Ukraine (Mod Note & Threadbanned Users in OP)

I'm constantly amazed at the mental gymnastics performed by some posters to explain away any US or Ukrainian dodginess as Russian propaganda.

Victoria Nuland admitted they exist to congress and then proceeded to say that she is worried that the Russians will use them against the Ukrainians. If the US/Ukrainian labs weren't producing biological pathogens that could be used as weapons why would they be worried that the Russians could use them as such?

It was confirmed earlier Russia has Lost over 60% of it's entire tank fleet in Ukraine,in 7 months of the invasion,the biggest tank losses by a military since WW2 and to think it's not an actual war according to the Russians , just to compare America lost less than 15 tanks in combat in 20 years from the invasion of iraq and Afghanistan despite American forces facing daily combat for two decades

I would say more than "fancy their chances". The Pakistani, Indian or Chinese armies would cut through the joke that is the Russian army like a knive through butter. They are quite lucky that the Taliban are there to protect them from Pakistan.

Former US naval seal and conflict correspondent .

To expand on your question, Russia has always relied on using the other occupied countries in former Soviet union to build and repair it's vehicles and aircraft,but since the Fall of the Soviet union and the Baltic states becoming independent and members of Nato, they have lost all access to these countries military industries,and they never replaced themselves, they can rely on Belarus for some stuff but for how much longer is anyone's guess,

And yes Russia can build its own tanks which to replace their current losses could take decades in the current economic situation,all the while everyone else is modernising their defense abilities Russia is relying on designs from the 60s and 70s ,

They have been talking about the T14 armata tank for 20 odd years ,the most feared and deadly tanks ever conceived(their words) yet in that time they built 6 and lost to anti tank missles in Syria,they also happen to cost similar to the American F35 jet .

3rd parties verify at least 1000, or up to 1300. Ukrainian DoD claim 2k, which is a stretch

That former US navy seal just retweeted it, and had nothing to do with the article.

ahem

From your article. The only source for 1999 tanks is the Ukrainian MoD who of course will be biased, just as the Russian MoD is the same. The independent 3rd parties verified 1000 gone, and then based on estimates of what they could not verify push that number up to 1300.

Re-read your own article, I quoted it verbatim. Its really very simple.

The Oryx database has verified ~1000 destroyed vehicles/tanks, with the caveat that many more are likely undocumented and cant be verified. The 2nd group "Conflict Intelligence Team", estimate that Oryx database is only 70% of the destroyed, and that a further 30% are unverifiable due to lack of photo/video evidence.

Hence, approx 1300 destroyed/damaged.

Sure. Just like they held Afghanistan. Taking and holding are two different thing's. Putin has given it his best shot, and now he is scraping the bottom of the barrel in every sense, resorting to shelling from a distance and conscription. By next year, he will be in an even weaker position both militarily and economically, and Russians will start turning against him in increasing nrs when the full effects of the sanctions have kicked in, and the cash from the west dry's up as they will no longer be dependent on his oil / gas. For sure I would not be sharing your optimistic outlook for next year, on the contrary, I think that it will be a very bad year for him.

That's fight your not going to win

The only country I can think of that would want some Russian territory is China.

I bet they'd love Vladivostok back, yet I don't think any one is stupid enough to launch an invasion of Russia.

Some parts of the Russian Federation may push for independence if Russia is sufficiently weaked. It could shrink a (tiny) bit without any invasion.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see China pushing for Vladivostok. They had their bluff called on Taiwan recently and didn't do anything, and the rest of the world is fairly united against invasions now, particularly anywhere west leaning, so can see them focusing elsewhere. They have domestic problems too so a nice flag-waving distraction could be nice for them. They'd have Russia over a barrel, if they threatened to stop buying Russian resources and stop selling Russia all sorts of things, Russia would have nowhere to look.

Just what we need

A Russo-Sino conflict.

We would not be spared the fallout.