This post has received too many downvotes to be displayed.
I wonder how many will read to the end and acknowledge the C word.
This post has received too many downvotes to be displayed.
I wonder how many will read to the end and acknowledge the C word.
In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
Zelensky being the current president is probably one of the best thing Ukraine has going for them IMO... he has fought every day since before the invasion to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine.
You seem to post every reason why he should not bother, is assumed to be corrupt (or at least be in the company of those who are corrupt), and just roll over to submit to the Russians if the country can't protect itself without international assistance, in order to minimize the loss of lives.
Between him and Putin the dude is doing the best for the good of his country's people by an enormous margin.
The down voting of your efforts to comment on the situation reflect both the perceived factually of statements you make and the manner in which they are stated.
johndej said:In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
Zelensky being the current president is probably one of the best thing Ukraine has going for them IMO... he has fought every day since before the invasion to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine.
You seem to post every reason why he should not bother, is assumed to be corrupt (or at least be in the company of those who are corrupt), and just roll over to submit to the Russians if the country can't protect itself without international assistance, in order to minimize the loss of lives.
Between him and Putin the dude is doing the best for the good of his country's people by an enormous margin.
The down voting of your efforts to comment on the situation reflect both the perceived factually of statements you make and the manner in which they are stated.
I didn't make any statements. I posted an article. The article quotes lots of people in the Ukraine. The denial of it all by many here says it all.
I didn't say anything about Zelensky or Putin. I'm also not going to pick which awful corrupt person is better. I'm not taking either side. They are both awful. They are both corrupt. They are both dictatorial. Both of them are robbing our countries economic and military security just in different ways.
The downvoting is censorship because too few are willing to discuss anything counter to the idiots forcing these decisions on us all.
And I never said anyone shouldn't bother, but I don't think children that can't vote yet should be indebted for another unwinnable war.
Read the article and respond to what's on it for a change. You can blame me and attribute it to me of you want, but that only proves you don't like me. I don't actually care about that which is what really offends everyone here. People post to be liked not to be honest or factual.
The entire pro-Zelensky or pro-Putin argument is 100% false. I hate them both. And I'm really starting to dislike anyone that thinks either of them is even a moderately decent person. They are both content to destroy us economically for their tyrannical dispute over who gets to rule over a destroyed Ukraine.
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AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:This post has received too many downvotes to be displayed.
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I wonder how many will read to the end and acknowledge the C word.
See it's a link ^. I said zero about the two idiots creating this disaster.
This ought to cause a bit of a stir. Responsible Statecraft has published a commentary based on a recent Time Magazine profile of Zelensky (link to the Time piece is in the RS article) suggesting quite a pessimistic outlook for the conflict, and taking the view that Zelensky himself is becoming isolated and perhaps even delusional regarding the outcome of the war. It's certainly a debatable point of view, but the sourcing in the Time article seems fairly solid, so it's not an entirely baseless claim.
There are echoes here of an earlier Time article, dated 8 Dec 1961, on a different US-supported leader defending his country. Zelensky should hope he doesn't meet the same fate.
In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
I heard about that Time article yesterday. Thanks for posting it. Unfortunately I think Putin made this calculation from the outset, if he could drag this war out for a while eventually the West would get bored of it, or some other crisis would spring up somewhere, and eventually the Russians would be in a more favorable position to negotiate on their terms.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Certainly, Putin considered the possibility - after all, the Soviets had considerable experience with the fickle nature and political constraints of Western support, none of which would be lost on him. He would have preferred a quick victory, but failing that, playing for time definitely favors Russia.
It's rather interesting to me that both Putin and Zelensky are now being identified as isolated and increasingly delusional about their prospects. War causes all sorts of stresses on leaders, and can lead to some strange outcomes. Rare are the leaders who handle that stress well over long periods of time (Lincoln, Churchill, FDR, arguably Stalin; LBJ is a good example of how it can cause things to go badly wrong).
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:This post has received too many downvotes to be displayed.
