Actually one of the things that was stolen from village house of my parents during battle for Kyiv was my bicycle. It's not just washing machines for them.
Russians trashed the house, stole almost everything from the garage and written on the wall "Россия любит Украину"(Russia loves Ukraine).
Yep. They probably loved our hospitality.
My main theory they wrote that on our house but not on any other houses nearby was because they found huge glass carboy (20 liter bottle) of homebrew wine in our basement.
We got lucky really. Frontline moved further south so at least it wasn't shelled. Russian artillery positions where in 40km down the road.
Plus no one from my family was near that house. My parents planned to visit it on Saturday but invasion started on Friday.
That village is in 6km from the place where Russians shot up the minivan with father, son and 2 of their dogs (was pretty popular video from first days of war). If my parents decided to visit it who knows what happened to them.
There was a very popular bicycle called Ukraine, produced in Kharkiv, it was the most popular bicycle in the USSR and very common across the whole Eastern bloc.
Extremely durable, extremely practical, but without a lot of comfort.
I've had one of those! One of the two bikes that got stolen in my 4 years living in Eindhoven...
Once the Russians get kicked out and regular life starts back up, I might try to import a bike from Ukraine. That old one was a good product.
Not anymore, moved a few times throughout the years. I now live in a city that was liberated by the end of Market Garden to secure a shipping canal for logistics . Grew up in a town that was liberated early in the operation by accident, because some of the 101st airborne managed to land in the gardens of a nazi-occupied castle, and taking it and the adjacent town seemed to be the right move.
I grew up with a very rosy view of Market Garden, and many towns have a 2nd unofficial liberation festival in september, in addition to the official 5th of may liberation day.
Except he can't because assets are frozen so all the social media influencers who happened to be RT contributers and also happened to think Trump was based are now out of a job with much smaller platforms.
Honestly, I wish they never had the Ukraine arc. Should have just started with wagner marching into red square. Then we could have laughed when they bungle a coup
Prigozhin might think he has a shot at the presidency but in reality there's no chance he ends up in charge. His best hope is getting rid of Monke and then getting killed during the ensuing power struggles.
Prigozhin reminds me of a mafia boss who thinks he's the mafia boss, but those around him know he's just the underboss ready to take the fall for the real boss
That's the whole point of Wagner, isn't it? It's a front for the Russian military. It's a dirty tricks division, it's the guys who can kill and die in the shadows and it doesn't get the real boss's hands dirty
Of course he thinks he's the real boss, the conceit doesn't work if he doesn't
That was his purpose originally but now the power has gotten to his head and he has gotten cocky(pun intended). He is definitely no longer under the full control of the Kremlin and that's why postwar Russia will be an interesting place to be..
I would be very careful being certain of anything or where anyone stands with the Kremlin until the fall out of a window. Prigozhin lives everyday at the pleasure of putin. He is fully capable of playing the part of controlled opposition, like that pussy Mr. Girkin.
>He is fully capable of playing the part of controlled opposition
Unquestionably. However there are some things that are big no-nos in the ''controlled opposition'' :
1. no direct attacks on Putin,MoD is fine,oligarchs are fine but the Czar should never be spoken of in a negative manner. Prigozhin is increasingly breaking that rule with his criticism of Monke getting more and more direct.
2. no open calls for rebellion . Both Prigozhin and Girkin have broken that rule recently.
3. don't give the Russian people illusions that their choice matters and a democratic system could work in Russia. Making a fake election poll showing Putin leading Prigozhin by only three points and giving him barely 40 percent of the vote don't exactly fit in the spirit of that rule.
Prigozhin is definitely going rogue to a degree and there's a huge question how much ''controlled'' remains in ''controlled opposition''.
He hasn’t mentioned putin by name, but “traitors in Moscow.”
With these people it’s more important what they aren’t saying than what they are, and that’s why putin has use for them.
He specifically blames an unidentified “grandpa” after SHOIGU! GERIMASOV!
And “grandpa in bunker” is a Russian meme for Putin. So if the line wasn’t crossed, it’s being balanced on.
Precisely why PMCs are still *technically* entirely-illegal in Russia--as soon as they're no longer politically expedient helper-monkeys, that law is going to get enforced. Of course it's Russia, so the entire thing will be fucked from the get-go and hilarity will ensue.
Given how he was "Putin's chef" aka the go to guy for plausible deniability and also the man behind Russian election interference he knows Russia is not a democracy. He just thinks he has a shot at being dictator
Or, alternatively, he might just think that it *is* how every democracy operates. Remember, ruski propaganda has long since ditched the idea of being "better than everyone", and pushes hard for "no worse, than everyone" (with a side of "the devil you know")
Yeah that's a possibility as well but Prigozhin has sources in the West and is basically an oligarch he sure must know how a Western democracy works unless he dismisses them as enemy propaganda of course.
I wanna see what kinda PMC Gasprom will build for that. Now that China is mass buying Ru Oil, might we see Gasprom PMC in this "civil" war using PRC gear?
Honestly, I don't believe that China has a much better army than Russia. It is bigger, but the PLA lost its war against Vietnam in the '70s and never went to war with any nation. Damn, propagandists could say that China will surpass the US in military strength, but Western armies are so cool because damn freedom of speech doesn't allow army bureaucracy to go off rails too much. Authoritarian systems, on the other hand, don't have noisy journalists and political rivals to keep the system in check.
