Russian incompetence in this war quite frankly exceeds the level of Soviet collapse by an order of magnitude. I like to think Trump is being played by Putin, but it sure does seem like they’re on pretty much the same level strategically.
What a perfect example of Soviet-style fascism. Putin needs a lead lobotomy.
I disagree that they’re on the same level strategically. This is only bad for Putin if he cares about Russian people. He doesn’t, so it’s not a failure. This was/is about legacy building. He’s a modern emperor fighting an endless war because admitting defeat would look bad. Ironically, it’s exactly what led to the last Russian emperor to be removed by the people.
He does not care about the people, he cares about what those people might do to him. His legacy is now one of the worst leaders, like we are talking about in 50 years having a good chuckle reading about his massive failure that called itself an “empire”.
I have been saying for years that Putin’s intelligence is mediocre at best. People kept telling me he had The Big Brain (even those who hate him).
Compared to Trump he’s a genius, but that’s mostly because Trump could probably be diagnosed with a serious intellectual deficiency if any honest doctor got the chance to examine him.
In terms of real intelligence, Putin’s no mastermind, though. Americas problems can’t be blamed on Russian manipulation, since any manipulation on their part is inept at best. You got yourself into your current mess all by yourselves.
He embraced
neonazismliberalism, which the architect of Liberal Shock Therapy has said repeatedly is a mistake, so maybe he’s not unintelligent, but like the rest of the Good Guy Liberals©, is just doing Kabuki theatre until he, too, can get to his bunkers.
The assessment of Putin is quite accurate. He could only do low intensity conflicts and he has a habit of starting something but is never able to finish. Even Georgia is an unfinished business.
He’s the J. J. Abrams of world leaders.
Soviet-style in what ways? Putin is very much a dictator that was placed there by the US
Well that’s a new one. Usually it’s blaming NATO from .ml, but the US installed putin as the leader of Russia? How, and to what end?
Interesting that you differentiate the US and the US in a trenchcoat as two entities. How? Shock doctrine and the cold war. The US tries to place someone more malliable to their benefit in power, and like the rest of them it always ends up biting them back.
While the US certainly does that broadly, Putin is not the beneficiary of such a ploy. That’s one of the few major bad things in global politics that the US did not do.
You’re telling me that Putin wasn’t a benefactor of the collapse of the Soviet Union?
He didn’t particularly benefit, his trajectory could have been just as productive under the Soviet government. It’s not like he was a total outsider. If anything it might have stalled his political career advancement a few years.
So the US set off an FSB coup that planted Putin in power did fhey?
What? Russia has advanced significantly into Ukraine despite the entirety of NATO backing the Ukrainian forces and forced violent conscription in Ukraine…
The “entirety of NATO” didn’t back the Ukrainian forces in the first 3 days. Your favourite “superpower” somehow failed to take the capital of a smaller state that was mostly fighting with the very same “superior” hardware Russia is using. It took several weeks, if not months, for western military support to actually arrive on the battlefield. All while those “unbeatable” Russian tanks either got stolen by Ukrainian farmers using tractors, or blown to bits by DIY anti tank explosives.
Yeah, in the opening days of the invasion, the western powers were primed to wag their fingers and write sternly worded letters at the presumptive conquest of Ukraine. They weren’t happy, but I think they were all too ready to just let it happen.
Only after Ukraine showed that it actually had some capability and will to successfully resist, then it became worthwhile for more substantial, though still indirect support from a lot of NATO nations.
You’re using a lot of quotation marks at me like they’re something I said.
The implications of your drivel are quite clear.
Russia has advanced significantly into Ukraine despite the entirety of NATO backing the Ukrainian forces and forced violent conscription in Ukraine…
You trailed off there at the end, but so far everything you said is exaggerated to comical levels and completely unfounded.
I certainly wouldn’t say it’s comical. Ukraine have lost the major city of Donesk. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/36a7f6a6f5a9448496de641cf64bd375
I have seen evidence of violent conscription on both sides. This is a serious war. Russia are changing their entire economy to capture as much of Ukraine as possible.
No it isn’t. Putin didn’t violate the Minsk or any other agreement. Ukraine, USA, and NATO did.
He did. Repeatedly. And he still does.
The very idea that the nation who in mid invasion of the very nation the Minsk agreement is for is somehow not breaking the treaty that says no one will invade that very nation is wild and some real amazing dissociation.