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AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:This post has received too many downvotes to be displayed.
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I wonder how many will read to the end and acknowledge the C word.
See it's a link ^. I said zero about the two idiots creating this disaster.
Which one? There are several.
02Pilot said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Certainly, Putin considered the possibility - after all, the Soviets had considerable experience with the fickle nature and political constraints of Western support, none of which would be lost on him. He would have preferred a quick victory, but failing that, playing for time definitely favors Russia.
It's rather interesting to me that both Putin and Zelensky are now being identified as isolated and increasingly delusional about their prospects. War causes all sorts of stresses on leaders, and can lead to some strange outcomes. Rare are the leaders who handle that stress well over long periods of time (Lincoln, Churchill, FDR, arguably Stalin; LBJ is a good example of how it can cause things to go badly wrong).
There are many of a certain generation who hold LBJ personally responsible for the death of friends and family. I have known some people to get particularly vitriolic when talking about him.
EDIT: I believe Putin was described as that way from the beginning. Now that Zelensky is beginning to be portrayed in those terms, it could make Putin seem less so.
Zelenskyy has been targeted by assassination attempts repeatedly by Russia and held the nation together in the open salvoes of the war. I'd be isolated too if my death or capture could cause such an impact, but he continues to hold staff meetings so I doubt it's veracity.
Russians keep trying to make assaults on Vuldehar.
Ukrainian General Zaluzhny fears the war with Russia has reached a stalemate. He states that it's largely a combination of Russia just simply not caring about losses, being mired in unprecedented number of minefields, lack of speed on technologies and donated equipment (allegedly the S-400 has already had an update from the late intro of the F-16 that'll reduce it's usefulness when it is ready) and an inability of either side to truly get a drop on the other.
“First I thought there was something wrong with our commanders, so I changed some of them. Then I thought maybe our soldiers are not fit for purpose, so I moved soldiers in some brigades,” says General Zaluzhny. When those changes failed to make a difference, the general told his staff to dig out a book he once saw as a student. Its title was “Breaching Fortified Defence Lines”. It was published in 1941 by a Soviet major-general, P.S. Smirnov, who analysed the battles of the first world war. “And before I got even halfway through it, I realised that is exactly where we are because just like then, the level of our technological development today has put both us and our enemies in a stupor.”
“The simple fact is that we see everything the enemy is doing and they see everything we are doing. In order for us to break this deadlock we need something new, like the gunpowder which the Chinese invented and which we are still using to kill each other,” he says.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Clothing. The sweater gives off a weak, Mr Rogers vibe.
I'm curious why Frenchy is banned and not captain "I don't understand the 1st Amendment."
z31maniac said:I'm curious why Frenchy is banned and not captain "I don't understand the 1st Amendment."
That argument made sense prior to social media.
I just heard this, through a friend. Trying to find more verification, so far no mainstream outlets seem to be covering, though I haven't seen any claims that this is false, either.
"Egyptian investigative journalist Mohammed Al-Alawi provided exclusive materials concerning the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to the documents, Zelenskyy’s family has acquired a luxury villa in “the city of millioners” El Gouna. According to investigation, Olga Kiyashko, whose name matches the name of Zelenskyy’s mother-in-law, owns a VIP estate worth $5 million."
Can anybody point me to even one government that is without corruption?
From the TIME article: "Twenty months into the war, about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory remains under Russian occupation. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, and Zelensky can feel during his travels that global interest in the war has slackened. So has the level of international support"
From The NY Times (paywall): "August 23, 2023 - The total number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began 18 months ago is nearing 500,000, U.S. officials said, a staggering toll as Russia assaults its next-door neighbor and tries to seize more territory. The officials cautioned that casualty figures remained difficult to estimate because Moscow is believed to routinely undercount its war dead and injured, and Kyiv does not disclose official figures"
Big difference between "tens of thousands" and "half a million".
