Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Maraders the story that keeps on rolling.

Does Putin think that he can just conscript hundreds of thousands of unwilling young Russian men with no blowback? Think about it - you have nearly 1 million Russian men who have fled the country rather than be enlisted, and that's just the ones who've had the gumption to get up and go. How many multiples of that are keeping their mouths shut, but are really thinking that this whole war is a bad idea and they don't even know why it's being fought? What logistics does Russia have to feed and clothe these men, never mind arm them, to make their pre-slaughter lives that bit more bearable? If these conscripts know they're being sent to what is an almost certain death in a war they don't even necessarily agree with, then there's not a whole lot to stop them refusing orders. At worst, they get shot by their own side for doing so. Same result for them with less steps.

Russian oligarchs are wandering out of windows, protests have been quashed and hundreds of thousands of not-very-enthusiastic conscripts are being rounded up. There are surely a lot of Russians in Russia with bad thoughts against Putin right now, and while it might seem like he has an iron grip on his country, the pressure below the surface is building, and when it erupts, it won't end well for Putin.

One person killed as result of Russian missile strike in Merefa, Kharkiv region

@Wibbs

Russia hasn't faired well in wars since the end of WW2 it was all great and dandy massacring civilians in Hungary and the Czechoslovakia,

But they got their arses handed to them in Afghanistan,and dagistan , Chechnya twice (and only claimed victory by killing large numbers of the civilian populations)

Remember during WW2 they had the advantage of home soil and a badly prepared German military forces that fared well until winter and lack of winter supplies hit home ,the Russians were motivated and the Germans were fighting across Europe as well as Russia they were never going to succeed,

This Time around the Russians are ill prepared and they aren't motivated to fight to the death, poorly trained and equipped vs a modern revitalized military force that didn't exist 9 years ago,a military and population fighting for their lives and their rights to exist ,

The Russians are fighting for what,they don't know, whats the end game ,they don't know, what's the current plan,they don't know.

Raping and murdering people on an industrial scale ,and you wonder why they are called Orc's,

Subhuman scum and they are dieing in there thousands a week,

Why they don't know why,

but they dieing horrifying deaths 24/7 for no reason they know of .

It's not 1945 anymore

The point is with Putin, he has always quashed dissent...just look at the very first Oligarch he "quashed"...the richest and most powerful of them all, Khodorkovsky, He made an example of him, and the writing on the wall was crystal clear for all the other's, what I have done to him, I can and will do to you if you get any ideas like him and try an challenge me. And so the stage was set. Its something he is well used to throughout his dictatorship. Like I mentioned, Samara is one possible flashpoint for protests to break out, and who knows if it would be the spark to break the log jam? That there is an undercurrent of dissent creeping in is inescapable, when he ordered the mobilization of 300'00 conscripts, and 700'000 + left the Country speaks volumes about dissent. We will see what happens if and when he calls for the mobilization of 500'000. That will be interesting to see how that goes.

The blue line I drew is the Bakhmut river.

Unless Ukraine can reverse things soon, I fear they will end up needing to withdraw to positions to the west of it. The front Ukraine are defending is very wide, with very limited crossing points to supply it. The current situation doesn't look sustainable.

If Ukraine had more artillery/ammo, they would not be in this position. Unfortunately the powers that be and most people on this forum seem to think that Ukraine has everything it needs.

Can you reread what you posted Toby please. Only your Russia are trying to take anything and all they need to do is feck off back home for peace to break out all over.

They would not even need to fire a single bullet, all they'd need to do is draw the line, and make it very clear that if Russia cross it there will be consequences, like giving Ukraine everything they request to defend themselves, long range missiles, fighter jets, ect

All we need now is people to stop telling us what the Russians social media accounts are claiming how the Russians are winning,

Bakhmut and soledar are prime examples Russians have taken them every night for 9 months so we're told

Sick of checking twitter for news. Latest info full of Russian bots. Of course posting videos showing bad losses for Ukrainians but when you scroll past the first 20 replies which are also bots you see over half these videos are actually Russian soldiers suffering.

Bakhmut and co have held on now for about 2 and a half month's of non stop attacks. I just hope the frontline hasn't shifted to Kramatorsk come march or April.

"You're drunk on the western cool-aid."

Real westerners know it's spelled Kool-aid, tovarisch

They are being given an extremely garbled version of their own history by state propaganda. They never invaded anywhere in the last 100 years, they were only ever a force for good and any territory they lost was illegally stolen from them. Against this relentless brainwashing, it's easy to see why the serfs would buy into the idea of Ukraine being a "Nazi" state which poses a huge threat to them and which had to be invaded.

"Historical lands" are a thing with a lot of countries and are an easy way to stir up nationalistic fervour. Trouble for Russia is that I know of nowhere within the former eastern bloc where a majority of a state's population would like a closer relationship with Russia. A big side effect of Russia's corrupt and authoritarian nature has been a severe hindrance to its ability to project soft power, since other countries will look at the ensuing economic and social stagnation for ordinary people and back away a little bit. It has tried to balance that with pumping oligarch money into foreign investments, mineral exports and flexing some military muscle, but that has fallen short. Feeling out of options, it has resorted to more overt military moves, but the blowback from that has caused further economic and international isolation, leaving it in a worse place than it began this escapade, and essentially trying to dig itself out of quicksand.

Russia now claiming they killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers in a revenge strike. You have to laugh. Like a kid saying my Dad is bigger than your Dad.

Jesus Wibbs don't waste your time. Hes clearly a rereg troll, he just spreads ru propaganda. Soon he'll be gone and mar53/grumpyperson/a banned/new account will reappear with the same BS.

Knowing how to suffer and struggle won't win you an offensive military campaign. You have to marry that some actual nous and ability to use logistics - two qualities which the Russians appear to lack. The ability to 'weather the storm' is one that benefits the defenders rather than the invaders, historically, and if grit is a quality both the Russians and Ukrainians share, the Ukrainians also have HIMARS and high morale to go with it.

And speaking of Russian stamina for the fight, Afghanistan says hello. Russians managed it for less than 10. The Americans managed it for 20, and it didn't even precipitate the collapse of their system of government. Maybe if the Russians had smoked more filterless cigarettes and lifted rusty weights in -20 weather they'd have done better.

So when all is said and done will u than answer these questions

• -why did a large No of Russians leave Ru during the last conscription round.
• what % of one above went to Ru supporting ‘countries ‘ such as Belarus and not to ex USSR members and others not supporting countries in the current conflict?
• why did we see a lot of disturbances during one above - eg women mothers/ wives / sisters fighting in the street to object to their men being taken away. People being shot/killed in ‘recruitment c’ centres
• why do Ru , when going overseas for whatever reason, go towards the west b, be it Italy Ireland, France USA , Germany , France , etc , and NOT China, North Korea and some of the ex USSR states ?
• Why has the Russians with ‘discretionary ‘ cash keep/ invest most of it in. The UK , USA, Germany , and other such western countries
• etc
• etc
• etc
• etc
• you seem to be completely wrapped up in a time warp. Your typical Ru citizen may have been happy with their lot tens/hundreds of years ago BUT wait until they find out that there is another way of life out there - through the media ; friends/ family returning home ALIVE for holidays/ breaks/ business reasons- will they be BE ALLOWED to EVEN CONSIDER the other way of living?