This was posted yesterday without an explanation of why it was interesting and important.
This might be a little tougher than Putin thought...
- Thread starter Nole Lou
- Start date
What kind of residents though.
"3rd Separate Assault Brigade.The occupiers deployed tanks, armored personnel carriers, BMPs and MT-LB for the three-pronged attack"
"3rd Separate Assault Brigade.The occupiers deployed tanks, armored personnel carriers, BMPs and MT-LB for the three-pronged attack"
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I think the days of manned MBT's are coming to a close. We'll probably see unmanned autonomous MBT's in the future. Get rid of the crew compartment and you could up armor them....lower profile, lower cost, lower weight.
The Ukraine has probably sped up the transition....
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"A Russian pickup truck tries to flee a Ukrainian drone that is chasing it."
Russia issues new nuclear warning to US at UN: "Suicide venture"
Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, tensions between NATO countries and the Kremlin have continued.
www.newsweek.com
A nuclear threat. Seems like we have been down this road.
Yep
Start shooting down the drones and glide bombs
Over Russian airspace.
Tell Vlad that NATO will stop doing this when Russians stop targeting civilian infrastructure, hospitals, schools and buildings.
That's a red line, and NATO will aggressively shield Ukraine unless it stops.
Light them up. Have a few "accidentally" take out miles of rail and bridges to shut down Russian logistics.
And blow the f*** out of that Putin Palace already. Turn it into a dust pile. Then hit it again
At least they aren't back to using horses. I'd feel bad if horses were being killed in the war.
The AP continues to do excellent work in Ukraine with this story about children in a cancer ward who survived a Russian missile attack.
It still amazes me a little to see posters starting threads here supporting Russian aggression. They bomb hospitals, schools, shopping centers...
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-...en-okhmatdyt-7a5e88712053f7bb33e0983a7ecc21ab
It still amazes me a little to see posters starting threads here supporting Russian aggression. They bomb hospitals, schools, shopping centers...
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-...en-okhmatdyt-7a5e88712053f7bb33e0983a7ecc21ab
Don't know if Ukraine can "win" this war, but Russia surely can't.
Seems they were upset we were so close to their "bear"?.
Mini bomber!
"Soon the #Ukraine will have a drone that will drop a #Atombombe ! " ''Don't mess with Ukraine''
"Soon the #Ukraine will have a drone that will drop a #Atombombe ! " ''Don't mess with Ukraine''
Russian Military to Draft 133K Conscripts in Fall Call-Up - The Moscow Times
Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to enlist 133,000 young men for mandatory military service this fall and winter, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Let’s see how this is received. My guess is like a turd in the punch bowl.Russian Military to Draft 133K Conscripts in Fall Call-Up - The Moscow Times
Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to enlist 133,000 young men for mandatory military service this fall and winter, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday.www.themoscowtimes.com
Zelensky Pushes Ukraine ‘Victory Plan,’ but Frontline Troops Stare at Defeat
Ukrainian president needs to persuade not just Western allies but his own soldiers that they can beat Vladimir Putin’s invaders.
www.thedailybeast.com
Why do Russians appear so satisfied despite the war in Ukraine?
Two and a half years into their nation’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russians seem to be less affected by the war than they were in 2022.
Neither Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region nor the most recent Western sanctions seem to be igniting discontent among “ordinary” citizens or the affluent populations of Russia’s largest cities.
This comes as a surprise to many Western policymakers and the Russian dissidents who invested some hope in Muscovites and Petersburgers becoming disgruntled with the “war economy,” as such luxuries as Western boutiques, unlimited internet use and even easy weekend trips to European capitals vanish. But although Russia has become significantly cut-off from the West — one can reach Paris or Berlin only via Istanbul or Doha, and a VPN is needed to access “prohibited” websites — all of this annoys too few people to cause any significant backlash.
How can one explain such silence in those Russian communities that have been considered the most Westernized in the entire country? I would offer a rather paradoxical answer. Moscow and other Russian metropolises have become much more Westernized in recent years despite Russia appearing to be the West’s most desperate adversary.