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Re: real estate
There may not be much of a story. He was an accomplished actor before being elected. He has owned expensive properties before. Here is a Forbes story from last year, just for ballpark interest.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Also a big difference between "killed" and "killed or wounded". The number of wounded typically exceeds the number killed by a significant margin.
Here are some rather candid statements from a top Ukrainian general. There are obviously some translations strangeness. I bolded two sections I found particularly interesting. The concept of everyone see's everything seems rather obvious in some of the video footage. The Russians also seem to be ignoring this in their attacks on Avdiivka.
The war with Russia has reached a dead end and a large-scale technological leap is needed to get out of it, - Zaluzhny for The Economist
This is what the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said:
-During 5 months of counter-offensive, Ukraine advanced 17 km.
-We have reached a level of technology that baffles us.
-There will be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.
-Russia lost at least 150 thousand dead. But life is cheap in Russia, and Putin’s benchmark is the First and Second World Wars, in which Russia lost tens of millions.
-VSU had to advance at a speed of 30 km per day. According to NATO textbooks and calculations, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were supposed to enter Crimea within 4 months.
-The counter-offensive was mired in unprecedented minefields.
-In Avdeevka, Russia advanced several hundred meters, overturning two of its armies there.
-We see everything the enemy does, and he sees everything we do. To get out of this impasse, we need something new - a combination of all existing technical solutions. But there are no signs yet that it will be found soon.
-The weapons provided by the West were enough to support Ukraine in the war, but not enough to allow it to win.
-F-16, which will appear next year, are now less useful: Russia has improved its air defense: an experimental version of the S-400 missile system can reach the city of Dnepr.
-Ukraine is stuck in a long war in which Russia has an advantage. But Ukraine has no other choice but to continue the offensive.
-Ukraine first struck ATACMS at Russian positions in Crimea on October 30.
-War should not settle in the trenches.
-The greatest risk is a tedious trench war - it can drag on for years and exhaust the Ukrainian state. And it will benefit the Russian Federation, where the population is three times larger and the economy is 10 times larger than the Ukrainian one.
-The longer the war continues, the more difficult it will be to continue.
-We need an innovative solution for a quick win.
matthewmcl said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Re: real estate
There may not be much of a story. He was an accomplished actor before being elected. He has owned expensive properties before. Here is a Forbes story from last year, just for ballpark interest.
Understood. The Forbes Story pre-dates the Egyptian purchase, which is also larger (according to the Forbes article) than his entire real estate portfolio combined up to that point. As the article points out, wealth has generally declined in Ukraine since the war began. Still, the timing and optics of it are suboptimal- even if it is his mother-in-law making the actual transaction.
For reference, Putin is estimated to be worth something like 300 billion, so there's also that.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I mean these stories have poped up a few times so far:
For this one, reported in a few places dating back to August shows that Kiyashko purchased the villa in May, 2023, for 150,000,000 Egyptian pounds, which is about $4,850,000.
volvoclearinghouse said:z31maniac said:I'm curious why Frenchy is banned and not captain "I don't understand the 1st Amendment."
That argument made sense prior to social media.
I don't want to derail this thread too much, but I have no idea what you mean. Social media didn't really start until almost 20 years ago. If you're in the "I don't understand the 1st Amendment" camp, I don't know that I can help you.
Driven5 said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Also a big difference between "killed" and "killed or wounded". The number of wounded typically exceeds the number killed by a significant margin.
Factor in the Russians' tendency to let their wounded die where they lay, or get executed in the hospital because they believe they got deliberately wounded to get off the battlefield.
Okay, so if you were the commander of Ukrainian forces (or Russia, if you swing that way...), what would you do to break the stalemate? We're basically replaying WWI so we need to introduce something as revolutionary as the tank.
stroker said:Okay, so if you were the commander of Ukrainian forces (or Russia, if you swing that way...), what would you do to break the stalemate? We're basically replaying WWI so we need to introduce something as revolutionary as the tank.
Russia doesn't really need to break the stalemate. They seem willing to just keep putting men into the grinder in the hopes of attriting Ukraine into submission.
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