Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Part 5

Roger Fowler said:During WWII, they had the West behind them, but now they have the West standing against them, which is a massive difference, isn't it? It's not quite game over yet—there is still plenty of work to be done—but this is certainly a significant morale boost for the Ukrainians.

It isn't game over in Ukraine, but the Russians are moving easy without any real consequences for their military operations.

Georgia
Crimea Syria

Game over, boys. You're going to be biting dust. The end.

Terry Green3 said:Game over.
If Americans don't rise up against Putin and his whole Potemkin setup right now, they never will. Decades of lies and self-deception collapsed in just a few days. Those people who thought they could just leverage a fraction of resources—like using NATO to muscle into other countries—I guess they finally opened their eyes.

The USSR was actually ready to push back during Barbarossa, unlike Russia today. Someone mentioned this in another thread, but looking at Russia through the lens of WWI, it’s the same old story: the regime is back on its knees, ripe for a repeat of history.

Sure, Americans can rise up—they've proven they can... but the real question is whether anyone’s actually going to help them rebuild their country—and how.
Past experience hasn't exactly been encouraging.

The West has shown it can send military aid, but whether they'll help rebuild a nation on actual solid foundations (for both Russia and Ukraine!)—that's the real test of whether anyone actually learned anything.

Lisa Jackson7 said:Sure, Americans can rise up—they've proven they can... but the real question is whether anyone’s actually going to help them rebuild their country—and how.
Past experience hasn't exactly been encouraging.

The West has shown it can send military aid, but whether they'll help rebuild a nation on actual solid foundations (for both Russia and Ukraine!)—that's the real test of whether anyone actually learned anything.

Exactly.

Back in the 90s, America basically bailed Russia out with a mountain of dollars, and before that, we were busy trying to keep the USSR from falling apart.

We really ought to be smarter this time around.

Gregory Ramos3 said:View on twitter

So, I'm seeing some talk here claiming the EU has officially suspended issuing Russian visas.

Honestly, it feels a little bit out of left field to me, mostly because I haven't really seen the big news outlets making a massive deal out of it yet.🤔

Not quite—while it’s mostly happening in Poland and the Baltic states, they have implemented new regulations.

https://www.lechotouristique.com/art...s-restrictions

- Visa fees have jumped from 30 to 80 euros.
- Instead of 10 days, you might now be waiting anywhere from 15 to 45 days.
- Tourist visas aren't a priority anymore; they're processed only after humanitarian ones and similar requests. For example, Finland is currently only issuing about 10% of the tourist visas they used to.
- All those different ways to get easier access through visas have been removed.
- There's also a possibility that the nearly one million Russians currently holding EU visas could have them re-evaluated.

- And importantly, any Russian passports issued in occupied regions of Ukraine won't be recognized.

Look at what Putin has actually managed to pull off in just six months:

- He basically handed Finland and Sweden over to NATO on a silver platter.
- He’s effectively created brand new 746 miles borders right up against NATO territory.
- He somehow managed to force a fractured Europe to finally find some common ground.
- He’s turned every single EU nation into a massive customer for billions of dollars worth of American weaponry.
- Look at Poland—they're building hundreds of miles of wire fencing along the Belarus border and gearing up for total mobilization.
- He is bleeding billions of dollars every single day through lost gas revenue.
- He’s absolutely gutted his own economy and left an already struggling population even more destitute.
- He took people who were practically brothers—these Ukrainian folks—and turned them into his fiercest enemies.
- An entire continent that was hooked on Russian gas is now scrambling to find alternatives—and they will find them.
- Tens of thousands of young Russian lives have been thrown away for essentially nothing.
- Russia has burned through a staggering amount of hardware that they'll be spending years trying to replace—if they can even manage it.
- The Russian Army has completely trashed whatever credibility they spent decades building during the Cold War.
PLUS
At this rate, Ukrainians might not just reclaim their territory back to how it looked before the invasion—they might actually push back and take back what Russia seized back in 2014.

Honestly, if the Americans had planted a deep-cover spy right next to the Russian President, they wouldn't even need to do much—he's doing such a perfect job of weakening Russia in every possible way for decades to come.

frozenrider112 said:Look at what Putin has actually managed to pull off in just six months:

- He basically handed Finland and Sweden over to NATO on a silver platter.
- He’s effectively created brand new 746 miles borders right up against NATO territory.
- He somehow managed to force a fractured Europe to finally find some common ground.
- He’s turned every single EU nation into a massive customer for billions of dollars worth of American weaponry.
- Look at Poland—they're building hundreds of miles of wire fencing along the Belarus border and gearing up for total mobilization.
- He is bleeding billions of dollars every single day through lost gas revenue.
- He’s absolutely gutted his own economy and left an already struggling population even more destitute.
- He took people who were practically brothers—these Ukrainian folks—and turned them into his fiercest enemies.
- An entire continent that was hooked on Russian gas is now scrambling to find alternatives—and they will find them.
- Tens of thousands of young Russian lives have been thrown away for essentially nothing.
- Russia has burned through a staggering amount of hardware that they'll be spending years trying to replace—if they can even manage it.
- The Russian Army has completely trashed whatever credibility they spent decades building during the Cold War.
PLUS
At this rate, Ukrainians might not just reclaim their territory back to how it looked before the invasion—they might actually push back and take back what Russia seized back in 2014.