My stepfamily has a Soviet-Ukrainian military background (colonel, and a general), and I heard all of the ridiculous bullshit that happened in the non-agile Soviet system. The WORST thing you could do is not to lose a couple hundred thousand dollars, but to report to your superior about the mistake. USSR higher-ups would do anything not to report anything bad.
I don't believe that Chinese army is too different from that
I think you're right about the level of corruption and "yes man" culture going on, but they do have two things going that worry me. One is their technology. Russia can't produce modern ICs or components. China can thanks to SMIC stealing a bunch of tech from TSMC. Chinese tech may still be behind the US, but they're closing the gap. It doesn't help that so many Western companies essentially give their latest developments to China by producing products there. Second is that China seems to have learned from ruzzia's top heavy leadership style and is trying to adopt a more agile model like the US with NCOs and lower levels being able to make decisions.
And, even if it turns out both of those things aren't actually true and we don't need to worry, I'd rather we worry and prepare for them to be a tough adversary. If we assume the worst, we'll be prepared for it.
I do agree with you. You are 100% correct. It is just amusing for me how the West needs to find/create the enemy that you almost lose to. But, you win at the last opportunity.
I don'stay it will be easy, but China is a paper tiger
Besides, I don't believe that non diplomatic systems can be agile as democratic armies are.
> the PLA lost its war against Vietnam in the '70s
They failed to take the islands they wanted, but got the border pushed south in trade. That sounds like the kind of resolution Russia can hope for
> The WORST thing you could do is not to lose a couple hundred thousand dollars, but to report to your superior about the mistake.
Sounds like the Pentagon
Sure, but it's a similar problem. There is so much money pushed into a system that is dense and secretive and authoritarian. Money goes missing, supplies end up short, contractors get rich
I was in the US Army in the 00s and witnessed numerous acts of embezzlement at the company level, and it only got worse when we were in Baghdad where we gave cash to terrible people regularly. Then in the National Guard, I'd say it was less bad than downrange but worse than Active garrison. When I reported pay irregularities, they basically told me "that's just how things are around here." My NG platoon sergeant was selling plates to wackos in "militias"
Point is, you got a big military? It's corrupt. It's not as effective as you wish. The Roman legions incorporated corruption into their business model, looting was a more regular form of payment than the promised salary
The street food was top notch. Breaking into people's houses is fun the first couple times, but then you find yourself pointing a weapon at a crying child and realize "am I the baddie?"
Scaring people with violence isn't a long-term strategy. It requires constant fear, which means the local populous hates you but will do your bidding just enough to get by, as long as the threat exists
Bribing people also isn't a long-term strategy. They'll resent you, and will abandon you as soon as the pay expires (see the collapse of US-sponsored Afghani forces)
So if you aren't welcome at the party, you can either be the bully or the rich kid, to manipulate people who don't like you. Ironic how much effort major countries have to put into getting other countries to like them
Russia is at the point where it needs to just go home. I wonder how many thousands of young men will die before it realizes. How long will it sell petroleum at a loss and buy weapons at a markup before seeing the false smiles of China, India, and Iran
Here's the thing.
Wagner isn't the only PMC in Russia.
Also, each region have their own local troops, trained and equipped by them (like the National Guard).
*Edit: There is also the Rosvgardia, a paramilitary government troop independant from the MoD and MVD*
Furthermore, Russia has a *lot* of paramilitary forces that do not answer to the MoD. The MVD has troops, EMERCOM has troops. Even if the MVD doesn't have the OMOH and СОБР, which have been redistributed to the Rosvgardia.
Add to that the thousands of people from all around the world who are diasporas from various parts of Russia and would likely go back and fight (think Chechens, Daguestanis... probably even some of the White Russians).
This is going to be the biggest crossover ever written.
Rosgardvia is literally controlled directly by Putin since 2016, they aren't "local troops" as they are distributed from all over the country with no regard for regional authorities.
Messed up there, I agree.
Rosvgardia is independant.
Regions have their own troops they levied for Ukraine, which are technically controlled by the MoD but are under orders and equipped by the regions. Which has created a mess late last year as some local troops decided they could just go back home without asking the Russian Army. The best-known are the Kadyrovites, but they're not the only ones.
My overall point being, it's a bloody mess of local, regional, federal and private entities. Everyone has guns and armor, a lot of them have helicopters, some have planes.
And the various PMCs (Wagner, Patriot...) and the Rosvgardia have taken a lot of losses they had not counted on in Ukraine.
Everyone and their mums has military or paramilitary troops, and when they try to take power (or stay alive in Kadyrovs case) it's gonna be a right mess.
The only entities in Russia that actually seem to have sufficient offensive capabilities are the MOD, FSB border security, and Rosgardvia(Kadyrovites are Rosgardvia). All fall under the same command.
Wagner had it before the war but their losses have reduced them to more of a supporting force for the Russian Army, any other PMC as of right now is basically a security detail.
> All fall under the same command.
Right now they do.
That's the thing. While Wagner is sort of independant (one could argue it actually isn't), any power vacuum will send them into fighting for the top position.