Looking at Moscow, we see not only an enormous concentration of wealth, making the capital a contributor of 20 percent of all taxes to Russia’s federal budget, but a rapid modernization of the city’s infrastructure and development of diverse digital services barely seen anywhere else.
The Western sanctions imposed in 2022 caused a sharp fall in Russia’s capital exports. Almost all the money that would have previously been channeled into luxury European real estate instead started to flow into Moscow, St. Petersburg and their suburbs. Since 2021, the average dollar price of an apartment in Moscow has risen by a staggering 43 percent, and the city government has invested huge efforts into expanding transportation facilities and stimulating private businesses in the service sector to meet growing demand.
In the last ten years, 78 new stations of the Moscow underground were built — more than in the previous four decades — and the commuter network was integrated into a broader railway system, now resembling the Paris Métro-RER network. The city now has the largest fleet of locally made all-electric buses in Europe, while river electric trams are bolstering Moscow’s transit infrastructure.
Although Visa and MasterCard suspended their operations in Russia, Russians continue to use Central Bank’s Instantaneous Payments System, which allows the transfer of any amount of money using one’s mobile phone number as an identifier, immediately and without commission. Russia’s capital cities are now ahead of European metropolises in using QR-code payments and facial recognition in financial transactions, and mobile data in Russia remains the cheapest and fastest in Europe. Grocery shops feature the same assortment of goods as before the war, including French wine and Italian confectionary. On the top of that, doorstep delivery of food and goods by autonomous bots is commonplace.
Of course, the effects of war are still felt in Russia’s most affluent locations. For example, the massive emigration of 2022 and the growing number of people mobilized to military service has led to a labor shortage. But in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, the number sent to war is not too high, as city dwellers cannot be seduced even by record signing bonuses offered to volunteers. Meanwhile, booming demand is driving up local wages.
Moreover, the job offers have been so enticing in recent months that many Russians who left the country at the beginning of the war, are now returning after failing to integrate into European societies. Even Western celebrities like the developmental economist Jeffrey Sachs are starring in glamorous international events like the recent BRICS Urban Future Forum which attracted dozens of mayors of major cities across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Of course, the Russian metropolises were always different from the rest of the country. But these days, one may monitor their developments for understanding why the Russian citizens manage to become more affluent while their country is at war with its closest neighbor.
As I argued 15 years ago in Le Monde, the Russian post-communist society became extremely individualized and focused on, as the late Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman used to say, personal solutions of systemic contradictions. These people are not so much disturbed but rather pleased by the liberal Russians’ exodus, and they welcome those positive economic changes they witness in their everyday lives.
This economic progress, partially caused by the West’s confrontational policy, has undermined the anti-Putin sentiments in the country much more than any other factor. To date, it outweighs the curtailing of political liberties in the country in recent years — since those liberties are claimed by few, and the economic prosperity is felt by all.
The West’s attempt to undermine Russia economically since 2022 has thus produced an opposite result — at least so far.
The largest concentration of wealth in the United States is Washington D.C. That isn’t a good thing.
Russia has unlimited natural resources that the rest of the world mainly China wants to purchase. They are never going to feel the pain of war like many smaller countries do.
Uh…this has basically been known about since day 1. Moscow / St Petersburg live in a bubble of wealth, propaganda and disinformation that keeps the natives from knowing too much. Most importantly, almost all of the 650k casualties are coming from the poorer outlying areas, many who are minorities. Russia is basically a real life Panem from the Hunger Games world with an opulent and modern Capitol area district and poor and beat down districts everywhere else.
I think the takeaway from the article is not hold your breath waiting for Russia to collapse from within...
With the amount of casualties the Russians are taking I thought a popular uprising could happen...but it sure doesn't look like that will happen.
Yeah has always been the case but there are starting to be some cracks. Remember they have a major population crisis looming, the war last month is reaching Moscow and many economic forecasters point to 25 as when they can no longer keep things together.
Another take away is the west needs to do a much better job of cracking down on companies more than happy to supply known middle men to sending their goods to Russia.
India has basically been laundering Russian oil/lng to Europe since the sanctions were implemented.
