Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Buster15 said:
But will any of them even care?
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Actually Eurovision is quite popular in Russia. Russia is "One of the most successful countries in the contest in the 21st century with a total of ten top five placements".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest

The only Russian winner or Eurovision is actually... Ukrainian, born in Kiev, and she took part in Euromaidan. Interesting person, Anastasia Prikhodko.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_Prikhodko
 
Raoul said:
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Interesting that "Putin has various illnesses, one of which is cancer" according to them. Would go some way to explaining why he was so scared of Covid perhaps. Hopefully it's true and he's not got long left. Would be much easier if a new leader could pin the blame on his health and impaired decision making and just retreat.
 
TwoSheds said:
Interesting that "Putin has various illnesses, one of which is cancer" according to them. Would go some way to explaining why he was so scared of Covid perhaps. Hopefully it's true and he's not got long left. Would be much easier if a new leader could pin the blame on his health and impaired decision making and just retreat.
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If Putin is "dying" then who is pulling the strings?

Are these the actions of a seriously ill/dying man or some one using him as a last act?

I don't know the intricacies of Russian politics but is there not a mechanism that would stop a dying man from remaining in power?
 
Roane said:
If Putin is "dying" then who is pulling the strings?

Are these the actions of a seriously ill/dying man or some one using him as a last act?

I don't know the intricacies of Russian politics but is there not a mechanism that would stop a dying man from remaining in power?
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Shouldn't think so. Dictatorships don't often add coup clauses to the constitution. Putin is fully responsible for his own actions I think.
 

BTG made up from the forced mobilization in Luhansk are refusing to fight and are now sitting on the Russian/Luhansk region border which they’re not allowed to cross as higher ups threaten them with prison/mass killings for disobeying the orders. As expected these guys are just used as a cannon fodder by Russia. They’re thrown right into the meat grinder to discover the positions of Ukraine troops. Could have been part of free and developed Ukraine instead chosen to be enslaved by Russian criminals in 2014.
 
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Apparently either thermite or magnesium type munitions being rained down on the plant.

 
Rajma said:

BTG made up from the forced mobilization in Luhansk are refusing to fight and are now sitting on the Russian/Luhansk region border which they’re not allowed to cross as higher ups threaten them with prison/mass killings for disobeying the orders. As expected these guys are just used as a cannon fodder by Russia.
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Putin is getting desperate. Unfortunately, this kind of motivation works well on people.
 
TMDaines said:
Getting real tired of people downplaying the agency of Ukrainian people. Really tired of it. It’s not a board game of Twilight Struggle.
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Protesting against the government is apparently such a complex thought that no Ukrainian is capable of accessing it. Only elite Western Intelectuals can understand such lofty concepts.
 
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hellhunter said:
Not more or less than the minority leader in German parliament, or does this position hold a special role in the US?
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I don’t know the much regarding the German government despite the occasional rants that have gone on in here, but a Senate leader is a prominent figure in the government.
 
Organic Potatoes said:
I don’t know the much regarding the German government despite the occasional rants that have gone on in here, but a Senate leader is a prominent figure in the government.
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calodo2003 said:
The position does wield some power.
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But is he really considered part of the government? Because over here he'd be considered part of the parlament but not part of the government.
 
Zehner said:
But is he really considered part of the government? Because over here he'd be considered part of the parlament but not part of the government.
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Really no difference here, he is decidedly part of the government as all elected officials are.
 
frostbite said:
Actually Eurovision is quite popular in Russia. Russia is "One of the most successful countries in the contest in the 21st century with a total of ten top five placements".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest

The only Russian winner or Eurovision is actually... Ukrainian, born in Kiev, and she took part in Euromaidan. Interesting person, Anastasia Prikhodko.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_Prikhodko
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Ok. Thank you for that.
 
calodo2003 said:
Really no difference here, he is decidedly part of the government as all elected officials are.
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The point I was getting at is frostbites' blind hatred for all things German that he used the minority leader of the US senate as a stick to beat the German government with, while the German minority leader of the parliament and numerous other members of parliament were in Kyiv weeks ago.

Nevermind Annalena Baerbock, the actual minister of foreign affairs.
 
VorZakone said:
"One third of Russian ground combat forces"

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That would be around 20.000 deaths and 40.000 injured/PoW/defected? Insanely high.

Thinking of an end of the war scenario, wouldn't make more sense for the RA to try and secure their positions in the south and Lugansk/Donetsk, make the land connection to Crimea and hold until they can get them through peace agreements? That instead of wasting forces and equipment in the Kharkiv/Yzium area.
 
Krakenzero said:
That would be around 20.000 deaths and 40.000 injured/PoW/defected? Insanely high.

Thinking of an end of the war scenario, wouldn't make more sense for the RA to try and secure their positions in the south and Lugansk/Donetsk, make the land connection to Crimea and hold until they can get them through peace agreements? That instead of wasting forces and equipment in the Kharkiv/Yzium area.
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The 60k casualties (dead/wounded) also doesn't take into account the low morale most Russian troops must be facing - lied to by their government about Ukrainian fascists, many of their fellow troops dead or wounded, and nothing to show for themselves on the battlefield - all the while their country is getting hit hard by economic sanctions.
 