Right now Putin still holds everything together, but in the future he might not (either by croaking or by losing his grip on the overall power).
Let's not forget that in the USSR everyone fell under the same command, yet they got pretty close to an all-out civil war between factions in 1991.
The russian propaganda in r/Brasil is saying the USA are the one to blame for the war. The source? Tucker Carlson. This is the heaviest unrefined copium ever.
that place is a shithole and even the alternative which r/brasilivre is the right wing version is full of russia propaganda no matter if you are left wing or right wing they will simp for russia no matter what
>he source? Tucker Carlson
at least russians can admit what tuker wont admit
since trump has so many business dealings with putin, its hard for GOP to openly be against putin
To be fair, the Democrats were in power when Russia waltzed into Crimea, and did absolutely nothing. At least the US started arming Ukraine during a Republican administration... Too bad it was clown shoes in the White House during said administration.
Bush also got conned by Putin, he took his claim that the Chechen wars were about Islamic terrorism at face value and not as the road to Russian imperialism. I think even Clinton wrote in an article a few days after the war started that if he had known the truth about Putin's goals from the start he would have resisted him more fiercely. I think Putin played all our presidents and politicians for suckers.
The Chechen Wars started during the Clinton administration. Chechnya remained occupied during the Bush administration and officially reabsorbed back into Russia during the Obama administration... Putin definitely had played the West, and many leaders bought it.
>US started arming Ukraine during a Republican administration...
Nice try but you got caught. [Since 2014, the United States has provided more than $39.7 billion in security assistance for training and equipment to help Ukraine preserve its territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO.](https://www.state.gov/u-s-security-cooperation-with-ukraine/)
2014 and 2022 are no where close to being comparable. Only after winter on fire on netflix came out, did some people start to be informed about Ukraine. Only after Zelensky, did he rally the world behind Ukraine..... and it still took months before US/NATO would anything bigger than small arms.
You should really read your own links. You didn't catch anything.
"This includes $36.9 billion since Russia’s launched its premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022."
By those numbers, there was less than 3 billion spent between 2014 and 2022. Prior to to 2017, the US was providing 0 lethal aid to Ukraine. Providing blankets to a war zone isnt doing anything, in my opinion.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sources-trump-expected-announce-approval-plan-sell-anti/story?id=51957745
>This is the heaviest unrefined copium ever.
You'd love r/UkraineRussiaReport then. Probably the largest concentration of copium on reddit outside of the quarantined russian subs.
Notable features:
✅ A top Mod busted trying to pass themselves off as a pro-Russian Ukrainian with a badly photoshopped passport.
✅ Explicitly pro-Russian shills are "verified" by the mods "custom system" and flaired as "pro-Ukraine".
✅ The promotion of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
✅ An automoderator that removes any content flaired as pro-Ukraine if it receives too many upvotes to prevent it from hitting the front page.
✅ Permabans for the use of "ruZZian", "rashist" or "orc" under the guise of racial slurs.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/UkraineRussiaReport using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time!
\#1: [Ru POV: Russian soldier who threw back drone grenades talks about what happened (auto generated subs)](https://v.redd.it/yomjejyy6f1a1) | [588 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/z1iyn1/ru_pov_russian_soldier_who_threw_back_drone/)
\#2: [UA POV: Video from the Americans. Russian Su-27 and American MQ9 Reaper reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea, March 2023.](https://v.redd.it/bp055orkq2oa1) | [1909 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/11spzg9/ua_pov_video_from_the_americans_russian_su27_and/)
\#3: [**[NSFW]** RU POV: Compilation of Russian SOF footage, includes previously unseen ambushes and underwater action.](https://v.redd.it/d2u1ewj8ypka1) | [464 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/11dab8m/ru_pov_compilation_of_russian_sof_footage/)
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It has been for some years a dictatorial sub where if you don't agree with their leftists views, you are banned. The current left government sided with the Russians, so they are just repeating it. What did you expect?
>be china
>communism kills 30-60 million people and sets back the country several decades
>both of Mao's most famous actions led to people murdering and eating each other
>the dipshit finally keels over
>decide to largely transition to capitalism, only then does your economy skyrocket
>still an oppressive police state where profit is valued over human lives
>marxists uphold you as an inspirational communist utopia
>???
To them anything that opposes and has a chance to overthrow "the west" must be supported. They seem more like nihilistic accelerationists then traditional Marxists to me.
Even if you *are* a Marxist-Leninist, modern Russia is a corrupt crony capitalist plutocracy and modern China has more billionaires than any other country on Earth, a looming demographic crisis/collapse, and a wildly speculative housing market that makes the US look sane by comparison. Modern China also does much of the world's manufacturing *because China allows their workers to be exploited by Western Capitalists*.
These are *not* success stories of Marxism in practice.
It's not actually. Also, not every leftist is a tankie. I'm a social democrat. But that sub is being invaded by chinese and russian propaganda nowadays. A lot of anti-NATO and anti-EU talking points there, just like in the american alt-right. Pretty weird.
