Putin's Invasion of Ukraine

[Cassia]

I remember when Russians took to the streets to protest Yeltsin's dismantling of parliament. Moscow was a war zone. It led to a violent military crackdown and the consolidation of absolute executive power under a new constitution. Protest made their lives even worse. Kinda adds up why they just let the dictator do his thing.

It's definitely a lose-lose situation. But the long-term consequences of society being "apolitical" during a dictatorship is that the dictator has a free hand to do some seriously heinous stuff, mostly to the host county. We've seen the populace of whole countries struggle against a dictator (Hungary comes readily to mind) and we've seen countries quietly acquiesce to them (Russia, North Korea, etc). The latter is worse by any conceivable metric.

I've often heard conflicts summarized as a "struggle for freedom" but painting it in such abstract terms does it a real disservice - we're really talking about the people in a country having a say in how they are governed, to choose their own leader and own political agenda, to have a say in their own future. Often, we're also talking about the ability to live without being attacked by secret police, without having people being abducted, etc. And not just freedom from unjust rule and arbitrary harm, but the ability for normal people to live peaceful and prosperous lives connected to the rest of the world. These conditions change the course of the lives of millions and also the future of the world as a whole. It's lamentable that dictators ever successfully convince the people to part with such truly valuable things.

Yes, just look at all the idiots willing to support our version of a madman-dictator. And then the prototype, the celestial dictator that demands to be worshiped or it is eternal hellfire. People seem to think belief is a choice. It is not. It is a mind-state. If anyone has a choice to believe Puff the Magic Dragon is real, I'd love to meet them, LOL.

[Hydra009]

Fools Russian:



Russian infantry assault under the cover of fog. Huge manpower advantage. But the 3 Ukrainian defenders ambushed them, then the fog cleared and the drones went to work. Clearly, the Ukrainians know how to do more with less. Very disciplined, too. Not many even western units would hold fast in such a situation.

[theantithesis]

Not many even western units would hold fast in such a situation.

Americans would bottle like the Shotz Brewing Company

"I thought we were the main characters!"

[Hydra009]

Warmonger says no to peace - again and again

Mad Vlad says that Ukraine's ceasefire proposals are too "exotic" for him

When asked what he meant by "exotic" proposals, Putin refused to clarify.

Of course not, because then it'd be obvious that he's lying.

One proposal was just a straight ceasefire - Ukrainian units wouldn't fire unless fired upon. It doesn't get simpler than that. Mad Vlad refused.

Another proposal was to not attack each other's energy infrastructure - power plants, hydroelectric dams, refineries, pipelines, etc. Super simple stuff. Mad Vlad refused.

And yet another was to not attack commercial shipping - no attacking port infrastructure, grain ships, cargo ships, shadow fleet ships, etc. Simple proposal. Mad Vlad refused.

Trump and Musk say that Ukraine must make a deal, but with who? Someone who refuses every deal? Putin says "peace" and means capitulation, and Zelenskyy says peace and means no more Russians in Ukraine and no more missiles and drones flying. So when they say peace, they don't mean the same thing. Until Putin understands what peace means (or someone else comes to power who does), there can be no peace.