Yeah. And it’s not even the only treaty they’ve broken. Like the Budapest Memorandum providing security assurances for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, or the neat little agreement not to change borders in Europe with military force. And then there are all those countless broken ceasefire agreements in this current conflict…
Almost as if every nation around them have been stating no one can trust a russain word or treaty for a while now. Look at Poland who for many many years has been screaming at the top of Rysy mountain about russia being a threat and even now people out side of the former soviet bloc keep thinking this can be fixed by another agreement in writing. That a good talk and document will change the russian stance in the world.
The reason Ukraine does stop fighting and has little hope in a peace treaty is that a russian treaty is not even as worthwhile as toilet paper. This is in fact a very bad thing for russia on the world stage, no one trusts them at all. The only ones willing to work with them are using them and plan to squeeze them for everything they can (China, North Korea, India). This is how empires end, they are not strong enough to be the bully in the world and have zero credibility outside of being a contrarian talking point. The same thing is happening to israel and the states right now, who would want to sign a trump deal that he will rip up in a few months? Or a cease fire with netanyahu? Whats the point?
Shit’s horrific. But sure, Europe and the US are propping up this totally democratic state for the Ukrainian people.
No it’s not?
You’ve never been on the trail, my friend. Here’s a simple display of what Ukraine does to its own citizens
One of the guys on the car in the video (and others) were later arrested and filmed giving a forced excuse and announcing to join the military, sobbing and clearly frightened, mind you.
E: Lol, the cope votes. You:
Even though draft is morally questionable, one side is fighting for survival, the other is fighting to be pardoned from prison and then buy BMW to show off to their communities that don’t even have sewage.
Welcome to Russia Post, a digital platform for commentary and analysis of Russia-related issues, operated by The Russia Program at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Bro, wtf is this shit.
So the draft is morally questionable and you’ve seen the footage provided and now you find excuses in Washington, D.C.? Cope harder, buddy.
The article is written by a Russian about his home region in Russia. Would you rather if someone from fellow St Petersburg Institute have written the article, tovarisch?
Your “article” is originally (as stated and linked) from Radio Free Europe, a US financed, CIA founded anti-Soviet media outlet with the sole purpose to spread propaganda. So, for one, you’re spreading US propaganda.
Anyway, the topic was about the systematic, forceful obduction of Ukrainian citizens by their own government, only to imprison them, torture them and then throw them into the meat grinder. So, your whataboutism is using US propaganda to distract away from that, which is shady as fuck, “comrade”.
Libs when presented with facts they don’t like are very similar to Conservatives.
They’re the same picture. “Good cop”/bad cop, a cop is a cop. And well, acab*.
Or Communists
Where’s the communist?
You don’t know what significant means.
No, I definitely do.
What does significant mean than, facetious good sir?
Around 20 % of state territory is not significant? At which point are you willing to call it significant? Please provide us with your arbitrary cope reasoning.
Moscow’s grinding offensive in eastern Ukraine that is claiming around 1,000 casualties a day for minimal territorial gains could make it dip further into its pool of human resources.
“The Kremlin appears to be setting conditions for potential mobilization and is preparing for possible civil unrest in Russia resulting from mobilization,” the US-based think tank said in its latest assessment.
Wow, this is incredible.
make it dip further into its pool of human resources.
Remember, HR is there to protect the
companyKremlin, not you!Why?? What does Ukraine have that they’d so desperately want that they’d send so much population to die and risk a civil war for it?
Far as I have heard, Ukraine was the industrial and agricultural backbone of USSR.
Beyond that, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics, notably on Ukraine. They see Ukraine as a key political necessity for resurrecting the power structure that they see as having been lost in the early 90s. Read about UK and US and you’ll see a lot of familiar material there in terms of what Russia has actively worked toward.
It’s partially due to Putin’s fear of admitting they can’t win.
Why fear? You can just say oopsie, we didn’t expect the whole Europe and the west to throw their military might behind Ukraine, obviously we can’t fight them all. We did our best! Here are your sons back.
Probably would be fine. Great even. I’m sure people would love their family back in one piece.
Being able to do that without losing face is one possible theory to why he keeps provoking NATO countries even while his three day special military operation is stalling at day 1609 with no end in sight - if they retaliated and joined in properly, he gets an excuse to stop as to not “continue” to WW3.
Yeah, that doesn’t account for his loss in the opening days, when the NATO nations were clearly preparing to write off the conquest of Ukraine as a terrible thing but do nothing substantive about it.
Putin wanted to be cemented in history as bringing back a powerful Russia, and now he has an embarrassment. Dude is 73 and knows he has fewer years ahead than behind and it is now or never for his legacy.
He might not be afraid for his safety or his people, but for his legacy.
