Thread: Stupid Shit in Kyiv
+
Add Report
Results 736 to 750 of 2504
-
03-25-23 03:24 #1769
Posts: 516He definitely went further than he has before
Originally Posted by Xpartan [View Original Post]
In this latest clip he used the ICC arrest warrant as his excuse. It'll be interesting to see what he says in the coming days. If he goes back to bashing generals, that's one possible path. If he continues to focus on Putin, no matter what he uses as a facade, that'll be a significant change, IMO. He has nowhere to go, so his survival depends on how well he's protected and how well he can navigate treacherous waters.
-
03-24-23 20:31 #1768
Posts: 1949Originally Posted by VinDici [View Original Post]
And yes, Mandarin is a tough language to learn, but they'll manage as long as they start early in life.
The only thing I'm curious about at this point is how long it'll take for China to return to the borders of 1857. I think Vegas should start taking bets on the matter.
https://russiaglobal.omeka.fas.harva.../items/show/23
-
03-24-23 08:34 #1767
Posts: 323Essentially for Vatniks
Originally Posted by Questner [View Original Post]
-
03-24-23 06:03 #1766
Posts: 746Originally Posted by Questner [View Original Post]
-
03-24-23 05:33 #1765
Posts: 1315Some essential daily listening https://youtu.be/WDoXRbr860U.
-
03-24-23 05:32 #1764
Posts: 1949Originally Posted by Jmsuttr [View Original Post]
-
03-23-23 23:16 #1763
Posts: 516More on sanctions
By their very nature, any sanctions regime is a dynamic process as the sanctioned nation works to avoid them and the nations enforcing the sanctions work to tighten them. It's certainly possible to find stories on both sides, but here's one that highlights the fact that sometimes a very small sanctioned item can have an outsized effect:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/202...d-from-storage
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidax...-80-tanks-too/
Both articles focus on the lack of modern optics for use in Russian tanks. No matter how many they produce, repair, or refurbish, that weak link is a major disadvantage for Russian armored forces. At a minimum, it probably undermines the ability for any significant offensive push relying on tanks. That makes it more likely that Russia may need to continue their use of "human wave" tactics for offensive action and may have to settle for trying to defend territory they currently hold.
Just to clarify, this info isn't meant as a general assessment of the effectiveness of sanctions, or lack thereof. It's just a single data point that I found interesting. Everyone is free to draw their own conclusions and we'll probably have to wait until after the war ends before we get a more comprehensive picture.
-
03-23-23 22:39 #1762
Posts: 516More on Girkin
Originally Posted by Xpartan [View Original Post]
In this particular instance, his verbiage is more nuanced than it appears at first glance.
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...50468952391681
If you watch the video clip (4 m 26's) you'll notice that the direct criticism is aimed primarily at Putin's speechwriters. So Girkin is saying that, in the wake of the ICC arrest warrant, the speechwriters are failing Putin (and Russia) by not telling him to be quiet. Since I don't speak Russian, I don't know if the phrase used for "shut up" is as harsh and direct as it is in English. Whatever the case, you can see the tightrope walk in action as he frequently uses wording that allows him to maintain the (obvious) fiction that he's only criticizing Kremlin flunkies for their failures. And, while I haven't watched the clip referred to in the first article (cretinism comment), it's my guess Girkin was playing the same transparent game.
Of course it's absolutely true that Putin, if sufficiently displeased, could order Girkin's assassination at a moment's notice. I've seen a couple of theories as to why that hasn't happened. One theory is that Girkin still has enough in the way of FSB connections to offer him protection, as long as he doesn't go too far. The other is that the Kremlin allows him to serve as a mouthpiece for ultranationalists who are dissatisfied with the war effort. I have no idea if either of these are correct, but they're both contingent on a successful negotiation of the tightrope by Girkin. If or when he screws up, we'll know soon enough.
-
03-23-23 08:35 #1761
Posts: 1949Originally Posted by Jmsuttr [View Original Post]
That said, the process of "telling him he's wrong" has already started. Lately, he's been wildly and brutally criticized by a convicted war criminal Girkin-Strelkov, the former so-called DNR "Defense Minister. ".
Prominent military blogger and former Russian commander Igor Girkin has again disparaged Vladimir Putin, saying that the president should "shut up" about aspects of his full-scale invasion.
