Just so weird.
— boethius
You tried narcissist - why not upgrade to psychopath? — unenlightened
So, except for strategic locations where we are sure Russians are committed to defending (such as Kherson, Crimea, Donbas) it's extremely difficult to tell the difference between a tactical retreat and just being straight-up defeated. To evaluate these non-critical changes in the front we'd need to know the statistics of losses. Anecdotes don't tell us very much as we'd need to know the whole circumstances and result of the battle to evaluate things.
Yeah, I was just referring to the fact that the major breakthrough started hours ago. It appears they are no longer trying for a break through, but have accomplished it and the encirclement of a lone BTG on the other side of the river. — Count Timothy von Icarus
That's why it seems like a poor use of resources given other priorities. — Count Timothy von Icarus
That's the attempt... a desperate attempt to regain justification for the annexation of Ukrainian territory and make them part of Holy Mother Russia. The elections are nonsense, a fraud, sham referendums.Nonsense?
Obviously these votes will basically exclude the possibility of any negotiated settlement with Ukraine. — boethius
Lol.Doesn't matter if you think the votes are legitimate, or fraudulent, or whatever; it's the most significant thing happening today and, presumably if the votes conclude as basically everyone expects, results in a dramatic shift in Russian policy. — boethius
It's pretty clear that Russia is losing this war. Exit strategy is what they should be thinking about. This was a disaster for Russia. — Tate
Lol.
Oh really, it doesn't matter if the elections are fraudulent or not to you? Right. :rofl: — ssu
Well, they're losing previously taken positions, they're running out of troops, they've lost face with their allies. I mean, it looks like they're losing to me. Not to you? — Tate
Obviously things can swing back and forth. — boethius
Russia could also use tactical nuclear weapons, — boethius
I suppose they could engineer some sort of Hundred Years War, but their main ally, quickly becoming their master, is China. It will be Xi's call whether they can wage on indefinitely or not. — Tate
And that would be Putin's final act as leader of Russia. I'm sure he knows that. — Tate
However, Russia-Chinese relationship is far more equal than Western media presents. — boethius
The Western media presents the war as Ukraine standing up to the "mighty Russia", — boethius
This is not true. China is an economic powerhouse ascending to superpower status. Russia has now lost its status as regional power and its economy is medieval. Any dream of equality with China is gone now. — Tate
No, it doesn't, at least not the news sources I see. It's just a little conflict in Eastern Europe. You can see parts of it live on reddit. That's about it. — Tate
The UN is the biggest paper tiger ever created. — reddit
???You're the one that contradicted my point that these votes are significant (to the war), saying that's nonsense. — boethius
A sham referendum is a sham referendum. It's basically propaganda.Now your outraged by the idea it doesn't matter if the elections are fraudulent or not. So, seems pretty significant events to you after all. — boethius
Oh boy.The significance in terms of these votes, whatever you think of them, is that it is the step to formal annexation of these territories by Russia, and, again, regardless of whether other countries recognise that or not, it will become Russian territory for Russia. — boethius
I'm referring to his 2016 Essay in Foreign Affairs on why Putin took Crimea, but that's not relevant — Isaac
So Treisman says the seizing of Crimea was either to prevent loss of Black Sea fleet, or part of a more general imperialist agenda, or just an impulsive improvisation of an autocrat turned erratic. — apokrisis
Every analysis of Putin tells the same story. — apokrisis
The point is that your comment... — Isaac
Yes, the referendums will be used as propaganda. But that doesn't make them a real democratic referendum. And that's my point.I’m not a big fan of boethius’s view, but I have to say, your reaction to his statements of fact is just bizarre. Whether or not the referendum results are legitimate, they will be used by the Russian regime to justify further escalation of the conflict. This seems to be what boethius was saying, and I don’t know why you’d object to it. — Jamal
Yes, the referendums will be used as propaganda. But that doesn't make them a real democratic referendum. And that's my point. — ssu
Obviously the referendums are not legitimate. — Jamal
As I said, it was hyperbolic in response to benkies hyperbolic accusation of imperialism being a fiction. — apokrisis
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