Honestly, if the Americans had planted a deep-cover spy right next to the Russian President, they wouldn't even need to do much—he's doing such a perfect job of weakening Russia in every possible way for decades to come.

It’s not just that they might be able to take it back; based on how things are looking, they are going to take back everything. 👍

This is turning into a massive defeat for Russia—we're nowhere near the finish line here, and sure, they might manage to scrape by using mass mobilization, but it’s still going to be a devastating blow. Once you strip away their nuclear arsenal, their military strength is actually trailing behind Iran, Turkey, or even Korea. And don't even get me started on the USA or China. They're battling deep-seated corruption and demographic collapses; honestly, the only thing keeping them afloat right now is their sheer abundance of natural resources. As long as the state doesn't fracture entirely, those resources and their nukes will always allow them to cling to being a regional power that carries some weight globally.

I feel like this should be obvious even to the Russophiles out there—in this emerging multipolar world, they won't be the main players anymore. Instead, we'll see new regional powers stepping up that actually have the military teeth and the population numbers to back it up.

PS.
It’s pretty strange how little our local news outlets—and even much of the Western media—are actually covering this huge win for Ukraine. This could very well be the turning point for the entire conflict, regardless of which way things swing from here. There’s plenty of other noise out there, but despite this potentially being the pivot point of a war that’s been the top headline for us and the West for six months now, the coverage is surprisingly thin. It's odd.

Drew Booth60 said:This is turning into a massive defeat for Russia—we're nowhere near the finish line here, and sure, they might manage to scrape by using mass mobilization, but it’s still going to be a devastating blow. Once you strip away their nuclear arsenal, their military strength is actually trailing behind Iran, Turkey, or even Korea. And don't even get me started on the USA or China. They're battling deep-seated corruption and demographic collapses; honestly, the only thing keeping them afloat right now is their sheer abundance of natural resources. As long as the state doesn't fracture entirely, those resources and their nukes will always allow them to cling to being a regional power that carries some weight globally.

I feel like this should be obvious even to the Russophiles out there—in this emerging multipolar world, they won't be the main players anymore. Instead, we'll see new regional powers stepping up that actually have the military teeth and the population numbers to back it up.

PS.
It’s pretty strange how little our local news outlets—and even much of the Western media—are actually covering this huge win for Ukraine. This could very well be the turning point for the entire conflict, regardless of which way things swing from here. There’s plenty of other noise out there, but despite this potentially being the pivot point of a war that’s been the top headline for us and the West for six months now, the coverage is surprisingly thin. It's odd.

The mainstream media isn't necessarily slow; social media is just way faster. I guess we just have to wait a bit for them to catch up.

For example, I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Elizabeth Gojan from PBS doesn't report on any moderate Ukrainian progress until maybe around Christmas—and even then, probably not straight from the front lines in Kyiv.

boldotter2 said:The mainstream media isn't necessarily slow; social media is just way faster. I guess we just have to wait a bit for them to catch up.

For example, I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Elizabeth Gojan from PBS doesn't report on any moderate Ukrainian progress until maybe around Christmas—and even then, probably not straight from the front lines in Kyiv.

I wouldn't say that, though—honestly, over the last six months, they’ve been pretty sharp regarding the war, usually trailing Telegram or Twitter by only a few hours. This current successful offensive has been going on for a couple of days now, yet there's barely any coverage. I get it—people are definitely feeling "war fatigue" when it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, but even then, this should still be top-tier news. Now that huge things are actually happening, there's hardly a mention of it. I mostly follow the situation through forums and Telegram anyway, so it doesn't affect me personally, but it does strike me as strange.

frozenrider112 said:Look at what Putin has actually managed to pull off in just six months:

- He basically handed Finland and Sweden over to NATO on a silver platter.
- He’s effectively created brand new 746 miles borders right up against NATO territory.
- He somehow managed to force a fractured Europe to finally find some common ground.
- He’s turned every single EU nation into a massive customer for billions of dollars worth of American weaponry.
- Look at Poland—they're building hundreds of miles of wire fencing along the Belarus border and gearing up for total mobilization.
- He is bleeding billions of dollars every single day through lost gas revenue.
- He’s absolutely gutted his own economy and left an already struggling population even more destitute.
- He took people who were practically brothers—these Ukrainian folks—and turned them into his fiercest enemies.
- An entire continent that was hooked on Russian gas is now scrambling to find alternatives—and they will find them.
- Tens of thousands of young Russian lives have been thrown away for essentially nothing.
- Russia has burned through a staggering amount of hardware that they'll be spending years trying to replace—if they can even manage it.
- The Russian Army has completely trashed whatever credibility they spent decades building during the Cold War.
PLUS
At this rate, Ukrainians might not just reclaim their territory back to how it looked before the invasion—they might actually push back and take back what Russia seized back in 2014.

