Reports that Muscovites are walking around unaware their country is a war, asking, "how is this possible?"Unbeliever wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2026 2:01 am Meidas Touch
ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE as Moscow BURNS TO THE GROUND!!!!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=wt3SwCoSkGY ... Kl3OPBAOmu
Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
Yeah. Suddenly, the war is a lot less abstract for people who live in Moscow. A couple people made the connection between their actions in Ukraine and retaliation from Ukraine, but lots of people were in shock. They've been told by state media that they're winning and advancing on all fronts and that only the occasional Ukrainian drone wanders into Russia but it's a trifling concern and they're all shot down quickly, so it's just drone debris. Wrong on all accounts in the most obvious way. Hopefully, a lot more come to grips with reality and find whatever way they can to hasten the end of the war to save Russian lives.
Russian state media is still as awful as ever, either glossing over the attack on its capital or solmenly declaring that war is filled with hardship and that they should be like their ancestors in WWII and endure hardship and prepare for sacrifice. For the Kremlin propagandist, those are just words that sound nice used to pacify people, but for many people in Russia, hardship and sacrifice are real, tangible things. They have lost people. They have canceled vacations and lost contact with the outside world. They are struggling. And the Kremlin says "everything is going according to plan".
Russian state media is still as awful as ever, either glossing over the attack on its capital or solmenly declaring that war is filled with hardship and that they should be like their ancestors in WWII and endure hardship and prepare for sacrifice. For the Kremlin propagandist, those are just words that sound nice used to pacify people, but for many people in Russia, hardship and sacrifice are real, tangible things. They have lost people. They have canceled vacations and lost contact with the outside world. They are struggling. And the Kremlin says "everything is going according to plan".
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
When he gets to Russian milbloggers' reactions is where the real schadenfreude begins. Fighterbomber suggests fighting a real war (I guess Putin was racking up 1.4 million Russian casualties over 4 years for fun), shooting down Ukrainian drones (what a genius), moving Russian tanks forward, planes in the air, and ships at sea (previously, I guess the Russians were moving the tanks back, putting planes at sea, and ships in the air). Someone please award this guy the Order of Lenin because I've never seen such military brilliance. I don't think most people truly appreciate such higher-order strategic thinking because they're so used to buzzwords like logistics, recon, military intelligence, opsec, etc. That's all nonsense and a waste of time. Tanks forward (not backwards) is the true path to victory.
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
I'm just saying, if they want all tanks to go forward, they should hop in and drive one forward. See what happens.
I can report that the Muscovites did take to the streets and protest...against the UK. Not sure how that'll convince the Ukrainians to stop the retaliatory strikes, though.
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
I've seen the bike graveyard. It looks like some sort of motorcycle parade where everyone got too drunk to stay awake and just decided to take naps all over the place. Lots and lots of naps.
I've also seen the video where a Ukrainian fpv drone chases down a Russian bukhanka van with lots of Russian infantry inside. The guy on top jumps off (makes sense, he'd be the first victim when it hits) but his absence means the sunroof is wide open for the Ukrainian drone. The drone manages to detonate inside the van and the results are understandable. Ukrainian drone pilots are very skilled, give them the smallest opening and they will skillfully guide their drone inside.
I hope that Russian guy - probably the lone survivor - is okay with his choice. I understand his logic, and it's sound imho. But in bird culture, it would be considered a dick move.
Last edited by Hydra009 on Sat Jun 20, 2026 2:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine has launched a website called TrophyLab where Western partners can learn everything - and I mean everything - they want to know about Russian weapons and equipment from captured Russian tech that Ukraine has accumulated over the past 4 years. We're talking missiles (some were duds), drones (some were disabled by EW or got tangled in fishing nets or were duds), vehicles (lots of those were captured), tanks (taken by Ukrainian tractors), Russian EW (rare but Ukraine got their hands on a couple, even though every military in the world understands that you must blow them up to keep the enemy from getting their hands on that treasure trove of valuable information), air defense, etc.
