Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[Solmyr]

He sounds old. Maybe he should just retire and not hold public speeches anymore?

Did you watch the clip? He even jokes about it: "I'm 75."

Isn't that like a young upcoming Congressman age in the US?

[Habbaku]

A fresh-faced Senator, thank you.

[Legbiter]

Russians making gains in Luhansk. I think they're finally fighting a war they can somewhat manage, advancing bit by bit behind heavy bombardments.

[Zanza]

Schröder's job at Rosneft would come up for prolongation, but he said that he will not take it up. Still not distancing himself from Putin. What a dipshit.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Yeah, the analysts who I consider credible are saying the most likely scenario is that the Russians will push for a little bit and get minor gains while the Ukrainians continue constituting their forces for the counter-push. Then in the summer there'll be grinding attritional warfare where the Ukrainians have the advantage, until August-September where Ukraine finally gets the upper hand.

Obviously this is contingent on all kinds of things, there's plenty of uncertainty in war, and so on... but that's about the shape of it.

Ben Hodges?

anyways: The Ruzzians seem to be making progress. Let's hope it's more a last hurrah, rather than a sign of things to come

[Razgovory]

Russians making gains in Luhansk. I think they're finally fighting a war they can somewhat manage, advancing bit by bit behind heavy bombardments.

They just blew a bridge in Luhansk so the advance can't be going too well.

[Razgovory]

Also: John McCain is now forbidden to enter Russia.  Trump can still visit.

[grumbler]

John McCain's body lies a'mouldrin' in his grave
but his truth about Putin marches on.

[DGuller]

I keep reading stories about how Putin is seriously ill and essentially physically incapacitated, and one thing that strikes me is that it must be a pretty quick collapse if true.  Just a couple of years ago this guy was playing hockey and scored 8 goals in one game. 

Some suspect that the opposing team was not playing at its best that day, but I would think that you still need to be in a pretty good condition to be able to skate and nudge the puck into the goal 8 times.   How do you go from that to full Chernenko in a couple of years?  Does Parkinson's really progress so quickly?

[Zoupa]

He's so puffed up I'm thinking he's on high dosages of cortisone.

My guess would be some sort of leukemia, not parkinsons.

[Razgovory]

My guess is that theories about his health are wishful thinking.

[Legbiter]

Several U.S. media outlets claim that the U.S. wants to assist Ukraine with modern anti-ship missiles to counter the Russian naval blockade, either directly or through a European ally that can facilitate the transfer. The assertions are based on statements made by U.S. authorities.

Harpoon anti-ship missile appears in mind when the rumors surfaced, however, it's not the only option. Naval Strike Missile is another missile on the table.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/05/u-s-may-boost-ukraines-defense-with-harpoon-missiles/

Hope they get good missiles.

[Sheilbh]

Schröder's job at Rosneft would come up for prolongation, but he said that he will not take it up. Still not distancing himself from Putin. What a dipshit.

Apparently he's left Rosneft but is now taking up a position on the board of directors of GazProm. It is just incredibly shameless

[alfred russel]

Obviously if Russia and NATO fight a conventional war, both sides will need to mobilize, and the quality of mobilized troops is not going to be that great.  However, I get a feeling that a poorly trained mobilized Russian soldier will still have a rusting T-72 to sit in and an AK rifle to shoot with.  The poorly trained mobilized NATO soldier will be facing that pile of rust holding his dick, because all 400 of the remaining anti-tank rounds have already been expended by the 100 guys lucky enough to get any.

The USSR was a threat because it had twice russia's population and eastern europe as allies. And was devoting like 20% of GDP to defense and also had theoretical allies in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Russia has half the population, spends under 1/10th of the US on the military and in line with the UK, is relatively poor compared to the west, and apparently has Belarus as a reliable ally -- maybe. Much of the old warsaw pact has switched to Nato.

Russia is not a meaningful threat to the west through conventional means. Nukes are a different matter.

[Syt]

Schröder's job at Rosneft would come up for prolongation, but he said that he will not take it up. Still not distancing himself from Putin. What a dipshit.

Apparently he's left Rosneft but is now taking up a position on the board of directors of GazProm. It is just incredibly shameless

We have a rhyming saying: "Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert, lebt es sich ganz ungeniert." Which translates roughly to, "Once your reputation is ruined, you can stop worrying about keeping up appearances."