Krakenzero said:
That would be around 20.000 deaths and 40.000 injured/PoW/defected? Insanely high.

Thinking of an end of the war scenario, wouldn't make more sense for the RA to try and secure their positions in the south and Lugansk/Donetsk, make the land connection to Crimea and hold until they can get them through peace agreements? That instead of wasting forces and equipment in the Kharkiv/Yzium area.
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I don't think Ukraine is willing to trade land for peace. So Russia will be stuck indefinitely in Ukraine, with two thirds or more of its total ground combat forces tied up trying to hold occupied ground. Meanwhile, the natives are getting restless in several other areas of Russia's "sphere of influence" - and if any of them decide to break away from Russia, it's not clear that Russia will now be able to stop them.

Overall, Russia is now in a very bad strategic situation.
 
Raoul said:
The 60k casualties (dead/wounded) also doesn't take into account the low morale most Russian troops must be facing - lied to by their government about Ukrainian fascists, many of their fellow troops dead or wounded, and nothing to show for themselves on the battlefield - all the while their country is getting hit hard by economic sanctions.
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60k is a conservative estimate IMO. The Ukrainian estimate is much higher, and whilst this is likely an exaggeration, it's open to debate as to how much of an exaggeration.
 
GlastonSpur said:
‘Let Someone Whack You’: Russian Troops Are Now Deliberately Wounding Themselves to Get Out of Putin’s War:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russi...-wounding-themselves-to-get-out-of-putins-war
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Dude, a) thanks for your regular updates, they’re fascinating, and b) where do you get all this info?! I know the simple answer is ‘the internet’ but you seem to have a treasure trove of different pieces of info, are you getting them from somewhere that collated all these sources?

Don’t stop, by the way!
 
Zehner said:
But is he really considered part of the government? Because over here he'd be considered part of the parlament but not part of the government.
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In USA, the "government" works in a very different way than in Germany (or most European countries).

In Germany, you elect the Parliament, and then the majority of the parliament elect the Government, which makes the decisions. So, if a decision of the Government does not pass, it probably means that the Government has lost support of the parliament and this may lead to new elections.

In USA, basically the President is independent of the Parliament, and it is the President that chooses "the government". The parliament does not choose the government, but the parliament passes the laws. And elections happen every two years for parts of the Parliament, and every four years for President. So these two (Parliament, Government) are not connected that much, and both have a lot of power. USA does not have a prime minister, and actually the President is something very different.

In USA, you can have a President from one Party, and the majority of the Parliament from the other Party, which is a situation that does not really make sense in Germany or Italy or most European countries.

So, even the minority leader has a lot of power in USA, while in Germany he practically has no power.
 
frostbite said:
In USA, the "government" works in a very different way than in Germany (or most European countries).

In Germany, you elect the Parliament, and then the majority of the parliament elect the Government, which makes the decisions. So, if a decision of the Government does not pass, it probably means that the Government has lost support of the parliament and this may lead to new elections.

In USA, basically the President is independent of the Parliament, and it is the President that chooses "the government". The parliament does not choose the government, but the parliament passes the laws. And elections happen every two years for parts of the Parliament, and every four years for President. So these two (Parliament, Government) are not connected that much, and both have a lot of power. USA does not have a prime minister, and actually the President is something very different.

In USA, you can have a President from one Party, and the majority of the Parliament from the other Party, which is a situation that does not really make sense in Germany or Italy or most European countries.

So, even the minority leader has a lot of power in USA, while in Germany he practically has no power.
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I largely agree with this post and it reflects how for example the Supreme Court has become so conservative despite having a Democrat as president for 10 of the last 14 years.

Anyways time to get back on topic and with that say that I do think Baerbock visiting Kyiv is more important than McConnell only apart from the fact that it's reassuring that both Democrats and Republicans are committing to the defense of Ukraine.
 
frostbite said:
In USA, the "government" works in a very different way than in Germany (or most European countries).

In Germany, you elect the Parliament, and then the majority of the parliament elect the Government, which makes the decisions. So, if a decision of the Government does not pass, it probably means that the Government has lost support of the parliament and this may lead to new elections.

In USA, basically the President is independent of the Parliament, and it is the President that chooses "the government". The parliament does not choose the government, but the parliament passes the laws. And elections happen every two years for parts of the Parliament, and every four years for President. So these two (Parliament, Government) are not connected that much, and both have a lot of power. USA does not have a prime minister, and actually the President is something very different.

In USA, you can have a President from one Party, and the majority of the Parliament from the other Party, which is a situation that does not really make sense in Germany or Italy or most European countries.

So, even the minority leader has a lot of power in USA, while in Germany he practically has no power.
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And in the UK, you vote for your local member of parliament. And the winning party decide who is to be their leader and he/she becomes the Prime Minister.
And the PM is a compulsive liar, doesn't give a sh1t about the people and breaks the law.
And the people think he is wonderful and let him get away with anything he likes because he is such a loveable rogue.
 
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