Additionally, certain organizations are allowed physical access to Russian tech so they can test their weapons against it in real-world conditions free of charge, which is a big deal for new or smaller defense companies.
The bottom line is that whatever Russia uses against Ukraine will be analyzed, dismantled, reverse engineered, and fully understood by all Western defense agencies and defense corporations. This helps speed up Western R&D so they can more quickly and easily create counters to Russian military tech. It may also help prepare Western countries for future aggression from Russia.
Scientia est potentia.
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine struck the Tyumen oil refinery, among other targets, including an oil terminal in Crimea, which was struck repeatedly. There's satellite footage of the damage to the Russian oil refinery and it's pretty severe.
Ukraine continues to hit logistics trucks. Russia has started using convoys with armed escorts to deter Ukrainian drones. I'm not sure if they're having more success with that or not, because I'm looking at footage of intact Russian vehicles speeding by burning Russian trucks. A lot of the destroyed vehicles say Wildberries - in english - on the side. Apparently, the Russians are trying to disguise their fuel trucks as produce trucks, but I've never seen actual produce burn like that. The Ukrainians don't seem to be fooled.
I goes without saying that there's a widespread fuel crisis in Russia. Russia is looking to fix this problem by importing fuel. So instead of selling gasoline, Russia will pay other countries for theirs. Good luck balancing that budget.
Ukraine continues to hit logistics trucks. Russia has started using convoys with armed escorts to deter Ukrainian drones. I'm not sure if they're having more success with that or not, because I'm looking at footage of intact Russian vehicles speeding by burning Russian trucks. A lot of the destroyed vehicles say Wildberries - in english - on the side. Apparently, the Russians are trying to disguise their fuel trucks as produce trucks, but I've never seen actual produce burn like that. The Ukrainians don't seem to be fooled.
I goes without saying that there's a widespread fuel crisis in Russia. Russia is looking to fix this problem by importing fuel. So instead of selling gasoline, Russia will pay other countries for theirs. Good luck balancing that budget.
Last edited by Hydra009 on Sun Jun 21, 2026 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
There have been disturbing reports as well as footage of ordinary Russian men being forcibly conscripted by simply being hauled off by police to "voluntarily" sign contracts for military service.
One Russian woman was alarmed by workers on a crowded bus "checking tickets" but in actuality attempting to determine who on the bus was draft-age and she urged mothers to not allow their sons to use public transit.
There are other videos of men being loaded into military vehicles while women are asking if they signed voluntarily or were beaten and very upset that to not even get 5 minutes to say a proper goodbye to their men. The women say that they know that their men were beaten. Just before getting in the vehicle himself, the military guy says "All the better", confessing while knowing that he's untouchable and delighting in cruelty. I think that videos like this are very revealing about Russian society - a culture of lying, cruelty, dehumanization, and dispossession - and there's always some lawful evil cretin making the wheels turn on this disgusting horror show. Putin's war machine would fall apart with lackeys like him, yet he always lives while others do not.
It seems that Putin has resorted to his favorite tactic - throwing more men at it. Brute force solution. His situation is akin to being unable to lift a heavy bolder and so he strains himself doubling and redoubling his efforts to lift the bothersome bolder - never once sweeping around its base to discover that it's attached to the mountain, a part of it. Which will break first, the boulder or his back? A perceptive and intelligent person would not seek to find out!
One Russian woman was alarmed by workers on a crowded bus "checking tickets" but in actuality attempting to determine who on the bus was draft-age and she urged mothers to not allow their sons to use public transit.
There are other videos of men being loaded into military vehicles while women are asking if they signed voluntarily or were beaten and very upset that to not even get 5 minutes to say a proper goodbye to their men. The women say that they know that their men were beaten. Just before getting in the vehicle himself, the military guy says "All the better", confessing while knowing that he's untouchable and delighting in cruelty. I think that videos like this are very revealing about Russian society - a culture of lying, cruelty, dehumanization, and dispossession - and there's always some lawful evil cretin making the wheels turn on this disgusting horror show. Putin's war machine would fall apart with lackeys like him, yet he always lives while others do not.