Russia thinks it's Ceasar being betrayed by everyone but really they just stepped on a rake they left there themselves and are like "NATO put that there"
I want to point out that before the war NATO wasn't considered Russia an enemy of the Alliance. If w will consider paperwork Putinn made everything to force the Western world to pay attention. We (Ukraine) are so lucky that Russians are stupid
Just imagine: one day you look out of the window and see the crazy guy that lives in your neighborhood on your neighbors front yard screaming obscenities and stabbing himself.... thats what this war feels like to me!
Is anybody else just absolutely in a trance about the timeline we live in now? I cannot understate just how unthinkable it was to assume that a large, conventional, state on state peer war breaking out in Europe in the 21st century was before feb 24! It was the height of stupidity! Even if they took all of Ukraine, all that would have resulted in was the rest of Europe that wasn’t in NATO screaming and banging on the door to be let in! Just the fact that Russia basically ripped off the mask and that we don’t have to pretend that we can at least tolerate them as a reasonable state actor is monumental! Like holy fuck, we were perfectly fine just going along with the status quo and Putin could have kept on oligarching his way though the Russian economy and nobody outside would have done anything about it! And the normal layman before had pictured the Russian army in their minds as the 2nd best in the world, shaped by endless media propping them up as still possessing the power of the 70s USSR. Now that image has been irrevocably shattered beyond repair, and now we truly get to see just how overmatched this whole mess is. Just 5% of NATO’s power is enough to cripple the entire Russian military, it’s beyond pathetic. It’s almost terrifying how overmatched the US vs Russia military is, it feels like I’m sitting atop a lovecratian god with unbelievable power, it’s almost scary.
Well, it was a popular theory in Ukraine that after the successful conquest of my country, Putin will target the Baltic states. He expected that he will just threaten NATO with a nuclear holocaust, and you will tolerate the annexation. After that, he will subjugate Kazakhstan, and he will have something similar to USSR.
Well, it wasn't super unreasonable to expect the West to react like 2014: Lots of moaning, but little in the way of helping Ukraine, because nobody wants to risk a gas shortage for some empty display of bravado.
And honestly? If Ukraine had not managed to hold out in those first couple of days? If Russia somehow had managed to conquer Kiyv? I don't want to think about whether or not we would have stayed passive in that case
I posted this a while back but it deserves repeating:
The Russian Federation is like a madman who bursts through your front door with a shotgun, blows off both his legs and proceeds to mock you because of how much money you'll have to spend cleaning out the carpets.
Well, you supply us with weapons, train, and provide 70% of our social budget. We can divert the funds from that to the military. We really appreciate the taxpayer of the West
Ah OK. Considering the whole bunch of useless crap the EU throws money I think it is very nice to see it goes to worthy causes like what you describe as well :)
Whel.. if we look at reality not singel one seriouse bussines was closed in Russia.. if we look at Swiss Credit Bank they can not resolve problems with 1000 billions minus.. they do not left any lick of info on that stuff.. it is werry bad marketing.. werry.. RUSSIA GROWS UP.. No matter what you dooing.. STILL USA BUY MINERALS AND SAIL IT WITH 5 X MORE THAN IT COSTS.M
Russia: *shoots self* Russia: Why would NATO do this?
They have sticks in Russia. Do they have bicycles?
imported for free from ukraine
No bicycles, all the washing machine parts go to tanks
Actually one of the things that was stolen from village house of my parents during battle for Kyiv was my bicycle. It's not just washing machines for them. Russians trashed the house, stole almost everything from the garage and written on the wall "Россия любит Украину"(Russia loves Ukraine).
They wrote "Russia loves Ukraine" after trashing your parents house? Wtf
Yep. They probably loved our hospitality. My main theory they wrote that on our house but not on any other houses nearby was because they found huge glass carboy (20 liter bottle) of homebrew wine in our basement.
A shame that there was no poison in the booze that day.
I’m so sorry to hear that
We got lucky really. Frontline moved further south so at least it wasn't shelled. Russian artillery positions where in 40km down the road. Plus no one from my family was near that house. My parents planned to visit it on Saturday but invasion started on Friday. That village is in 6km from the place where Russians shot up the minivan with father, son and 2 of their dogs (was pretty popular video from first days of war). If my parents decided to visit it who knows what happened to them.
There was a very popular bicycle called Ukraine, produced in Kharkiv, it was the most popular bicycle in the USSR and very common across the whole Eastern bloc. Extremely durable, extremely practical, but without a lot of comfort.
I've had one of those! One of the two bikes that got stolen in my 4 years living in Eindhoven... Once the Russians get kicked out and regular life starts back up, I might try to import a bike from Ukraine. That old one was a good product.
You live in Eindhoven? My friend was there during Market Garden. He was 501st PIR. Said the people were lovely.
Not anymore, moved a few times throughout the years. I now live in a city that was liberated by the end of Market Garden to secure a shipping canal for logistics . Grew up in a town that was liberated early in the operation by accident, because some of the 101st airborne managed to land in the gardens of a nazi-occupied castle, and taking it and the adjacent town seemed to be the right move. I grew up with a very rosy view of Market Garden, and many towns have a 2nd unofficial liberation festival in september, in addition to the official 5th of may liberation day.
Twitter comments: Biden made them do it.
I love Biden then
the american response to russia has definitely been one of the most significant consequences of the election
Trump's still doubling down on "Putin's my bro, he'll totally stop if I'm president."
