Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Yeah. Possibly. However i remember stories of putin on his own completely isolated in the kremlin, spending alot of time in the archives. No one around him to talk him down or give alternative views etc.

This is nice if true

Think these lads still stuck in the lift?

People talk about Russian losses, and it's obviously great for Ukraine whenever Russian gear gets scrapped, but the more pertinent calculation is what Russia are losing vs what they're producing for the war, and then also what level of production they can sustain. How many planes, tanks, boats etc are rolling off their producation line per month? Is there an estimate?

They were promoted to Sunflower.

The "loophole" the article mentioned had a $500m limit. While Biden might be able to price some things like older cluster shells or perhaps missiles the military is phasing out or upgrading as low value, it is imo not a substitute for an aid package to Ukraine of $60bn or so.

(In normal/democratic political circumstances, outside of war/emergency) I don't think it is intended to let the President just classify vast amounts of US weaponry (that still work, even if older) as low value and have it shipped over to another country, or to "sell" vast amounts of it to others, with no further oversights from rest of the govt.

I do agree with you that there hasn't been enough will from Biden and the US, or from European countries and too much caution.

Point I was making is level of will over on other side of US politics is much lower, or negative (in that they are the ones holding up aid, necessitating talking about use of Presidential orders etc. to get around their blockage).

Seems they will do nothing to help Ukraine if it costs them/their party anything politically, like going against Trump in the election year/giving Biden some kind of political win as they see it.

Some of them would even prefer to see Putin/Russia make progress in Ukraine, for whatever reasons.

Reading your posts a long while and as far as I could see you are not any kind of socialist or lefty be it of the older mould or a modern "woke" type - sorry!🤣 edit: I see even in above post you are doing your thing of insisting on calling the Russian military the "Red Army" (!). I didn't think you'd disagree with me on saying you are well over on the right side as regards your politics.

So after nearly 2 years of near zero movement of the Frontline for Russia (we'll ignore Kharkiv and Kherson), Russia will reach Kyiv? Based on Russia taking the 140th largest city after 4 months.... It's now on the march to Kyiv? Seems overly optimistic for the Russians. Kyiv in 3 years, is that the new slogan?

Zelensky's approval ratings have fallen quite a bit in the last year and the mayor of Kyiv, among others, have been very critical.

In the opinion of some here that's all lies and Russian propaganda, but it was reported by, among others, the same Kyiv Independent that is very much pro Ukrainian war effort (see polls enthusiastically posted here in last 24 hours).

Personally I think Zelensky is doing a good job but it's pretty obvious the longer the war goes on the more likely rivals will start appearing and claiming they can provide a better solution. This war can't go on forever and there's a lot less optimism than there was 12 months ago. Rightly or wrongly, the blame game will start if things don't pick up soon

Like the Kyiv Independent?

My answer is not yes. As I've said many times, I think Zelensky has been a good war leader. Still doesn't mean he won't be vulnerable to challenges as time goes on. That's the nature of politics in a democracy.

To sum up: If you could just learn that "I think this might happen" does not mean "I want this to happen" it would prevent a lot of misunderstandings and rants on your part. You seem incapable of making that distinction, I don't know why.

And what narrative are you taking from that? (given that both of them are popular leaders), I stand by my statement.