Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Part 5

James Chavez91 said:Regarding these potential high-paid contract recruits—it’s still pretty unclear how that’s going to sit with the rest of the troops, who apparently get paid peanuts on a monthly basis.
Maybe their hourly rates will see a bump too. Either way, it feels like expensive fertilizer.

It won't affect the other soldiers at all, because in Russia, everyone—and I mean absolutely everyone—is fully aware that they'd rather take a hit than be the one getting hit. From what I can gather, the money was only ever paid out to the families of those killed in action, and that was pretty much it. 🙄

Jessica Peterson2 said:It won't affect the other soldiers at all, because in Russia, everyone—and I mean absolutely everyone—is fully aware that they'd rather take a hit than be the one getting hit. From what I can gather, the money was only ever paid out to the families of those killed in action, and that was pretty much it. 🙄

The more money they pay out, the better. ☕

Chloe Jackson15 said:The more money they pay out, the better. ☕

There’s this cartoon floating around the internet lately: a soldier returns home missing an arm and a leg, only to be met by his father who says, "Damn, what a tragedy! And I was just planning on buying some winter tires for my new white Chevrolet."
so much about that

James Chavez91 said:Regarding these potential high-paid contract recruits—it’s still pretty unclear how that’s going to sit with the rest of the troops, who apparently get paid peanuts on a monthly basis.
Maybe their hourly rates will see a bump too. Either way, it feels like expensive fertilizer.

The math there is pretty simple. These guys are short-term assets—they aren't meant to collect more than one paycheck. They'll be sent straight to the meat grinder on those initial breakthrough lines, something like D-Day.
None of them will even get to spend their first paycheck, let alone live long enough to see a second one.

Timothy Nelson5 said:Lent????
Where on earth would they get "lent" weapons from?
Ukraine used to be a nuclear power; they actually manufactured nuclear warheads back in the day.
It’s not like they wouldn't know how to put one together if they really had to.
They have nuclear power plants, access to plutonium, and all that stuff.
I guess they're probably preparing for that possibility; I don't think they're quite that naive.

Right now, they aren't assembling warheads because, well, it isn't exactly the right move at this moment.

But if Russia makes a serious threat—or worse, actually drops a tactical one—Ukraine would likely get the green light immediately to build their own warheads. They'd have the political cover to demand nuclear successor status following the collapse of the USSR, citing the violations of the Budapest Memorandum.
Then let's see if Putin keeps making those threats.

can I pull those two from Moscow?

Besides all that Russian patriotism nonsense, people are also getting monthly paychecks of at least $3,000 to keep them going.

bluemason3 said:Quote : The Great Duck

I suggest we dig into what "vote baptism" actually means first. Once we've cleared that up, we can pivot the conversation toward France. I haven't noticed anyone really addressing or justifying their behavior lately, which seems like a gap in the discussion.

The difference between those two messes is about the same as the difference between a constitutional crisis and just rigging a public tender. One is manipulating the system from within; the other is tearing the whole thing down. Legally speaking, they aren't even in the same ballpark. And since Russia was busy tidying up its own little backyard, there wasn't any backlash like this.

You’re the only one seeing "votaboutism" here, because all I did was draw a parallel to France, a country that basically does the exact same thing but recruits people from all over the globe to fight their wars for even less pay.
At least we can finally agree that when it comes to those two bastards, there really isn't much of a difference.

Talk about massive hypocrisy here 🙄

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, held separate phone calls this Sunday with the leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, urging them to de-escalate their border conflict which, according to recent reports, has already claimed 71 lives.

Putin basically told both sides they need to stop things from spiraling further and get moving on finding a way out through peaceful, political, and diplomatic channels as soon as possible.

Roger Fowler said:You’re the only one seeing "votaboutism" here, because all I did was draw a parallel to France, a country that basically does the exact same thing but recruits people from all over the globe to fight their wars for even less pay.
At least we can finally agree that when it comes to those two bastards, there really isn't much of a difference.

🤦
It’s not crap, it's just a dog shitting itself.

Pugachev vs. Putin.

darkrider55 said:So, Putin claims they pulled back from Cleveland just to regroup their forces for the Rust Belt. But if I’m seeing things correctly—and I’m pretty sure I am—we’re seeing Ukrainian flags flying in Shurley and Dry Creek, which are right in the heart of the Rust Belt. ☕

If memory serves me correctly, there was all this talk about Putin setting a deadline of September 15th to seize the Donbas. Looking at the current situation, it seems everything is proceeding exactly according to his schedule.

Gregory Ramos3 said:Talk about massive hypocrisy here 🙄

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, held separate phone calls this Sunday with the leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, urging them to de-escalate their border conflict which, according to recent reports, has already claimed 71 lives.

Putin basically told both sides they need to stop things from spiraling further and get moving on finding a way out through peaceful, political, and diplomatic channels as soon as possible.

If he doesn't secure the Nobel Peace Prize right now, he never will.