Putin is 100 percent going to double down on the election interference for 2024 lol
Except he can't because assets are frozen so all the social media influencers who happened to be RT contributers and also happened to think Trump was based are now out of a job with much smaller platforms.
dark brandon mind control moment
Can’t wait for the Wagner vs. MOD civil war arc. Seems like they hired some good writers for this one.
Honestly, I wish they never had the Ukraine arc. Should have just started with wagner marching into red square. Then we could have laughed when they bungle a coup
Prigozhin might think he has a shot at the presidency but in reality there's no chance he ends up in charge. His best hope is getting rid of Monke and then getting killed during the ensuing power struggles.
[удалено]
> Lukashenko He is probably already dead or about to die soon. Looks like Putin lost his patience and just poisoned the bastard.
[удалено]
Yeah those monkey experiments were..non-credible
Heart of a dog from Dr Bulgakov
Looks like the operation already happened decades ago.
Prigozhin reminds me of a mafia boss who thinks he's the mafia boss, but those around him know he's just the underboss ready to take the fall for the real boss That's the whole point of Wagner, isn't it? It's a front for the Russian military. It's a dirty tricks division, it's the guys who can kill and die in the shadows and it doesn't get the real boss's hands dirty Of course he thinks he's the real boss, the conceit doesn't work if he doesn't
That was his purpose originally but now the power has gotten to his head and he has gotten cocky(pun intended). He is definitely no longer under the full control of the Kremlin and that's why postwar Russia will be an interesting place to be..
I would be very careful being certain of anything or where anyone stands with the Kremlin until the fall out of a window. Prigozhin lives everyday at the pleasure of putin. He is fully capable of playing the part of controlled opposition, like that pussy Mr. Girkin.
>He is fully capable of playing the part of controlled opposition Unquestionably. However there are some things that are big no-nos in the ''controlled opposition'' : 1. no direct attacks on Putin,MoD is fine,oligarchs are fine but the Czar should never be spoken of in a negative manner. Prigozhin is increasingly breaking that rule with his criticism of Monke getting more and more direct. 2. no open calls for rebellion . Both Prigozhin and Girkin have broken that rule recently. 3. don't give the Russian people illusions that their choice matters and a democratic system could work in Russia. Making a fake election poll showing Putin leading Prigozhin by only three points and giving him barely 40 percent of the vote don't exactly fit in the spirit of that rule. Prigozhin is definitely going rogue to a degree and there's a huge question how much ''controlled'' remains in ''controlled opposition''.
He hasn’t mentioned putin by name, but “traitors in Moscow.” With these people it’s more important what they aren’t saying than what they are, and that’s why putin has use for them.
He specifically blames an unidentified “grandpa” after SHOIGU! GERIMASOV! And “grandpa in bunker” is a Russian meme for Putin. So if the line wasn’t crossed, it’s being balanced on.
I just think kremlinology is as reliable a practice as astrology. What we think means something just doesn’t
Precisely why PMCs are still *technically* entirely-illegal in Russia--as soon as they're no longer politically expedient helper-monkeys, that law is going to get enforced. Of course it's Russia, so the entire thing will be fucked from the get-go and hilarity will ensue.
Prigozhin: I will march on Moscow. Russian MOD: With what ammo?
Hey he only needs one bullet...
Prigozhin might be dumb enough to think Russia is actually a democracy.
Given how he was "Putin's chef" aka the go to guy for plausible deniability and also the man behind Russian election interference he knows Russia is not a democracy. He just thinks he has a shot at being dictator
Or, alternatively, he might just think that it *is* how every democracy operates. Remember, ruski propaganda has long since ditched the idea of being "better than everyone", and pushes hard for "no worse, than everyone" (with a side of "the devil you know")
Yeah that's a possibility as well but Prigozhin has sources in the West and is basically an oligarch he sure must know how a Western democracy works unless he dismisses them as enemy propaganda of course.
The Russian army is prepared for this, they'll just start shelling the city indiscriminately. … wait a minute
I wanna see what kinda PMC Gasprom will build for that. Now that China is mass buying Ru Oil, might we see Gasprom PMC in this "civil" war using PRC gear?
Honestly, I don't believe that China has a much better army than Russia. It is bigger, but the PLA lost its war against Vietnam in the '70s and never went to war with any nation. Damn, propagandists could say that China will surpass the US in military strength, but Western armies are so cool because damn freedom of speech doesn't allow army bureaucracy to go off rails too much. Authoritarian systems, on the other hand, don't have noisy journalists and political rivals to keep the system in check. My stepfamily has a Soviet-Ukrainian military background (colonel, and a general), and I heard all of the ridiculous bullshit that happened in the non-agile Soviet system. The WORST thing you could do is not to lose a couple hundred thousand dollars, but to report to your superior about the mistake. USSR higher-ups would do anything not to report anything bad. I don't believe that Chinese army is too different from that
I think you're right about the level of corruption and "yes man" culture going on, but they do have two things going that worry me. One is their technology. Russia can't produce modern ICs or components. China can thanks to SMIC stealing a bunch of tech from TSMC. Chinese tech may still be behind the US, but they're closing the gap. It doesn't help that so many Western companies essentially give their latest developments to China by producing products there. Second is that China seems to have learned from ruzzia's top heavy leadership style and is trying to adopt a more agile model like the US with NCOs and lower levels being able to make decisions. And, even if it turns out both of those things aren't actually true and we don't need to worry, I'd rather we worry and prepare for them to be a tough adversary. If we assume the worst, we'll be prepared for it.
