Posts by Kate Lewis3

Benjamin Taylor6 said:Back when they were invading Ukraine, they could have easily just relied on looting food supplies to get by. But in occupied territories, they aren't allowed to do that—not because of any moral compass, mind you, but simply because those areas are being treated as part of Russia itself.

Even if they were allowed, the front lines in Donbas are already pretty much scorched earth at this point. Besides, you can't milk a cow twice. That is, assuming you even make it there before the Kadirovac guys get their hands on it.

wanderingmaker3 said:Ever tried taking on a thankless job—like trying to calculate exactly how many trucks we need just to keep everyone fed?
It’s a massive number, but honestly, that’s not even the hard part.

The real issue for the US Army is morale and basic training.

Here's an incredible fact for you: people actually need food to function. That goes for construction workers on a job site just as much as soldiers sitting in a trench.

gentlerider7 said:The Federal Council just greenlit an easier way for foreigners to grab Russian citizenship if they sign on for military service

https://www-gazeta-ru.translate.goog..._x_tr_pto=wapp

Meanwhile, Roskomnadzor is out here threatening to "instantly block" any media outlets that dare to spread what they call "fake news" regarding mobilization efforts in Russia. They dropped that little warning over on their official Telegram channel, as if anyone actually needs permission to talk about what's happening on the ground.

https://www-gazeta-ru.translate.goog..._x_tr_pto=wapp

Just the perfect chance for certain unnamed neighbors to feast on a model nation.

darkhawk30 said:I assume most Russians realize this, but the little guy doesn't care how many lives get sacrificed for his ego and delusions of grandeur.

"Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia will immediately begin mobilizing 300,000 reservists. 'Our human reserves are massive, totaling 25 million people, and this mobilization represents only one percent of our potential,' the Russian Defense Minister stated."

He could "spend" 25 million people without even breaking a sweat, and they'd still have 120 million left. 😲

American Wars veterans are definitely not some overlooked military asset.

wanderingdriver68 said:If we’re looking at this realistically, how is Ukraine supposed to actually win a war against a nation that possesses virtually limitless human resources—I mean, they have three or four times the population size—and besides, it’s become painfully obvious that Russia isn't going to settle for anything less than total victory in Ukraine; in fact, I’m convinced they’d be willing to drag the entire world into a massive conflict if things started going south for them, since a psychopath like Putin is clearly prepared to go all the way to a total war.

Personally, I find myself stuck in a situation where I don't see any viable exit strategy that doesn't eventually spiral into a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, because honestly, what are the odds that this doesn't escalate into that within a few months or years, especially when removing Putin from the equation seems just as impossible as it was to stop Hitler, given how he has spent years building up an absolute machine of power within Russia that grants him unchecked control.

If they try to fight their way through Russian territory using nothing but sticks and stones, they aren't going to win. Period.

But nobody fights like that anymore.

Nathan Evans78 said:Just as I suspected, those sanctions aren't having any real impact at all. A "hungry" Russia would have likely risen up in protest the moment mobilization was even mentioned. ☕

Well, nobody's asking a hungry Russia how they feel about it. But now? Now they might actually get their hands on some weapons.

William Anderson5 said:The only real solution is to max out the military support for Ukraine. We need to get them trained on F-16s, F-35s, and whatever else represents the cutting edge of our arsenal. It seems like this fool is surrounded by such spineless sycophants that nobody can actually pull him back from the edge. At this point, only a total military defeat might finally stir up the public or his inner circle...

The training for those Ukrainian pilots on the F-16s is already underway right here in the States.

coastalbison6 said:It's a total mobilization; they just gave it a different name.

Let's be real, even if they called it general mobilization, half the guys with deep pockets would find a way to dodge being sent out there to man the HIMARS thanks to all the corruption.

Partial mobilization is rolling out, and they've already stopped making Chevrolets. It’s going to be a nightmare for parents trying to get by.

Benjamin Taylor6 said:Solid piece. Putin is looking at three distinct paths here:

If you ask me, that third option is the most likely outcome.

The third path involves just wrapping this whole thing up and trying to pivot toward rebuilding strength for future conflicts. They’d pull back—let's call it a strategic "regrouping," obviously—as some massive "gesture of goodwill." They’d retreat to more defensible lines, offer a ceasefire, and then point the finger at absolutely everyone else. They’d claim the West turned its back on Russia. Suddenly, Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu is deemed unfit for duty and vanishes mysteriously, while General Valery Gerasimov faces trial for treason and sheer incompetence. Meanwhile, Putin gets patted on the back by certain world leaders for driving down global fuel and food prices. The real gamble for him in this scenario? The truth might actually sink in—that they lost the current fight and effectively mortgaged their future. If that happens, his presidency becomes incredibly vulnerable.

