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Interesting article about Putin's closest allies possibly accepting that Russia has lost the war:
Quote:
The journalist said senior figures from the FSB security agency and the GRU military intelligence organisation are preparing for life after Putin.
He said the ‘FSB elite’ knows exactly how many Russian troops have died in Ukraine and knows that the loved ones of the dead or missing ‘do not stop asking questions’.
‘They know that this situation will eventually get out of hand,’ Grozev added.
‘These are those parts of the security forces who know the dangers for the regime, and they themselves are now preparing their future.
‘Some of them are looking for an opportunity to take their families out of Russia, all are looking for ways to transfer the accumulated money (corruption money in many cases) into dollars and euros.
‘This is already a kind of betrayal by these people, because they do not follow the ideological orders of the Kremlin, but are preparing for an alternative reality.’
Clearly their strategy is to reduce the ability for Ukraine to become the economic power they once were. It’s a lot easier to control a country without much industry beyond tourism. It’s sinister, and evil, but what do you expect from Russia? It’s happening to their country too, but because of incompetence and sanctions rather than someone bombing their plants.
Bingo.
If Russia is going down, they’re taking Ukraine with it.
Europe is still buying Russian gas and oil, so Russia still has all the money it needs to fund this.
If Russia is going down, they’re taking Ukraine with it.
Europe is still buying Russian gas and oil, so Russia still has all the money it needs to fund this.
But what would they buy? They can't buy the parts and equipment they need today, and that's not going to change.
They are sanctioned by over 40 countries, and most foreign companies will not deal with them. Ukraine can actually rebuild, and can expect help in doing so.
Russia as fascist? With this ubiquitous letter "Z" the new swastika?
@anneapplebaum
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8h
"Other people are there to be colonized [this is spun as Russian egalitarianism]. Russia is innocent because of its ancient past [we've heard that too]. The existence of Ukraine is an international conspiracy. War is the answer." Russia, says @TimothyDSnyder, meets the definition of fascism.
Timothy Snyder, a Yale history professor and the author of multiple books on fascism, totalitarianism and European history, writes in a NYT op ed :
Quote:
We err in limiting our fears of fascism to a certain image of Hitler and the Holocaust. Fascism was Italian in origin, popular in Romania — where fascists were Orthodox Christians who dreamed of cleansing violence — and had adherents throughout Europe (and America). ...
Because of that, it’s impossible to define satisfactorily. People disagree, often vehemently, over what constitutes fascism. But today’s Russia meets most of the criteria that scholars tend to apply. It has a cult around a single leader, Vladimir Putin. It has a cult of the dead, organized around World War II. It has a myth of a past golden age of imperial greatness, to be restored by a war of healing violence — the murderous war on Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/o...?smid=tw-share
He talks about the two-year period when Stalin cooperated with Hitler mentioning the victimhood theme also found in this thread:
Quote:
Nazi speeches were reprinted in the Soviet press and Nazi officers admired Soviet efficiency in mass deportations [presumably including the Polish deportations during 1939-41]. But Russians today do not speak [some apparently do not know] of this fact, since memory laws make it a crime to do so. World War II is an element of Mr. Putin’s historical myth of Russian innocence and lost greatness — Russia must enjoy a monopoly on victimhood and on victory. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/o...?smid=tw-share
You people are still missing the point. Putin's views of Russia and the world were not the reasons for the SMO at all. Russia stepped in for very specific military reasons, namely to defend the Donbas from the Ukrainian attacks that, from February 16 on (i.e. a week before the invasion), drastically increased from just a handful to thousands per day, which is confirmed by OSCE statistics.
That was what overwhelmingly prompted the invasion. I don't think any person with even a little amount of morals can criticize Russia for preventing a genocide.
Russia today is not unlike 80 years ago, again helping defeat genocidal Nazis.
The difference is that today the former allies are on the Nazi, i.e. wrong side of things. Of course they don't realize that, just like German Nazis did not realize they were the bad guys back then.
If Russia is going down, they’re taking Ukraine with it.
Europe is still buying Russian gas and oil, so Russia still has all the money it needs to fund this.
Ukraine will become a smaller version of what happened to Japan and Germany after WW2. It will become the most powerful country in Eastern Europe...militarily and GDP.
UK military intelligence maps the damage caused by Russian artillery to the Chernihiv region where 3,500 buildings were destroyed or damaged: 80 percent were residential. Its bulletin states Russia has limited ability to identify targets and restricts flights of combat aircraft outside its front lines. The result: indiscriminate artillery bombardment. It projects Russia will continue to rely heavily on this kind of bombardment if it attempts to regain momentum in eastern Ukraine.
You people are still missing the point. Putin's views of Russia and the world were not the reasons for the SMO at all. Russia stepped in for very specific military reasons, namely to defend the Donbas from the Ukrainian attacks that, from February 16 on (i.e. a week before the invasion), drastically increased from just a handful to thousands per day, which is confirmed by OSCE statistics.
That was what overwhelmingly prompted the invasion. I don't think any person with even a little amount of morals can criticize Russia for preventing a genocide.
Russia today is not unlike 80 years ago, again helping defeat genocidal Nazis.
The difference is that today the former allies are on the Nazi, i.e. wrong side of things. Of course they don't realize that, just like German Nazis did not realize they were the bad guys back then.
the problem with taking a 3 week hiatus from a hot thread like this...is you are hundreds of posts behind the times. we are no longer hosting the nazi BS. moved on so to speak...catch up buddy!
You people are still missing the point. Putin's views of Russia and the world were not the reasons for the SMO at all. Russia stepped in for very specific military reasons, namely to defend the Donbas from the Ukrainian attacks that, from February 16 on (i.e. a week before the invasion), drastically increased from just a handful to thousands per day, which is confirmed by OSCE statistics.
That was what overwhelmingly prompted the invasion. I don't think any person with even a little amount of morals can criticize Russia for preventing a genocide.
Russia today is not unlike 80 years ago, again helping defeat genocidal Nazis.
The difference is that today the former allies are on the Nazi, i.e. wrong side of things. Of course they don't realize that, just like German Nazis did not realize they were the bad guys back then.
Russia did not build up the invasion force (75% of their total land forces) 1 week before the invasion.
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