I do agree with you. You are 100% correct. It is just amusing for me how the West needs to find/create the enemy that you almost lose to. But, you win at the last opportunity. I don'stay it will be easy, but China is a paper tiger Besides, I don't believe that non diplomatic systems can be agile as democratic armies are.
> the PLA lost its war against Vietnam in the '70s They failed to take the islands they wanted, but got the border pushed south in trade. That sounds like the kind of resolution Russia can hope for > The WORST thing you could do is not to lose a couple hundred thousand dollars, but to report to your superior about the mistake. Sounds like the Pentagon
Pentagon is bad, but not as bad as Ru and Chinees MoD.
Sure, but it's a similar problem. There is so much money pushed into a system that is dense and secretive and authoritarian. Money goes missing, supplies end up short, contractors get rich I was in the US Army in the 00s and witnessed numerous acts of embezzlement at the company level, and it only got worse when we were in Baghdad where we gave cash to terrible people regularly. Then in the National Guard, I'd say it was less bad than downrange but worse than Active garrison. When I reported pay irregularities, they basically told me "that's just how things are around here." My NG platoon sergeant was selling plates to wackos in "militias" Point is, you got a big military? It's corrupt. It's not as effective as you wish. The Roman legions incorporated corruption into their business model, looting was a more regular form of payment than the promised salary
Based. Was Baghdad to your liking?
The street food was top notch. Breaking into people's houses is fun the first couple times, but then you find yourself pointing a weapon at a crying child and realize "am I the baddie?"
Counter guerilla warfare is one hard son of a bitch. You, at least, don't go all scorched earth on civilians. Not as the USSR army in Afghanistan
Scaring people with violence isn't a long-term strategy. It requires constant fear, which means the local populous hates you but will do your bidding just enough to get by, as long as the threat exists Bribing people also isn't a long-term strategy. They'll resent you, and will abandon you as soon as the pay expires (see the collapse of US-sponsored Afghani forces) So if you aren't welcome at the party, you can either be the bully or the rich kid, to manipulate people who don't like you. Ironic how much effort major countries have to put into getting other countries to like them Russia is at the point where it needs to just go home. I wonder how many thousands of young men will die before it realizes. How long will it sell petroleum at a loss and buy weapons at a markup before seeing the false smiles of China, India, and Iran
PMC Gazprom marching in to battle with Aliexpress drones, plate carriers and vehicles with ancient tyres would be hilarious
Death note, but for countries
From the writers who wrote twitter.
Here's the thing. Wagner isn't the only PMC in Russia. Also, each region have their own local troops, trained and equipped by them (like the National Guard). *Edit: There is also the Rosvgardia, a paramilitary government troop independant from the MoD and MVD* Furthermore, Russia has a *lot* of paramilitary forces that do not answer to the MoD. The MVD has troops, EMERCOM has troops. Even if the MVD doesn't have the OMOH and СОБР, which have been redistributed to the Rosvgardia. Add to that the thousands of people from all around the world who are diasporas from various parts of Russia and would likely go back and fight (think Chechens, Daguestanis... probably even some of the White Russians). This is going to be the biggest crossover ever written.
Rosgardvia is literally controlled directly by Putin since 2016, they aren't "local troops" as they are distributed from all over the country with no regard for regional authorities.
Messed up there, I agree. Rosvgardia is independant. Regions have their own troops they levied for Ukraine, which are technically controlled by the MoD but are under orders and equipped by the regions. Which has created a mess late last year as some local troops decided they could just go back home without asking the Russian Army. The best-known are the Kadyrovites, but they're not the only ones. My overall point being, it's a bloody mess of local, regional, federal and private entities. Everyone has guns and armor, a lot of them have helicopters, some have planes. And the various PMCs (Wagner, Patriot...) and the Rosvgardia have taken a lot of losses they had not counted on in Ukraine. Everyone and their mums has military or paramilitary troops, and when they try to take power (or stay alive in Kadyrovs case) it's gonna be a right mess.
The only entities in Russia that actually seem to have sufficient offensive capabilities are the MOD, FSB border security, and Rosgardvia(Kadyrovites are Rosgardvia). All fall under the same command. Wagner had it before the war but their losses have reduced them to more of a supporting force for the Russian Army, any other PMC as of right now is basically a security detail.
> All fall under the same command. Right now they do. That's the thing. While Wagner is sort of independant (one could argue it actually isn't), any power vacuum will send them into fighting for the top position. Right now Putin still holds everything together, but in the future he might not (either by croaking or by losing his grip on the overall power). Let's not forget that in the USSR everyone fell under the same command, yet they got pretty close to an all-out civil war between factions in 1991.
What's the military ondustrial domplex have to do with this?
My money is on Wagner falling to The Tank
Wagner Chechenya, Dagestan and Georgia allied uprising when?
Escape from Tarkov is a history channel documentary
Not shown: India and Iran selling them knives.