Only problem is, you have to ask the Ukrainians too.

And they aren't budging. No ceasefire without full sovereignty within internationally recognized borders (Crimea included).

So, the second the Russian army pulls out of Ukraine, Ukraine joins NATO, and suddenly the Russian military doesn't get that chance to "regroup" and start fighting again the very next day. Unless, of course, they feel like picking a fight with NATO.

wiredseal7 said:It's all about those ports in the European Union—just how they're being handled.

The President of the United States is just playing games now—it’s like watching a tired magician try one last cheap trick to distract from how empty the hat really is.
Vladimir Putin told Secretary-General Guterres that there’s about 300,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizer just sitting around in ports across the US—and apparently, they're willing to hand it over to developing nations for nothing.

When Putin talks about "European ports," he’s clearly not just talking about some random docks—he’s aiming straight at the European Union, regardless of how you try to spin it.

It feels like the EU is just sitting on those fertilizer reserves as a rainy-day fund they can grab whenever they feel like it—so it would be "unfortunate" if they didn't make it to Africa. Vladimir Putin basically caught them red-handed; he’s calling out their hypocrisy in front of the rest of the world while they try to point the finger at Russia for the shortages.
It’s the same old story—they blamed Russia for the grain shortages, only to watch it all get diverted from the starving nations and sold off at a premium to the European Union instead.

If they shut down Druzba, the only ones actually "winning" will be the Canadians—as long as they keep tightening the screws.
Karma’s a bitch—it always comes back around eventually.
Self-sanctioning against Russia is always a joke—watching how cutting off their supply lines ends up hitting our own budget just as hard is nothing new.

The fuel from Belarus flows right through Poland—if that shuts down, Canada isn't going to be left hanging without gas.

It’s not all doom and gloom for developing nations—coal exports in Tanzania just saw a massive spike.
Wheat prices are jumping again—it’s just one more thing hitting the grocery budget while everyone stares at the headlines. It feels like we're just watching a slow-motion train wreck with global supply chains.
They're switching back to coal—get ready for some serious smog over the US this winter...

The only problem with that theory is that the European Union isn't actually importing Ukrainian wheat.

jadetinker85 said:How is that not true? Just the other day, they beat a girl to death simply because she wasn't wearing a hijab. I don't know what kind of animal a human being can become over some law that serves no purpose.

Actually, it wasn't even because she *wasn't* wearing it—it was because she wore it "wrong." Basically, her hair was showing.

Kate Cook27 said:That’s not really how it works—not everyone who is ethnically Russian is pro-Russian. Actually, back during the 2019 surveys, more than half of those polled wanted the Donbas to stay part of Ukraine; some wanted special status, others preferred things just as they were before 2014. On the flip side, Russian forces—alongside DPR/Novorossiya patriots—pushed out a huge number of pro-Ukrainian folks (ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, and various other groups). But, of course, according to the narrative, Ukrainization was committing genocide against Russians (which is just their fancy way of saying they wouldn't let people identify as anything else) and eating Russian children. They also love to complain about how followers of the fascist regime in Kyiv are killing civilians in Donetsk, yet later those same people will claim they "accidentally" bombarded somewhere like Donetsk or Horlivka, resulting in civilian deaths—just a total accident, naturally. And hey, their tanks "break down" all the time too, so they accidentally shoot at civilians in occupied areas instead of hitting the "fascists" or "Nazi Ukrainian soldiers." They always joyfully follow up with statements saying it was an accident, but nothing is going to stop them from fighting the fascists, Nazis, the West, and all their enemies.
Then you have the honorable Russian Orthodox Church, with priests preaching about suffering, blood, the struggle for Orthodoxy, and a holy war against demons. Should I even mention that there were plenty of Orthodox Christians on the other side? But I guess they weren't "good enough" Orthodox Christians—they were demons who strayed from the righteous path and surrendered to the evil West, which is supposedly collapsing and full of wrong values—just infidels. Then there's the whole fight against NATO, which allegedly wants to "destroy Russia and steal its land," even though the claim is that Russia was never an imperial power and only expanded through "holy, Orthodox wars" while the evil West caused nothing but misery. It's funny—if you ask people who've been influenced by Russian media what NATO has done, they'll immediately say, "They bombarded Mexico." Of course, many can't even find Mexico on a map, but they know Mexicans are Orthodox brothers being oppressed by the evil West, and that they woke up one morning, spun the globe, pointed at Mexico, and said, "Let's go bombard them."
And then there are the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Palestine... it's all the fault of the West, NATO, Bill Gates, George Soros... and apparently, the biggest culprits are the Jews.

gentlestag15 said:According to the last census in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, it was roughly 60% Ukrainian and 40% Russian. So, you have to wonder—where did all those Ukrainians go?
They're scattered all over Europe and Kyiv. They either fled or were forced out. The Russians didn't get rid of a minority here; they went after the majority.