Ukraine is resource rich and seen as Russia’s soft underbelly. Kremlin is also insecure that their access to Sevastopol is only on a leased basis. That’s why they took the entire Crimea.
I think putin also wants to reassemble the USSR territories.
That’s unironically why the West cares.
Maybe, but declassified documented conversation during the Blair era showed they knew letting Ukraine into either NATO or EU will agitate Russia, and even questioned if Ukraine is even European. But Ukraine insisted they want to join EU, which Russia predictably did not take well.
Oh, an aside… I just said elsewhere: They’re making Iraq into a Ukraine and putting Amidi in Zelensky’s impossible position. It’s essentially loading the gun, and telling him to put it to his head and pull the trigger, while having another pointed at the base of his skull.
Not sure what you’re talking about. Russia is at net territorial loss and Ukraine is decimating the logistical and oil supply of Russia, which is causing Russia not just military setbacks but also straining the civilian infrastructures. Putin also suspended the auction of bonds which signal that Russia could default. And last but not least, the post already shows that Russia is expanding the recruitment to get more Russians which means manpower is getting bad for Kremlin, for a special operation that should have lasted three days.
Ukraine has far more cards than Iraq has ever had. They are not given a gun to point to themselves, they are not even given any gun to begin with because the West as a collective hesitated to give it all to Ukraine right after the invasion.
Putin has a psychological need to take things that aren’t his. He once walked out of the Guggenheim with one of the exhibits just because he could.
From what I’m hearing, the Russian people are kind of pissed he’s been lollygagging, rather than finishing it.
I find it quite incredible how people form their opinions on the wars their governments are involved in, by laying any trust in hawkish and neoconservative think tanks that are ideologically fully aligned with the most reactionary parts of said governments and financed by the military industrial complex and big corpos.
I find it quite incredible how people form their opinions on the wars their governments are involved in, by laying any trust in groups that are ideologically fully aligned with and financed by the oligarchy of said country.
No need to repeat, what I just said.
I was talking about you, presumably defending Russia. Apparently there is a need if you still couldn’t see that.
I’ve seen that, but since I didn’t defend anyone and my own government is supporting the Ukrainian state, I thought it was a take too dumb to take seriously. Also, most western countries could be themselves labelled oligarchies, so there’s that.
But how come you think I’m defending Russia by highlighting the nature of the source? Are you not interested, where your Russophobic thoughts are produced? Do you think these are trustworthy institutions? If so, why do you think that? If not, is it not important to highlight that these are consent manufacturing sources?
But how come you think I’m defending Russia by highlighting the nature of the source?
The comment was just the first thing I saw. Your instance was another big tipoff. Then I looked at your comments. It’s not like the comment I responded to is the only thing I can see. You know that, right? You can stop feigning ignorance now.
“Anything factual I don’t like is Russian propaganda.”
Still, I haven’t defended Russia, that’s your own very ignorant misrepresentation based on your prejudices you yourself just listed. You just don’t like to hear dissenting opinions regarding this war and that fact alone should make you stop and wonder.
Also, may I suggest to focus on the substance of the commentary, and not on the messenger? And the substance is: this post’s source is a narrative shaping pro-war think tank and you people consume it like it’s ice cream.
When I come across communities like this (especially this one), the black and white thinking and rabid hate towards anything not riling in unison against this evil Pudding guy or Ruzzia is …it’s quite extreme. I like the term westremism, because that’s what it is, really.
People are not accepting anything, that discredits the holyness of the US-European mission to support and usurp Ukraine, while also falling over themselves to eat up every little news reinforcing the negative default towards the enemy, which sure, here now is Russia. But we can play the same game with Palestine, Libanon, Syria, Mali, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran or China … we could go on. Gobbling up all the hate towards other groups, solely because it’s what is being fed to them, or to feel better about the horrific geopolitical conduct of the US and Europe around the world, in case they actually got a faint idea. I implore you to get informed how the West is seen from outside. I’m pointing out this kind of hypocrisy in the hope that some people manage to stop hating, stop confidently trotting their government’s pushed narratives and start wondering, what’s actually going on.But lemmy.world indeed is quite extreme in that regard. All you need to do is point out that the source of this post is a hawkish, neoconservative US based think tank, implying that they have a mission to paint a specific picture, and the crowd goes wild. It’s a ridiculous state of affairs.
This comes shortly after them cancelling bond auctions. This is a desperate move. Its success is going to depend on the response of the Russian people
Edit: source on the bond auctions
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/07/21/russia-halts-bond-auctions-as-government-debt-selloff-complicates-budget-financing-a93297Putin is on his way out. He’s losing his grip. 2014 and 2022, were bad calls, that are now coming for him.