It seems that Putin has resorted to his favorite tactic - throwing more men at it. Brute force solution. His situation is akin to being unable to lift a heavy bolder and so he strains himself doubling and redoubling his efforts to lift the bothersome bolder - never once sweeping around its base to discover that it's attached to the mountain, a part of it. Which will break first, the boulder or his back? A perceptive and intelligent person would not seek to find out!
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
Good, the more people affected the faster they may decide Putin needs to go.
Re: Putin's Invasion of Ukraine
Putin's time is rapidly running out. In prior years, he was offered "exit ramps" to quietly end his war. Now, he's losing and losing badly enough that certain people are checking which way the wind is blowing and changing positions.
Ideally, he'd read the writing on the wall and go to the negotiating table. But he seems adamant on war, on being remembered as some great conqueror, and the Russian economy is increasingly geared for total war at the expense of all else, which typically doesn't happen when one is genuinely seeking peace. The internal political situation is becoming more unstable, with much more vocal criticism of the war and Putin personally, but no one has yet stepped up to actually do anything.
Putin and Russia are in a bind. Russia can't afford to continue the war, nor can they afford to lose it.
Russia's economy is "overheating" and there aren't enough workers to go around but there also isn't enough money to pay the workers they have. This can't continue.
But if the bombs stopped flying tomorrow, Russia's economy would crater. If the world normalized trade with Russia immediately after some sort of peace deal, maybe but it's doubtful that'd happen quickly. Not even Trump can dig Putin out of this mess and Trump isn't exactly known for fixing things well. The fact is that the lucrative oil trade between the EU and Russia is largely gone and there's no chance of it coming back, with or without sanctions. A lot of these refineries will take months or years to be fully repaired and it'll be very expensive. Not to mention returning over a million traumatized and/or wounded soldiers to civilian life. Or the deep public disasatisfaction with how the war went - horrendous losses, minimal gains, the loss of Russian influence throughout the world, and the loss of the image of Russia as this unstoppable juggernaut.
If the war ends in a way that's unacceptable for Russians and especially Russian oligarchs, Putin will almost certainly be killed. Someone else will take power and Russia will enter a period of political and economic instabilty.
Ideally, he'd read the writing on the wall and go to the negotiating table. But he seems adamant on war, on being remembered as some great conqueror, and the Russian economy is increasingly geared for total war at the expense of all else, which typically doesn't happen when one is genuinely seeking peace. The internal political situation is becoming more unstable, with much more vocal criticism of the war and Putin personally, but no one has yet stepped up to actually do anything.
Putin and Russia are in a bind. Russia can't afford to continue the war, nor can they afford to lose it.
Russia's economy is "overheating" and there aren't enough workers to go around but there also isn't enough money to pay the workers they have. This can't continue.
But if the bombs stopped flying tomorrow, Russia's economy would crater. If the world normalized trade with Russia immediately after some sort of peace deal, maybe but it's doubtful that'd happen quickly. Not even Trump can dig Putin out of this mess and Trump isn't exactly known for fixing things well. The fact is that the lucrative oil trade between the EU and Russia is largely gone and there's no chance of it coming back, with or without sanctions. A lot of these refineries will take months or years to be fully repaired and it'll be very expensive. Not to mention returning over a million traumatized and/or wounded soldiers to civilian life. Or the deep public disasatisfaction with how the war went - horrendous losses, minimal gains, the loss of Russian influence throughout the world, and the loss of the image of Russia as this unstoppable juggernaut.
If the war ends in a way that's unacceptable for Russians and especially Russian oligarchs, Putin will almost certainly be killed. Someone else will take power and Russia will enter a period of political and economic instabilty.