Russia - threadbanned users in OP

PP is not taking bets on this war but you can get 2/1 on a reunification of Korean peninsula by 2023 end

While you live in hope of a Russian revival judging by your posts its not going to happen, the losing side is advancing backwards and the winning is chasing them.

A jealous vodka swilling putin looks on at Zelenskyy in the whitehouse ho ho ho the great strategist is losing he just won't accept it.

NATO could finish this in 3 days

I see this ending 2 months with a Russian collapse and or a quick negotiated retreat.

So yes it's a new arms race to face down autocratic threats

I read somewhere over the last couple of years Russia had been sabotaging Ukraine munitions to degrade it ability to have a long war, seem they didn't count on a strong resistance, unity of allies and ignoring its use of energy as a weapon.

Look like santa is bringing some goodies from the US wish some in Europe would do the same.

No, they can afford their military (surprising as that is). They spend/have spent a lot less than Russia on it proportionately.

The US is just extremely wealthy. Issues with "helping their own citizens" are a political problem rather than one of limited resources available to the state.

The what now?? These guys on Russian tv who I've been exposed to thanks partly to this thread are like court jesters and are mouths - they say the wrong thing and they know they could be in very serious trouble. So the bile they come out with is just what the regime wants them to spout. So don't get that comparison.

This anti-US, anti-EU block that's been festering on this thread these past few days, I just don't get it... This notion that Ukraine is receiving support for selfish, ulterior motives seems to forget the fact that Russia is not a Ukraine problem, but all our problem. Do people really think Russia in its current incarnation has any validity anymore ? Surely the blindfold is off now, and the Kremlin is revealed for what it is: a bunch of thugs and gangsters who favour power and wealth over any kind of fundamental decency. Trolls aside, how anyone can empathize with Russia after their conduct in the battlefield, and their systematic destruction of Ukraine is....astonishing.

"As for manpower, there are 300k Russians who have been called up. I doubt manpower will be an issue."

300,000 men does not equate to 300,000 soldiers, its a well known fact that in the heat of battle many conscripts will fire their gun high because they are not comfortable with the thought of killing another person.

More like if someone on a major BBC show spoke for Whitehall ,

And knew he's likely to fall out a window if he pisses his masters off ...

While also not allowing the Russian union and former Soviet states fall into utter destabilizing choas .. there's hundreds of millions of people living in the whole region , and a lot of legacy weaponry ( although that's being ground down in Ukraine )

So in your eyes every single Russian should be turned away? As for "kept under surveillance" sure why not just go the whole hog and place any Russian in Europe into some sort of camps where they can be watched.

Any proof ordinary Russians are "as indoctrinated as by propaganda as islamics (sic) are"?

You really do love to crank the hyperbole up to 11 don't you 🙄

And if you're aware of that , you can be sure the Ukrainian high command are as well ... And definitely their top brass don't seem keen on throwing their troops forward for nothing,

Also they've been telegraphing their southern front intentions for a while now ,

Doesn't mean they will or won't go there , but it does tie up Russian troops and keep them on the defensive, the harder the winter gets the harder it is for either side to carry out complex operations.. again locally one side or the other may have an advantage ,

the Russians are definitely training some of their recruits , presumably for offensive operations in spring summer, the recruits in the trenches won't have had that training ..

The Ukrainians are probably likewise- they've 10,000 plus trained troops coming in by the month , but that's mainly basic training,

I can't see Ukraine taking the Donbass quickly , it's been fortified for years now , but I think they'll retake the south , and if they can roll up the south, they may be able to rush the Crimea ..

It's possible..

Will the Republicans taking control of the house hurt the Ukrainian war effort? Seems the right in America or least the most vocal element of the right is against Ukraine

I think what's most frustrating now is that Russia just doesn't know that's it well and truly beaten, it's like some knuckle-headed boxer who just isn't smart enough to stay down. But all the while it's still managing to inflict huge suffering as it's going down in flames. All the Kremlin's plans have failed, and Putin, the fool, has caught himself in a trap he can't get out of now with the annexations - he had an opportunity to get out of Ukraine - and have Margarita Simonyan sell it back to the Russian people that the special military operation succeeded in disabling Ukraine as a threat - but he's blown it. 

I'm not so sure the war will drag on for years, as some, admittedly well-placed people are predicting. I follow an Estonian analyst on Twitter and I've come to trust his opinions and judgements, and he reckons Russia's domestic problems will really start to bite the regime in a matter of months, perhaps March, April...

The Chinese are still outwardly supportive, but I must question their level of commitment - all the signs suggest that they will be swamped with Covid problems in the next few weeks, and there are currently bloody flashpoints at border points with India. So, President Xi will have his hands full...