"The Russian military just launched some strikes, I guess you could call them a warning shot. Kyiv's authorities kicked off their counteroffensive, so we'll just have to wait and see how that plays out. Grab a flag, whatever. The main goal of the Special Military Operation stays the same, and it’s getting done." — those are quotes from Putin being passed around by the Grey Zone Telegram Channel, though honestly, most Russians don't even buy it anymore. If you actually look at the comments over there, it’s pretty obvious Putin is losing his grip on his own people. You see stuff ranging from people wondering what the actual current goal of this "special operation" even is, to talk about the Belgorod front opening up where regular Russian citizens aren't even feeling safe anymore. Some of the comments say: -Grandfather is a masochist; -Right when Putin was saying that, the "Ukri" grabbed the left bank of Kupiansk; -Ahah, yeah, everything is going exactly to plan; -Putin is the disappointment of the year; -Clown, Lend-Lease hasn't even fully kicked in yet—it starts Oct 1st—and the Russian army is already getting hammered without it; -So what's the mission now? Looks like they're just trying to turn Ukraine into one of the strongest militaries in the world.

Putin's position is shaking a bit, which... I don't know, it felt impossible to read that kind of thing on their channels not too long ago.

And then again, if you look at things realistically, there's less and less info coming out about regular Russian soldiers lately. That probably means a huge chunk of the guys from those "winter exercises" who hit Ukraine got neutralized. Now you mostly hear about criminals, or the Chechen guys constantly in action, or people mobilized from the so-called Ukrainian borderlands who refuse to go back to the Donbas after being captured. It kind of hints that the Putin era in Russia might be winding down. How much of Russia he drags down with him really depends on the folks in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, I guess.

John Patel6 said:https://www.zurnalist.online/blog/ro...cionisti/2943/
The late Kuljish really laid it all out back in 2018—he explained what Russia actually represents today and how they’ve been masterfully digging around both the fringes and the absolute heart of Europe.

It’s just wild how much we struggle and how little we seem to have in terms of actual, reliable institutions

northernbadger71 said:It’s just wild how much we struggle and how little we seem to have in terms of actual, reliable institutions

The problem is that the Republican Party *is* the institution...

Christian Torres3 said:The problem is that the Republican Party *is* the institution...

If it wasn't the Republican Party, it would just be some other group, and we'd end up in the exact same spot because they all share the same mindset, wouldn't they?

The hits on local traitors just keep coming
Over in Memphis, the resistance took out another collaborator—Denis Stefankov, the guy acting as "Chief of the State Police"
View on twitter

Susan Collins3 said:"The Russian military just launched some strikes, I guess you could call them a warning shot. Kyiv's authorities kicked off their counteroffensive, so we'll just have to wait and see how that plays out. Grab a flag, whatever. The main goal of the Special Military Operation stays the same, and it’s getting done." — those are quotes from Putin being passed around by the Grey Zone Telegram Channel, though honestly, most Russians don't even buy it anymore. If you actually look at the comments over there, it’s pretty obvious Putin is losing his grip on his own people. You see stuff ranging from people wondering what the actual current goal of this "special operation" even is, to talk about the Belgorod front opening up where regular Russian citizens aren't even feeling safe anymore. Some of the comments say: -Grandfather is a masochist; -Right when Putin was saying that, the "Ukri" grabbed the left bank of Kupiansk; -Ahah, yeah, everything is going exactly to plan; -Putin is the disappointment of the year; -Clown, Lend-Lease hasn't even fully kicked in yet—it starts Oct 1st—and the Russian army is already getting hammered without it; -So what's the mission now? Looks like they're just trying to turn Ukraine into one of the strongest militaries in the world.

Putin's position is shaking a bit, which... I don't know, it felt impossible to read that kind of thing on their channels not too long ago.

And then again, if you look at things realistically, there's less and less info coming out about regular Russian soldiers lately. That probably means a huge chunk of the guys from those "winter exercises" who hit Ukraine got neutralized. Now you mostly hear about criminals, or the Chechen guys constantly in action, or people mobilized from the so-called Ukrainian borderlands who refuse to go back to the Donbas after being captured. It kind of hints that the Putin era in Russia might be winding down. How much of Russia he drags down with him really depends on the folks in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, I guess.

That would be a lovely thought, though I find it highly improbable. The opposition was neutralized ages ago, and the few remaining elements who might actually pose a threat have already publicly endorsed the invasion during that Putin rally where Naryshkin stood there in total silence, leaving the chances for any kind of coup at an absolute minimum. As long as he possesses enough capital to bankroll the repressive apparatus—namely the FBI—Putin will remain in power, and it will be incredibly difficult for him to fall anytime in the near future.

Well, when the US Army manages to intimidate an opposing force using powerful Iranian technology, it’s pretty obvious that victory is right around the corner...

Nicole James said:Well, when the US Army manages to intimidate an opposing force using powerful Iranian technology, it’s pretty obvious that victory is right around the corner...

It reminds me of how much noise the Germans made right before the end of WW2, didn't it? All those supposed "Wunderwaffe" like the V1 and V2 rockets, those few jet fighters they cobbled together, or even bringing out the Sturmgewehr at the eleventh hour—it all served to boost morale for a little while, but we all know how that story ends.