General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUkraine is killing Russians with no shred of humanity. Why should they?
Drones are killing Russian occupiers at a 95% rate, 30K+/Russian casualties a month. And increasing. How many more Russian lives will Putin kill before he admits defeat?
magicarpet
(18,741 posts)Then maybe this war of aggression, waste of treasure and lives of young men at the prime of their lives will finally come to an end.
Hope & pray for that result.
BannonsLiver
(20,676 posts)Thats a calculation only he can make. We dont know a lot about the Kremlin palace intrigue right now but it sure seems like self preservation has been a little more at the forefront lately for him.
Ukraine has also proven to be far more resilient and resourceful than even the most optimistic takes at the start of the war.
OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)The Russia/Soviet Army is destroyed. The only card Putin has left are nukes. Betting wargamer's in the EU/NATO are focused on this gambit.
BannonsLiver
(20,676 posts)Putin is getting backed into a corner on manpower. Theyve taken a lot of people from rural areas but those wells are running dry. Any kind of future mass mobilization would require taking men from urban areas which seems more likely to be met with resistance 4 years in. authoritarians have been toppled by less. Thats taking the long way to say to your point I dont think Putin can defeat Ukraine without using nuclear weapons. Were to that stage now.
Emrys
(9,163 posts)Once in captivity, they're treated pretty well. You just have to contrast the well-fed, rested state of Russian POWs with emaciated and damaged Ukrainian POWs during prisoner exchanges to see evidence of the two cultures. Unfortunately, many of the returned Russian POWs end up back on the front as cannonfodder soon after release. Some have defected rather than return to Russia and are fighting alongside the Ukrainians.
For Ukraine, the gloves came off after the massacres in Bucha and later those that are ongoing in the border oblasts and Russian-occupied areas and the wantonly cruel bomb attacks on civilians in Ukraine's major conurbations. All that doesn't exactly foster a sense of charity toward the enemy.
fujiyamasan
(1,852 posts)And it depends on who comes to power after Putin. Its not clear if any so called moderates or doves exist, or if theyve all been purged. It appears to be the latter.
Of course even if Ukraine gives up territory, theres no reason to trust Putin in honoring any agreement, or to believe this wouldnt restart a few years down the line (Putin rearms further and relaunches).
It goes to show how delusional he was in launching this war in the first place.
Theres really no choice but for Europe to further assist Ukraine in arming itself. It may actually be in their interests for the US to leave NATO, since Trumps actions primarily benefit Russia anyways.
OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)Putin, if he were smart, would sue for peace now. Ukraine will be expecting reparations that Putin can't deliver,,,,,because he's bankrupted Russia.
ColoringFool
(793 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)Putin's grab? How many more Euro's can he extract for his benefit?
The Bopper
(317 posts)Is pull a Trumpie, declare victory, no explanations necessary...
Deuxcents
(27,180 posts)Nor should they. Putin greatly miscalculated Ukraines character and theyve fought Russians and every mercenary Putin could get. I dont see Ukraine giving up
Trueblue Texan
(4,521 posts)...he had all the right Yes men in place, just like TSF does!
PeaceWave
(3,546 posts)Putin is feeding a couple of generations worth of Russian men straight into the meat grinder.
hatrack
(64,968 posts)And if something can't go on forever, it won't. They're using convicted criminals, men in their 50s and 60s, press-ganged immigrants and blackmailed rural minorities from the Central Asian former SSRs.
And the one thing that Putin can't do is the one thing that Russians Who Matter (that is, white Great Russians) will NOT stand for - ordering full mobilization.
OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)They were fighting for their lives, back then.
Now, a war against another adjacent country, for no reason?....not so much.
blue-wave
(5,329 posts)Ukrainians are saving Ukrainian lives. Through the centuries, Russia has mass murdered Ukrainians by the millions. It is time for this to stop once and for all. Russia must be defeated and defeated badly on the battlefield. It might be the only way to get through their thick skulls to any brain matter that might exist. And yet, I still debate if there is any brain matter.
PeaceWave
(3,546 posts)mitch96
(15,830 posts)till they overwhelm the enemy. In 1917 the army had enough. In 1917 the people had enough..
m
ITAL
(1,348 posts)I kinda wonder if in the early 1920s most Russians second guessed throwing off the Czar. Not that staying in WWI was good, but their CW was even worse.
Billsdaughter
(160 posts)Drunks from Siberia and forcing them to fight in the Donbas. This is the level Putin has sunk to. Unless and until Russians stand up en masses against Putin, the degradation of the Russian people continues. Oddly, many Russians still support this invasion.
Meanwhile the Ukraine Spring Offensive is off to an amazing start. With new and overwhelming support from European countries, Ukraine is gaining on all fronts.
As a Ukranian American I could not be more proud. Ukrainians are resilient people and have a fortitude greater than most, primarily as a result of occupations they have defeated time and again over centuries.
Please consider donating a life-saving FLAK survival kit via White Stork. One $37 kit could save the life of a brave defender.
HEROYAM SLAVA! SLAVA UKRAINI 🇺🇦
oberle
(377 posts)to some friends in Ohio that send supplies through Poland to Ukraine.
OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)Ukraine got sucker punched by Putin. He thought he could do a "Hitler into Czechoslovakia" re-run. He didn't and Russia has been set back decades.
On edit. Ukraine, is, bar none, the best tactical military force on the planet right now. They've had 4 years of kicking Russia's awesome military to prove it..
Putin wants to start a 2nd front against Latvia, Estonia. Lithuanian? Give it a shot, Vlad.
Easterncedar
(6,366 posts)Ukraine not so much? Is it just the way our news is bent? We hear of oil infrastructure and military installations and arms depots hit by Ukraine while apartment buildings, busy train stations, and funerals and schools are being targeted by Russia. Not to mention the damage to the nuclear plant and that horrific dam destruction.
Renew Deal
(85,253 posts)If you want to talk about surrender.
WarGamer
(18,701 posts)stopdiggin
(15,534 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)Oh, and Ukraine is now running an "Unmanned Ground Vehicle" assault on Russian lines. Russians can't compete with Ukraine's technical onslaught.
Since Russia want's to erase Ukrainian culture....how about leveling Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow? That would be a Russian eye=opener, even without Telegram.
Historic NY
(40,075 posts)they can hit a target at 5.5 km
OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)were 1/2 that distance away from attempting a kill-shot.
Swede
(39,664 posts)nt
Dethhogan
(1 post)And put a bullet in his brain like a lot of failed dictators.
niyad
(132,920 posts)rather than ruzzia? Because it isn't Ukraine bombing hospitals and schools and apartment buildings. Perhaps you could rewrite your title to more accurately reflect the situation?
OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)Putin is committing war-crimes. Ukraine is fighting this Russian war machine that is committing war crimes against Ukraine's civilians.
SleeplessinSoCal
(10,419 posts)I've read that the robots have done the work of Ukrane ground troops. But not to that extent.
Disaffected
(6,464 posts)than they did throughout their entire Afghanistan invasion.