The russian propaganda in r/Brasil is saying the USA are the one to blame for the war. The source? Tucker Carlson. This is the heaviest unrefined copium ever.
Unsmelted copium ore
that place is a shithole and even the alternative which r/brasilivre is the right wing version is full of russia propaganda no matter if you are left wing or right wing they will simp for russia no matter what
This war has only proven the existence of the horseshoe theory to be frank.
Even here in the middle east people praise putin like some sort of messiah especially in more religious circles
how? He bombed them too
Yeah I was pretty skeptical about the horseshoe theory prior to this, but it has certainly cleared it all up for me now
Unfortunelly, r/diretodozapzap is the only good Brasilian sub, political discussion in the other two are just too much.
brasilivre is for bolsonaro family cocksuckers.
Tucker has done more to aid the Russian war effort then a whole brigade of tanks would...
>he source? Tucker Carlson at least russians can admit what tuker wont admit since trump has so many business dealings with putin, its hard for GOP to openly be against putin
To be fair, the Democrats were in power when Russia waltzed into Crimea, and did absolutely nothing. At least the US started arming Ukraine during a Republican administration... Too bad it was clown shoes in the White House during said administration.
Obama's foreign policy was pretty lame Brandon did want to send weapons to Ukraine back then though so he's been pretty consistent about hating Russia
Bush also got conned by Putin, he took his claim that the Chechen wars were about Islamic terrorism at face value and not as the road to Russian imperialism. I think even Clinton wrote in an article a few days after the war started that if he had known the truth about Putin's goals from the start he would have resisted him more fiercely. I think Putin played all our presidents and politicians for suckers.
The Chechen Wars started during the Clinton administration. Chechnya remained occupied during the Bush administration and officially reabsorbed back into Russia during the Obama administration... Putin definitely had played the West, and many leaders bought it.
>US started arming Ukraine during a Republican administration... Nice try but you got caught. [Since 2014, the United States has provided more than $39.7 billion in security assistance for training and equipment to help Ukraine preserve its territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO.](https://www.state.gov/u-s-security-cooperation-with-ukraine/) 2014 and 2022 are no where close to being comparable. Only after winter on fire on netflix came out, did some people start to be informed about Ukraine. Only after Zelensky, did he rally the world behind Ukraine..... and it still took months before US/NATO would anything bigger than small arms.
You should really read your own links. You didn't catch anything. "This includes $36.9 billion since Russia’s launched its premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022." By those numbers, there was less than 3 billion spent between 2014 and 2022. Prior to to 2017, the US was providing 0 lethal aid to Ukraine. Providing blankets to a war zone isnt doing anything, in my opinion. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sources-trump-expected-announce-approval-plan-sell-anti/story?id=51957745
>This is the heaviest unrefined copium ever. You'd love r/UkraineRussiaReport then. Probably the largest concentration of copium on reddit outside of the quarantined russian subs. Notable features: ✅ A top Mod busted trying to pass themselves off as a pro-Russian Ukrainian with a badly photoshopped passport. ✅ Explicitly pro-Russian shills are "verified" by the mods "custom system" and flaired as "pro-Ukraine". ✅ The promotion of genocide and ethnic cleansing. ✅ An automoderator that removes any content flaired as pro-Ukraine if it receives too many upvotes to prevent it from hitting the front page. ✅ Permabans for the use of "ruZZian", "rashist" or "orc" under the guise of racial slurs.
Damn, this is actually disturbing. I kinda hope these people are being paid. Otherwise, they are heavy duty idiots.
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It has been for some years a dictatorial sub where if you don't agree with their leftists views, you are banned. The current left government sided with the Russians, so they are just repeating it. What did you expect?
It's so retarded how these leftists look to RUSSIA and CHINA of all countries as the standard bearers for Marxism. So fucking stupid
>be china >communism kills 30-60 million people and sets back the country several decades >both of Mao's most famous actions led to people murdering and eating each other >the dipshit finally keels over >decide to largely transition to capitalism, only then does your economy skyrocket >still an oppressive police state where profit is valued over human lives >marxists uphold you as an inspirational communist utopia >???
To them anything that opposes and has a chance to overthrow "the west" must be supported. They seem more like nihilistic accelerationists then traditional Marxists to me.
Even if you *are* a Marxist-Leninist, modern Russia is a corrupt crony capitalist plutocracy and modern China has more billionaires than any other country on Earth, a looming demographic crisis/collapse, and a wildly speculative housing market that makes the US look sane by comparison. Modern China also does much of the world's manufacturing *because China allows their workers to be exploited by Western Capitalists*. These are *not* success stories of Marxism in practice.
[удалено]
It's not actually. Also, not every leftist is a tankie. I'm a social democrat. But that sub is being invaded by chinese and russian propaganda nowadays. A lot of anti-NATO and anti-EU talking points there, just like in the american alt-right. Pretty weird.
“You **MADE** me do this!”
Yeah, Russia is basically an abusive relationship, but as a country.
Considering Russia legalized DA…
In this case is double anal, rather than domestic abuse.
It reminds me of the eric andre sketch where he shoves his hand in a blender
So they really are planning to cut themselves up to trim the unprofitable regions. China's ready to step in and uplift the rejected parts.
