Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Plenty to Poland though

Honestly that reflects my sentiments.

I'm not experienced in war or combat in any way bar an interest in military history. I just finished reading The Old Breed and active combat sounds horrific and inhumane.

Far be it from me to tell to some Ukranian refugee to go home and "do their bit". I would be on the first flight out of here if I heard Micheál Martin on the radio looking for volunteers.

Since you are too lazy to provide any evidence to support your anti Ukrainian refugee views I wont be following any instructions from you and think it appropriate to post a link to balance all of the horses**t about cowardly Ukrainians with a story of one who returned from Finland at the start of the all out invasion by putin's forces last year to defend his homeland from moskovyte imperialism:

You've been talking to my wife!

If true then I see that as a Very positive development. It indicates their strong attachment to their homeland, support their men/ womenfolk on the front lines and elsewhere, meet relatives who stayed and offer support, bring needed supplies, etc, etc, etc, etc.

so the development h outdoor not be ridiculed or ‘sneezed at’.

Which would be a better holiday destination atm.

Ukraine or Russia?

The front-line soldiers and the ones in support are only the tip of the iceberg, and an iceberg is said to be 9/10ths submerged. So, it's a pretty apt description. And when you hear posters joking about the 40 and older Ukrainian soldiers, they are not saying what the 40–50-year-olds are doing. In Syria I met men and women well in their 50's manning checkpoints and doing a good job of it too, freeing up younger fighting age men for front line dutys.

As a long time subscriber to this thread, and with a heavy heart, I too am inclined to agree.

I have always in the passed, do now and will continue to hope that Ukraine some how manages to boot the scum that is Russia from its sovereign land but I'm having serious doubts.

I think the collective West, irrespective of all its "We're with Ukraine to the very end" , its standing ovations for Zelensky in its various houses of power, its robust handshakes at meet and greets in front of the cameras and its many many promises.. we all have to get used to the idea that its very unlikely now that Ukraine will ever get back all of the land Russia stole from it since the invasion.

There will be no major breakthroughs, the current counter offensive has unfortunately floundered and Ukraine military chiefs are openly exclaiming that the war is at a stalemate, the political will and landscapes are just not what they were this time last year either.

There are fractures appearing in places where strong bonds seemed to exist before, such as the relationship between Ukraine and Poland, their politicians are not as pally pally as they once were, trucker protests continue and even internally, once what seemed like strong bonds are publicly under strain such as Klitschko proclaiming Zelensky is "Paying for mistakes he has made" and  Zelensky is allegedly "bypassing" Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi in communication with some military commanders, complicating the latter's ability to fully command Ukraine's Armed Forces.

Some countries are also no longer willing to handover the military aid Ukraine needs, major players (US) are on the cusp of stopping military and financial aid to Ukraine due to their own political bickering and one-upmanship.

Lets face it, Ukraine was drip fed military equipment that was second rate in comparison to the modern NATO \ EU systems enjoyed by their members militaries, they were given just enough to stave off the aggressors and in some places push them back, but not anywhere near in the quantities required to fully drive the marauding hoard back from where they came.

If it comes to pass that the whisperings that are supposedly getting louder in political circles in both the EU and US are true whereby they are looking to start putting pressure on Kyiv to go to the negotiating table, then its inevitable that Putin will be rubbing his hands together and quite rightly exclaiming that he was right, the West did fold in the end, he will have gotten his pound of flesh and all the 10s of 1000s of Russian lives it cost to get that pound of flesh will have been worth it.

The Russian people will look upon the West as weak and that their dear leader was right all along, and in my opinion, if all this comes to pass, its a characterization the west will fully deserve.

It will embolden not just him, but others too looking on from the shadows and the door will be open for more leaders with imperialistic tendencies to come to the fore at various locations around the globe.

My fear is that, right now, it is just Ukraine that will deal with the brunt of what Russia has to offer at the negotiating table but give it a few years and Russia learns from its many mistakes in this escapade, I wont be surprised if we see an emboldened Russia once again move westwards and try encroach into a NATO member state and call NATOs bluff, after all, NATO done very little this time round, what's to make him think it would be any different next time round ?

I so hope I'm wrong

Thats true -

also at one point the number one profession/ group being actively conscripted / drafted (i forget the difference) was accountants,

There is a massive military need also for trades and professions, and Ukraine are currently trying to match skills to needs at recruitment / conscription - ie you agree to join as an electrician or a mechanic

I assume with a large bureaucracy know for corruption prewar , actively in an all out war, and with limited I.T. -because war- the fear is that fick ups or changes to those policies could happen in a heart beat ..

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??

you don't speak sarcasm as it seems...

There was a time when, from from a humanity standpoint, you could understand the logic in encouraging Ukraine to negotiate a settlement. Huge numbers of civilians were being killed and injured every week, the energy infrastructure was on its knees, ability to defend against long distance missiles seemed negligible and Russia looked as though it had only halted its ground offensive because of the winter. But that's long gone. Now it's Russia whose navy has been neutered, hasn't advanced anywhere of any significance in - what, over a year? , is seeing its air defence systems targeted with precision, is suffering massive numbers of casualties in nonsensical attempts to take tiny villages/ towns, is stuck in a foreign country like a sitting duck, having to maintain extensive supply chains.

I don't see why anyone would suggest Ukraine has to negotiate now. Unless there is something going on behind the scenes that none of us are privy to which is pushing the narrative in the media the last week or two of 'problems for Ukraine'. If the US are deciding to scale back financial/ military support and the EU is seeing more member states slide towards right wing governments, then maybe there is a source of discomfort there. But unless Russia is getting massive backhanders from China, surely it's Putin who must be feeling the noose tighten with every passing month?

I'd be wary of what Putin would turn to if it became clear that the tide of war on the ground had turned. Russia seem to be the masters of the dark arts. All they need is to isolate Ukraine from the EU (foment right wing sentiment here, encourage more Orbans into power, whip up anti-foreigner/ anti-establishment rhetoric) and the US (whip up hysteria about the middle east, muslims, china etc). Putin won't go quietly with his tail between his legs that's for sure.