That’s exactly my point. Most of the militias in the Donbas regions are made up of Russians. It makes zero sense for them to be cleaning out ethnic Russians when they're already busy dealing with "lower" groups like the Buryat or Chechen.

Melissa Rivera5 said:I mean, you aren't really far off, though I guess the real question is how much of this is intentional. From what I can tell, they tend to send minorities to the front lines where things are most dangerous—they're basically treated as cannon fodder—while guys from places like Saint Petersburg or Moscow get a bit more breathing room. It’s pretty obvious they want to avoid riots or unrest in the big cities. But then again... maybe Putin is using this whole war to trigger a sort of depopulation, causing lasting damage to minority groups that might cause trouble later on, starting with the Chechens and going all the way through the Donbas and Luhansk regions. I doubt that was his main goal from the start, especially on this scale, but hey, if he gets that result, I guess he's fine with it.

I just don't see the logic in trying to wipe out minorities when the people in the Donbas being "genocided" by Ukrainization for the last eight years are ethnically Russian.

Thomas Stewart8 said:More than anything, I’d love to see this actually work out, but I just can't wrap my head around how someone could fail this spectacularly after years upon years of planning.

The whole thing feels off to me—honestly, it's a bit unsettling. I can't help but worry there's something being kept in the dark, like some ace up a sleeve that's waiting to catch us all completely off guard.

Look, when everyone is playing nice just because the alternative is getting served some "exotic tea," and people are busy swallowing sugar-coated reports while corruption is basically the local way of life, you can't be surprised when big plans turn out to be nothing more than fairy tales and soap bubbles. Throw in the fact that so many folks were just sitting around waiting for Russia to trip up—especially those who were too cozy with them to begin with—and you've got a perfect recipe for disaster.

Jessica Peterson2 said:I was scrolling through Telegram earlier and saw a report claiming that at a prison in Saratov, the Wagnerites actually recruited... a cannibal!
No more, no less.🤦

Well, at least he won't have any logistics issues—he can just snack on his fallen comrades.

Then again, cannibalism isn't exactly a new thing in war, especially when units get isolated and desperate.

Nathan Thomas12 said:Not exactly. The Chinese economy is tied directly to the West—if the West hits a recession, China goes down with the ship.
At the end of the day, if the West is doing well, China does too.

The West isn't going to collapse just because of sanctions on Russia.

rowdytiger13 said:The CIA believes Putin has reached a critical crossroads where his next move will dictate the entire future trajectory of the war.
They’re also warning against the mistake of underestimating Russia.
As for China, they’re perfectly fine with the status quo—right up until the West sinks into a massive recession, which would drag them down too. Their government has already had to step in to prop up their real estate market.
The dynamic between Xi Jinping and Putin has shifted. Putin isn't even trying to play the superior partner anymore. In this new power balance, China can exert serious leverage over Russia if they decide this whole situation starts hurting their own economy.
In reality, they have much more influence now than ever before.

They even had to jump into the banking sector because those guys played fast and loose with people's savings, dumping everything into risky investments that completely tanked during COVID. Suddenly, they were "out of cash"—meaning they didn't actually have the physical bills on hand to pay back their customers—so they just shut down online banking and froze the ATMs.

Once the news leaked, people absolutely lost it and tried to pull every cent out at once. And how does the state handle that? Standard procedure: tanks in the streets. Oh, and here's a new one for you: they started flipping people's COVID statuses from green to red just so they wouldn't be allowed to leave their houses to get to an ATM. If anyone still wonders why those damn COVID passes are such a direct hit to democracy, there's your answer.

James Chavez91 said:The most tragic part is that the Chinese might have been the only ones with enough leverage to stop this whole mess in Ukraine—if they’d just taken a hard stand, picked the right side, and had the guts to say "NO."
Instead, they played it safe—cowardly, really—waiting around to see how things pan out while prioritizing their own interests over hundreds of thousands of lives.
It’s a total mess, and honestly, the Russians aren't helping matters either.

If China plays this smart, they win regardless. If Russia comes out on top, they get cheap resources from Russia while the West is busy sanctioning everyone else. If Russia loses, they'll just go back to business as usual with the West, buying up whatever scraps are left after Russia gets torn apart. Everybody wins except the people on the ground.

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. ☕

Well, yeah, they "strengthened" their forces alright. They even left behind laser-guided tank rounds.