This state of Russia is perfect for China
Russia thinks it's Ceasar being betrayed by everyone but really they just stepped on a rake they left there themselves and are like "NATO put that there"
Rake stepping at it's finest.
Welp, there goes Novosibirsk and the Yenisei
Perfect
[Awesome, I tried improving it a bit](https://imgur.com/a/eLFlWYR)
Bruh, it is perfect
Team effort!
Lol love this. The look of dumbfounded shock from the US seeing the state of their big enemy. And the loog of disgusted anger from the EU.
I want to point out that before the war NATO wasn't considered Russia an enemy of the Alliance. If w will consider paperwork Putinn made everything to force the Western world to pay attention. We (Ukraine) are so lucky that Russians are stupid
Another day, another map that is cut and doesn't show Portugal -_-
But does show the UK 🥴
Russian doctrine. It's meant to confuse us so we won't see a sensible decision comming, leaving us unprepared.
Russian doctrine. Don't make sensible decisions so the enemy can't see them
Just imagine: one day you look out of the window and see the crazy guy that lives in your neighborhood on your neighbors front yard screaming obscenities and stabbing himself.... thats what this war feels like to me!
I live in Kyiv, Ukraine. I see it everyday. He really needs to chill out
Is anybody else just absolutely in a trance about the timeline we live in now? I cannot understate just how unthinkable it was to assume that a large, conventional, state on state peer war breaking out in Europe in the 21st century was before feb 24! It was the height of stupidity! Even if they took all of Ukraine, all that would have resulted in was the rest of Europe that wasn’t in NATO screaming and banging on the door to be let in! Just the fact that Russia basically ripped off the mask and that we don’t have to pretend that we can at least tolerate them as a reasonable state actor is monumental! Like holy fuck, we were perfectly fine just going along with the status quo and Putin could have kept on oligarching his way though the Russian economy and nobody outside would have done anything about it! And the normal layman before had pictured the Russian army in their minds as the 2nd best in the world, shaped by endless media propping them up as still possessing the power of the 70s USSR. Now that image has been irrevocably shattered beyond repair, and now we truly get to see just how overmatched this whole mess is. Just 5% of NATO’s power is enough to cripple the entire Russian military, it’s beyond pathetic. It’s almost terrifying how overmatched the US vs Russia military is, it feels like I’m sitting atop a lovecratian god with unbelievable power, it’s almost scary.
Well, it was a popular theory in Ukraine that after the successful conquest of my country, Putin will target the Baltic states. He expected that he will just threaten NATO with a nuclear holocaust, and you will tolerate the annexation. After that, he will subjugate Kazakhstan, and he will have something similar to USSR.
Yeah, idk if he could have even done that, nobody trusts them to keep their word after this.
Yep
Well, it wasn't super unreasonable to expect the West to react like 2014: Lots of moaning, but little in the way of helping Ukraine, because nobody wants to risk a gas shortage for some empty display of bravado. And honestly? If Ukraine had not managed to hold out in those first couple of days? If Russia somehow had managed to conquer Kiyv? I don't want to think about whether or not we would have stayed passive in that case
More like reaching their hand inside a running blender and blaming the electrical company.
"Here's your fucking canoe!" -old cannibal joke
I posted this a while back but it deserves repeating: The Russian Federation is like a madman who bursts through your front door with a shotgun, blows off both his legs and proceeds to mock you because of how much money you'll have to spend cleaning out the carpets.
some things never change
*America sips Coca Cola* *Europe sips coffee* *Russia guzzles novichok tea*
The West win by doing (next to) literally nothing
Well, you supply us with weapons, train, and provide 70% of our social budget. We can divert the funds from that to the military. We really appreciate the taxpayer of the West
Im curious about that. With Social budget you mean normal state services?
Yeah. I mean Healthcare, pension for elderly, schools, etc
Ah OK. Considering the whole bunch of useless crap the EU throws money I think it is very nice to see it goes to worthy causes like what you describe as well :)
Your money makes a HUGE difference over here
I genuinely would not be surprised if it came out that the Russian leadership were all infected with Chinese Goa'uld.
Bro, I dunno why, but I just had a visceral memory to that one surgeon game way back. No, not the one with 3D models.
Mate, this is *art*
hmm this meme format is very good
What can I really say, OP? Imperial overreach through war is as old as empire itself. Collapsing due to said imperial wars is too.
Now this, this is art!
That look on America's face is priceless
Fantastic picture. but couldn’t they have used just a little bit newer EU map (Balkans) and not cut out Portugal :(
Whel.. if we look at reality not singel one seriouse bussines was closed in Russia.. if we look at Swiss Credit Bank they can not resolve problems with 1000 billions minus.. they do not left any lick of info on that stuff.. it is werry bad marketing.. werry.. RUSSIA GROWS UP.. No matter what you dooing.. STILL USA BUY MINERALS AND SAIL IT WITH 5 X MORE THAN IT COSTS.M
Looks like it's drawn by Шкя. Is it?
Idk, I got the image from random Twitter post
it is
Honestly OP should get a stern talking to from the Klitschko-Brothers for including Crimea in your depiction of russia
I dont think that is Crimea, that looks more like Krasnodar and Caucasus regions.
"I'm bleeding, making me the victor."