just one of the problems facing Russia, housing. Now include all the other problems that years of under investment are showing up ..bridges and dams collapsing, city heating infrastructure not working, hospitals and schools falling apart because even if the cash was there, the skilled manpower is not…
No matter what Putin's propaganda make about victories in Ukraine, he is not victorious on the home front, quite the opposite in fact.

Arguably, Ukraine should be aiming for Russia's weapons and munitions factories. Taking a couple of those out would put a serious dent in Putin's war effort.

Believe me when I say that "falling apart" in Russia, unlike Ireland, it literally means "falling apart" as in the brickwork turning into dust..All this frenetic bombing and attacking that Putin is now engaged in is to me anyway, signs of sheer desperation. He absolutely needs some kind of "win" in time for the 9th May Great Victory Celebrations, and of course for Ukraine to bring down the Kerch bridge anytime would be a propaganda boon of unimaginable value to them, but to bring it down on the 9th,,,would be shattering for Putin.