In a video uploaded to his Telegram social media channel, the former FSB officer, who led Moscow-backed forces in the Donbas region from 2014, said that Putin does not act like he is the president "of a huge country with over 1,000 years of history."
https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-rus...s-shut-1789177
As a "retired" FSB colonel, Girkin would never dare tell Putin to shut up if he wasn't sure that FSB would provide impunity. Hence the question: why would FSB allow anyone to badmouth the boss?
Perhaps, Putin's personal doomsday may arrive sooner than we think.
-
03-23-23 08:29 #1760
Posts: 323Muscovy is the Belarus of China
Originally Posted by Questner [View Original Post]
-
03-23-23 03:41 #1759
Posts: 1315The joke of the day: 'Once upon a time in the Small Kingdom there lived a depleted uranium ammo shell. And one day he travelled east. And he returned to his homeland enriched. And this is how both the tale and the Small Kingdom ended. '.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/republ...ia-ukraine-war
-
03-23-23 00:29 #1758
Posts: 516Delusions doom dictators
Originally Posted by Paulie97 [View Original Post]
For example, even though the Russian Orthodox Church only espouses Kremlin-approved positions, I think Putin actually believes the delusion that he has a special mission (God-given or otherwise) to reclaim 'historic' Russian lands, like a modern-day Peter the Great, and lead Slavic peoples against the degenerate West. Unfortunately for him, no one outside Russia wants to be under Moscow's authority and post-Soviet countries are adamant they're not going back to those former times.
Another way Putin has deluded himself, IMO, is by buying into the Stalingrad myth. Russians love to reference this battle as evidence they can withstand any hardship and prevail against weaker-willed enemies. There are a LOT of flaws with that view. Here are some that come to mind:
1. Hitler made what many agree was a fatal error when he decided to open a second front in the war. This current war has only one front, and Ukraine has no distractions preventing them from applying all their strength and attention to the goal of repelling Putin's invasion.
2. Stalingrad was a defensive battle for the Soviets, with German forces at a logistical and geographical disadvantage. The current war is exactly the opposite, with Russia being forced to extend and maintain military supply lines deep into occupied territory.
3. It's an essential tenet of the Stalingrad myth that Russians repelled the German army all by themselves, and that their efforts led directly to Hitler's eventual defeat. The reality is that the USSR received enormous amounts of Lend-Lease aid from Allied countries, without which they might not have prevailed or might have paid a much higher price. In this current war, Ukraine is the country receiving the lion's share of military aid. Russia is lucky if they can get a few drones from Iran and some dual-use microchips from China.
https://www.rbth.com/history/335471-...se-helped-ussr
4. Russia is not the USSR. They don't have the USSR's industrial resources or the USSR's demographics and manpower. There are various estimates but some put the number of able-bodied men who've fled the draft at upwards of one million. And that doesn't count the brain-drain of others who have left for a variety of other reasons. Oh, and many of the USSR's "strong-willed" warriors were drawn from the populations of areas that are no longer part of Russia, including Ukraine. While the resolve of some could waver, the resolve of Ukraine (and also Poland, the Baltics, and others) will not be shaken.
As with Hitler, once a dictator's delusional mindset takes hold, it's hard to see what could change it. No one is going to be bold (or suicidal) enough to tell him he's wrong. And any setback will be blamed on the incompetence or betrayal of subordinates. How and when the "doom deadline" will be reached is hard to say, but Putin is well on his way.
-
03-22-23 01:36 #1757
Posts: 1680Correct
Originally Posted by Jmsuttr [View Original Post]
-
03-18-23 18:30 #1756
Posts: 1949Brasileiro Denis Pushilin, LOL!
It seems that the infamous Putin's collaborator, head of the so-called Donetsk People Republic and war criminal to boot, has decided to finally run away from the "Russian World. " Far, far away.
Senor Pushilin who seems to proudly possess a Brazilian passport, purchased a 6,000 sq. Ft. Lot in Jaguaruna in Santa Catarina, to the south of Floripa. Looks quite a nice lot to me right in front of the ocean. Much nicer than a noose awaiting him in Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/f_o_r_Ukraine/st...htmode%3Dfalse
-
03-18-23 18:07 #1755
Posts: 1949Originally Posted by Jmsuttr [View Original Post]
He'll be dealt with quietly. They're not going to sodomize him like Gaddafi or shoot him like Ceausescu. After all, it's almost a family matter. As in Cosa Nostra.
He'll probably succumb to a heart attack. Quiet, realistic, venerable.