Honestly, if the Americans had planted a deep-cover spy right next to the Russian President, they wouldn't even need to do much—he's doing such a perfect job of weakening Russia in every possible way for decades to come.

If you look at everything that’s been going on lately, I mean, really dig into the details, you almost have to start wondering if Putin is actually working as an American spy. It’s a wild thought, I know, but when you weigh all the evidence, it's hard not to feel like there's something more going on under the surface.

Removing pro-Russian propaganda in Kupiansk—all that "we are one people with Russia" nonsense. They actually slapped this poster right over an appeal for help to fund a bone marrow transplant for a one-year-old child.

View on twitter

If the Russians fail to pull things together, the French and Italians stand to gain the most from this war.

It looks like someone else might finally step up to take over as the primary supplier for the military machine.

I just saw some rumors floating around Telegram suggesting that Putin might be moving to arrest certain members of the Duma. If that actually turns out to be true, I guess we could be looking at some serious chaos unfolding across Russia.

Kenneth Cruz67 said:I just saw some rumors floating around Telegram suggesting that Putin might be moving to arrest certain members of the Duma. If that actually turns out to be true, I guess we could be looking at some serious chaos unfolding across Russia.

I doubt this is anything substantial; likely just some minor preemptive maneuvering. 😁 Besides, the Duma is essentially just a collection of his hand-picked loyalists at this point. Anyone with actual backbone or an independent opinion was either forced out of the country or thrown behind bars long ago.
The real question is: does anyone know which agency is actually carrying out these arrests? Is it the FSB, the FSO, or some other outfit? That’s the specific detail I’m looking for.

Nancy Gomez26 said:I doubt this is anything substantial; likely just some minor preemptive maneuvering. 😁 Besides, the Duma is essentially just a collection of his hand-picked loyalists at this point. Anyone with actual backbone or an independent opinion was either forced out of the country or thrown behind bars long ago.
The real question is: does anyone know which agency is actually carrying out these arrests? Is it the FSB, the FSO, or some other outfit? That’s the specific detail I’m looking for.

A fellow user left a great comment earlier, but it got nuked for going off-topic from the frontline updates.

They'll just run some special TV program in Moscow claiming they actually won.

The Putin enthusiasts still don't get it—as long as this regime is in power, they'll keep being fed complete garbage.
Our Air Force meets NATO standards while being ten times more cost-effective, etc. In reality, you can see it’s nowhere near that level, but they'll keep believing the hype.
There's another nation in Europe just like them.☕

Nancy Gomez26 said:I doubt this is anything substantial; likely just some minor preemptive maneuvering. 😁 Besides, the Duma is essentially just a collection of his hand-picked loyalists at this point. Anyone with actual backbone or an independent opinion was either forced out of the country or thrown behind bars long ago.
The real question is: does anyone know which agency is actually carrying out these arrests? Is it the FSB, the FSO, or some other outfit? That’s the specific detail I’m looking for.

Those folks who were complaining that he wasn't being decisive enough 👍

Well, I suppose they were only complaining because that's exactly how he told them to act.

Now, Putin might not exactly be the greatest chess player on the planet, but in Russia, he’s still very much a Grandmaster.🤣

bluemason3 said:If the Russians fail to pull things together, the French and Italians stand to gain the most from this war.

It looks like someone else might finally step up to take over as the primary supplier for the military machine.

Hello? Anyone there? 😁

Long lines at the border near the Logačevski area.

They're looking for volunteers to bring food and hand it out.

Rybar is reporting on this (machine translation):

Things are getting pretty bad at the Pesky checkpoint near Logačevka (Belgorod Oblast). There’s a tent, some food, and a camp set up for temporary housing—but it's all on the Russian side.

Nothing is organized on the Russian-controlled side of the Kharkiv Oblast. Before they even get through checkpoints or document checks, civilians have to survive a total humanitarian disaster.

People have been stuck in line for two days without water, food, or heat. We're talking a queue of over 400-500 cars and roughly 200 people.

Here’s what the volunteers—who are doing this solo without any government help—are saying:

We managed to feed and provide hot water to over 1,000 people. People were crying and thanking us. I honestly didn't believe it was free. We could only stay until 1 AM, then headed back at 4 AM.
Reception is non-existent here. Only AT&T picks up occasionally.

Yeah, filtration measures are needed. Yeah, the security checks are serious. But the real issue is the lack of basic human empathy. Is it really that hard to just set up a camp by the checkpoint?

So, I'm seeing all these rumors flying around Telegram about Putko being taken into custody.

Well, whether it turns out to be true or not, I guess it feels like a major reckoning might finally be brewing over in Moscow.

Kenneth Cruz67 said:So, I'm seeing all these rumors flying around Telegram about Putko being taken into custody.

Well, whether it turns out to be true or not, I guess it feels like a major reckoning might finally be brewing over in Moscow.

Now we're just waiting to hear if it was a heart attack...👍