Embed this noticeof nothing (apropos@freespeechextremist.com)'s status on Saturday, 13-May-2023 02:54:22 JST
of nothinghttps:///twitter.com/RWApodcast/status/1657064338782289934 >The Poly Pack factory building in Lugansk was hit by one or several Ukrainian missiles. ... >Decoys and new missiles - yeah, looks like a test run for future attempts at deep strikes. 1. bring knife to knife fight 2. start to lose knife fight 3. get handed a gun... <- we are here 4. discover that enemy also has guns starting to worry that a long-term lesson of the Russia's SMO is that the restraint will be seen as foolish. "I'd better act like the US and bomb places into the stone age, every time. If not, won't we have to bomb them anyway?" the-enemy-is-in-reach.jpg
@augustus@apropos This doesn't end well for Ukraine nor for their history and culture being preserved when it is bombed. I don't know why Ukraine can't just be neutral... oh wait, it's that oil again, isn't it?
@sim@apropos I'm continually blown away by Ukraine's capacity to resist and continue waging this war. I've still got my money on Moscow but the recent counter-offensive near Bakhmut is making me raise an eyebrow
@augustus@apropos Well, it helps that they have our money and future backing them up. We'll be paying for this for generations to come probably. It disgusts me.
@augustus@apropos@sim interesting to see how powerless all the "great powers" seem to be. The US hasn't won any conflict since ww2, losing disastrously against jungle communists and "guys in caves".
@augustus@apropos@sim The biggest problem for Ukraine is their refusal to settle for anything less than retaking Crimea, which would be an existential humiliation for Putin. If not for that they could probably have gotten a ceasefire or something.
@lain@apropos@augustus Imagine if Ukraine couldn't borrow large sums of money from western countries or take their older resources. The kings in the past really had to think about that when they were at war, and often had to retreat for the winter. Even Russia has to think about this, perhaps a part of why they held such restraint for many years to ensure that they wouldn't be worse off when they finally got an opportunity to become involved and had an excuse to be.
@caekislove@apropos They've increased missile strikes and air power stuff since Surovikin took over, lots of FAB bombings near Avdiivka, but they seem to lack man power and as a result act overly defensive on the ground, ceding territory whenever there is small pushback. I know they've had some logistical problems but I think their lack of ruthlessness with mobilization is biting them in the ass, and its not surprising given that most Russians don't want to die fighting against retards in a country they don't want anything to do with
@augustus@sim@apropos Ukraine might be the most anti-Russian state of the west half of the former Soviet Union if not its entirety. That and the examples set in Georgia Chechnya etc before Ukraine itself was invaded, does a lot for their fighting spirit.
@awl@apropos@sim it's pretty hard to beat Poland when it comes to being anti-Russia. but yes, a lot of people still like to characterize the old president Yanukovich as being some Russian stooge, but he maintained a lot of his popularity in the country by being anti-Russian (and then playing both sides)
@augustus@caekislove@apropos Yeah, Russia's been extremely conservative with manpower, and it's what cost them their big withdrawals last fall, being outnumbered at least 6:1 across the entire front. They only had about 1/10 of their active duty military in Ukraine for the first 10 months of the conflict.
They activated 1/7 of their reserve last October, which eventually brought their manpower up to parity in most places, but if they had activated even 2/7 of their reserves, Russia would have an overwhelming manpower advantage along the front right now.
@sim telling Ukraine they are like Russia is like calling Serbian and Croatian both Serbo-Croat. It’s more correct but don’t tell them that!@apropos@freespeechextremist.com @augustus
@sim@awl@augustus propaganda's a hell of a thing. That's another angle of the SMO: that the Russians were surprised by how much the Ukrainians actually bought into it.
@apropos@augustus@awl What is the SMO? I don't think that I am familiar with it. The politics in Eastern Europe are confusing to me.
The other thing that gets me is that Ukraine just had to wait for another generation or so, to remain neutral until then. Maybe play both sides. But eventually Russia would be consumed into the West and then basically neutralised, they were heading in that direction before this war began and completely cut them off. I can't believe how buddy-buddy my country were about Russian investment here when we shouldn't be supporting foreign investment on the things that matter for our country, like our main sports games or public infrastructure... or even the banking system. Or, heaven forbid, investment in our politics. What is that all about?
@leyonhjelm@apropos@sim don't cope, they didn't have resources or manpower to hold right bank of Kherson or Izium, and they want these places back eventually
You’re making a mistake in treating Ukraine as resisting and waging the war. Every “victory” of the Ukrainian side is them taking something the Russians don’t care about.
It’s hard to call it “restraint” when Russia already took everything it wants.
I’ve said for over a year now that the Western media is projecting objectives on Russia that do not exist. From the Russian standpoint, all they wanted is the ethnic and historic Russian regions. To the Western media, nothing short of Russians patrolling the Polish border is a Russian victory.
@ArdainianRight@augustus@apropos@sim That and over 700,000 mobilized Russian troops ready too steamroll their way too the western boarder. Wagner and the Chechens have probably been promised Ukrainian farm land as spoils of war.
@leyonhjelm@apropos Well, one thing that I like about @augustus is that he has some entertaining takes and sometimes it is hard to tell which ones he agrees with and which are just shitposting. But this one seems more serious. Either way, my timeline is kept entertained and interesting.
@sim@apropos@leyonhjelm controlling the territory of the 4 oblasts is the minimum requirement for Russian victory. those places I mentioned are just the two notable locations where Ukraine managed to push Russia out of since the war began. Izium isn't in either oblast but they will need to control it to secure Donetsk