Optimistic. He has good points that may be true on poor quality of Russia's troops and NCOs, and the willpower of Ukrainians to defend their homeland. But even the Finns had to end up giving up a chunk of their country to the Russians in the Winter War, and those people were made of way, way sterner stuff. Even the Finnish motto is 'Sisu' which roughly means to never back down in the face of overwhelming odds. Best, most realistic scenario is the Ukrainians fight tooth and nail and stretch this out to a point where international outcry is strong enough to get foreign troops involved. Putin is willing to put his country through an economic depression (and I'm sure he has lines of supply worked out with China and other countries) to win this war. It's just a matter of time and attrition.
Tough sanctions going in - Russians are barking that they will break off ties to anyone that sanctions Putin directly, but screw that, sanction his ass....and hard. The question could become - how do you let Russia out of the Ukraine and how could you allow Putin to save face? DD
It surprised me, as well. Had to look for a more verified account to make sure the translation was accurate.
The POTENTIAL point of optimism (don't want to say advantage) is the real possibility of dissention among the Russians, and how many Russian troops when they get more into a face to face battle will simply hesitate in the field, and the commanders in the field could be quick to surrender. Based on what I can see other than a few hard liners in Putin's inner circle, this is a war NOBODY in Russia really wants. Sure the Soviet nostalgia hard liners agree with his ideology, but I know people from Ukraine, and the ties to the actual people there are not to be taken lightly. They are mad at people like Gorbachev. Ronald Reagan. Maybe George Bush Sr. Maybe even Hillary Clinton. Some maybe even hate the West, and have some paranoia that the CIA holds them down... BUT I don't think any of them truly look at Ukrainians as if they are the problem. So the real hope here to me is dissention and troops throwing the game so to speak. The Tank driver running over that car earlier didn't make me feel too optimistic about the state of mind of the Russian troops, and their character to really care even if they don't really understand why they are fighting their neighbors.
This is huge curious it hasn't been picked up as breaking news -- it will be considered a major escalation by Putin.
I’m so impressed with the Ukraine bravery like those 13 soldiers killed on snake island …Go F yourself! They knew that would be their last statement and they barely flinched …you have 80 year old grandmas holding up AK47 rifles. I think Russia thought it would be like the Afghan give up as soon as they showed up ..yes they have overwhelming military numbers advantage but the last thing they want is to go against civilian engagements with mass deaths being showed all over. Thankfully the pic shows the aid coming above me
What is missing I think in the US arsenal is an army of cyber soldiers just unleashing havoc on Russia. For all this money we spend on the military, what are we actually getting for situations like this.
My guess is they are not actually crossing the border or are only crossing over in areas where we know there is not one Russian within 100 miles. Given the US intelligence it's likely the NATO troops know where every single soldier is so they can navigate now inside without any risk but I have to think the longer this goes on, the harder it'll be to not have a firefight between NATO troops and Russians once you cross the border. So I bet this convoy is in probably delivering to Lviv officials, and they are meeting them at the border. What sucks is these supplies need to find a way to Kyiv and Eastern Ukraine where the real firefight is going to be. It's going to be really hard to get these supplies where they actually need to go, and wouldn't be surprised if Zelensky moves to Lviv and makes that area their Alamo where they can have a NATO "Iron Curtain" behind them to get supplies in, and get people out... but I'm no military strategist.
I’m just hoping we have a secret dome shield that we don’t know about the way things are going, there has been reports Putin health is failing, maybe he just said ***** it, I’m dying soon anyway, gonna take the world with me …
Fortunately Basso, the old chickenhawk will still be able to get his rocks off on Ukraine war p*rn instead of just pornhub
Totally different circumstances the Ukrains are much better equipped than the Fins and with technology you can inflict more damage with lesser forces not saying they will win, but they can inflict a hell of a lot of hurt which the Russian people or troops don't have the stomach for. Just look at the history of guerilla warfare. Just depends on who has the stomach for a fight, and I don't think the Russian troops for the most part believe in what they are doing as much as the Ukrainians.
Which is why we shouldn't be governed by humans in the future. We need a collective super AI to govern the species on the planet or planets. This is the way. throw Whoopi Goldberg into a shark infested beach and i'm pretty sure she'll realize the shark about to chomp on her doesn't care about Black or White @Xerobull
I was talking to a data scientist that used to work for the Department of Defense. He was telling the story about how the world (especially Russia and China, but even our allies) were SHOCKED at the advancement in firepower and weapons the US had at the beginning of the first Iraq war in 1991. It stunned the world how powerful we had become and how easily we rolled the 4th largest army on earth at the time. He was saying our Cyber Warfare is on par with that, and we have intentionally held back our capabilities for a decade as other countries like Russia, China and North Korea have shown their hand. He was saying it could be devastating if we decided to unleash our capabilities for the recipient. So devastating that it could be seen as a major escalation, akin to a shooting war.
I doubt Putin much cares about personal sanctions. They maybe annoying but he knew they would come because of this. It’s entirely plausible Putin the the richest man in the world… and maybe by a lot. At some point money doesn’t matter all that much.
The quote was the one I had and assuming I agree with his analysis/wording is your mistake, not mine. Moreover, it distracts from the meat of the subject (your intention?) which is our govt appears to be sending mixed signals. Rather than attacking me or accusing it of being a political attack, perhaps we should consider what the Russian reaction to such mixed signals might be?