Penal companies! Welcome back to the meat grindr! (I did that on purpose)
You couldn’t make this shit up
Putin needs to read Russian history… especially the part about how WWI ended for Nicholas II.
Putin is old and generally well hidden. He likely doesn’t see that he has that much to lose, when it comes down to it.
No wonder his family tree is kept in secret, connections obfuscated. The last I’ve heard rumors on that, one of his daughters was in medical research facility exploring life longetivity (you wonder) but bordering obvious grift schemes and fund eating; this girl, or the other one, was spotted as a student in EU, probably Netherlands. I’m absolutely not for repercussions affecting family members, BUT I would like journos to dig and keep a track of them and their money transfers always signed in someone’s blood. And I find it terribly unconsequental that the meathead proposing trad values himself has a fall out with his legal wife, a highly suggested romance with a top figure skater, and there is just no pictures of him with his own kids who are likely in their 20s now. His image is not one of a person but one of a symbol, shadier than Kim, and even more fragile.
Putin was brought up in a communist household. He didn’t embrace liberalism because he liked it, but he does now because he does now.
Haven’t prisoners had the “opportunity” to shorten their sentences by serving for a while now? Or was that specific to Wagner units?
Or the citizens could just stand up to Putin, finally. If they’re going to lose citizens to this war, you might as well make your own war as a war against Putin. More worth the effort and you’d get rid of that asshole.
But unfortunately, Russians would rather fall in line and blindly follow what they’re told to do. Even if it means sending them to the meat grinder, losing your sons, father, brothers, etc. and for what? Donbas? Seriously?
Just keep being a good worker, Russia.
Sounds like another country I know of
Merica, fuck yeah!
Revolution almost always requires the participation of the elites, so until a group of Russian oligarchs decides they’ve had enough, Putin will get his way.
And the participation of military.
Not necessarily. Usually elite participation will result in at least parts of the military defecting, but failing that it’s entirely possible for a revolutionary coalition not to include military elements. If it’s really necessary, it’s always possible for rich oligarchs to just buy a military.
A lot of people would argue you still need the military or armed forces to side with revolutionaries, or at least not shoot at protesters. The Berlin Wall fell when the border guards did not raise their arms at the Germans. The coup against Gorbachev by communist hardliners did not succeed when the armed forces did not join the latter. And the Gen Z protests in Bangladesh few years ago succeeded when the military refused further orders from the corrupt government.
I mean at some point the military is going to have to refuse orders (otherwise you get a civil war), but that’s different from siding with the revolutionaries. As for Bangladesh specifically, the military wasn’t involved in the protests on either side; the uprising succeeded when Sheikh Hasina realized she couldn’t get the country under control.
A news story sourced from an anti-Russian propaganda organization.
No one in their right mind is pro-Russian
Poland has every right to be anti Russia
The source is an US-American pro-war think tank.
Ruzzia is the one that is especially pro war. They invaded.
Okay? The source is still shit.
E: And do you think the US and EU are anti-war?
E2: What’s with the ZZ, your blind hate makes you act like a 12 year old.
It’s ironical how russia shills will call everyone defending against russia “pro-war” instead of the one who actually decided to start the war, Putin, when no one was going to invade russia.
It‘s even more ironic, how fried some of your minds are, that your very first reflex is to discredit someone stating facts against false statements as „Russia shills“, followed by the most basic excuse of an argument about who started this mess we’re in, while also completely ignoring the roles of western interests. It‘s so overly simplistic and reductive, that it hurts.
Also, stating facts about a source and the nature of said source certainly is not in defense of anyone. Check your rabid impulses, my friend.
Hate on Russia all you want, if you think that‘s a good use of your rage. But the moment you start whining about opposition to the default western narrative, you‘ve become nothing other than complicit in their supression. Be proud!
Found the guy who believes in NATO expansion, Western agression, and Ukraine de-Nazification.
Now that hundreds of thousand of your fellow brothers and sisters are dead are you satisfied. Or do you need moar deaths to satisfy your propaganda addled mind.
Sure.
But what’s your opinion about the quality of the source?
And do you think it’s good to call out bad sources?Obviously it is not a Russian friendly source. Since I am not from Poland I don’t have a lot of insight.
There is plenty of criticism of it before the 2023 restructure basically amounting to it being a mouthpiece for Polish state propaganda.
I am not a fan of attacking the messenger, but I can understand why people do it. Everything is essentially propaganda so it is important to be able to analyze it.
