Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Iphie]

Seems like a tradition in Russia to kill their own generals. Putin has gone full Stalin.

Oh? Do tell who took flightlessons! Also: Stalin would have called it quits by now. putin is, at best, the sequel everyone wants to forget.

[Kralljin]

Seems like a tradition in Russia to kill their own generals. Putin has gone full Stalin.

No, Stalin was still on a next level in terms of terror.
This is the guy no one even wanted to check on because catching him at the wrong moment would get you killed.

Not even mentioning what he would've done to any Mercenary leader leading a rebellion with a march on Moscow.

[enigma77]

CNN — Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and will consider using them against Ukraine “if they are used against us,” President Vladimir Putin said.

Translation: We're terrified and want to gaslight you.

It's especially funny because Russia has been using cluster munitions throughout the war, including against civilians.

[YUPPIE]

Does Turkey fully know it is contradicting itself? Erdogan in the same month said "he expects to see Putin this August" and now he says he not only supports NATO expansion, but Ukraine's membership.

Basically said two things that would drive Putin into a homicidal rage most, but still expects to see the man face-to-face like he's not going to do shit or at least nothing would intimidate him.

[Gabriel]

does turkey fully know it is contradicting itself? Erdogan in the same month said "he expects to see putin this august" and now he says he not only supports nato expansion, but ukraine's membership.

basically said two things that would drive putin into a homicidal rage most, but still expects to see the man face-to-face.

noooooo!!! Anything but the homicidal rage!!!!!!!!!!

[Ulmita]

Does Turkey fully know it is contradicting itself? Erdogan in the same month said "he expects to see Putin this August" and now he says he not only supports NATO expansion, but Ukraine's membership.

Basically said two things that would drive Putin into a homicidal rage most, but still expects to see the man face-to-face like he's not going to do shit or at least nothing would intimidate him.

Erdogan plays both sides until he gets what he wants, which is entrance in EU and new planes / weapons. Everyone should be familiar with his tactics by now.

[YUPPIE]

Erdogan plays both sides until he gets what he wants, which is entrance in EU and new planes / weapons. Everyone should be familiar with his tactics by now.

even if it's in collaboration with Putin or whatever, Putin is being made to look like a bitch by Erdogan publicly more than once now.

Public image as a strongman is important to Putin, so it's not a small deal when this man does things like making him wait for him or publicly saying things that absolutely go against his interests.

[Ulmita]

even if it's in collaboration with Putin or whatever, Putin is being made to look like a bitch by Erdogan publicly more than once now.

Public image as a strongman is important to Putin, so it's not a small deal when this man does things like making him wait for him or publicly saying things that absolutely go against his interests.

Yep, but the he is doing the same thing with us too (NATO). He is a d1ck and we should just put him in his place.

[Breccia]

So, Russia's kind of fucked.

1) Their state TV was hacked.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has seen his State TV channel experience a humiliating primetime hack, in which millions of his people were warned “the hour of reckoning has come.”

Cyber forces were able to hack into the network and broadcast the message via different broadcasters across Russia.

Other channels were hacked around the same time, while six staff from Russian State TV had to be evacuated after an envelope containing white powder arrived at the station, causing a fear of poisoning.

2) Their economy is falling apart.

For the April to June quarter, the country posted a current-account surplus of $5.4 billion, marking a 93% plunge from a record $76.7 billion during the same stretch last year, according to the Russian central bank.

The fading current account surplus shows that Moscow has been unable to secure imports, and that its profits from energy exports are failing to prop up the economy like they did before.

Russia's Finance Ministry said in June that revenue from oil and gas taxes dropped 36% compared to a year ago, while profits from crude and petroleum products fell 31%.

Before the war, Russia was responsible for almost 40% of the European Union's natural gas imports, and a quarter of the bloc's crude oil. Those numbers have gone to almost zero since then.

Before the invasion of Ukraine, roughly 100,000 vehicles were sold every single month across Russia, according to Yale research data shared with Insider.

Those sales have collapsed to about a quarter of that level, driven not only by soaring prices and sinking consumer sentiment, but also due to a lack of supply.

A quick note: the lack of supply is especially damning. One, it means there's either no materials to make cars, no people to make cars, or no both to make cars. Secondly, it means prices don't increase, meaning Russia's car market is taking an especially dirty bath.

3) Has anyone checked on the ruble lately?

As this ten year chart shows, before Russia invaded Ukraine for no reason, the ruble was basically steady at about 75 to the US dollar. Then they invaded without cause and the ruble tanked.

Briefly.

Russia effectively bought a bunch of their own money to stabilize it. And, as more recent data shows, they have not been able to keep that up. The ruble has steadily lost value since. By April 2023, the ruble was back to 75 per dollar. It's now about 90. And as you can see, this isn't a spike. It's a steady devaluation caused by the consequences of their actions.

All of this, and we're not even talking about the military issues. As this Forbes article says, Russia is losing four or five howitzers for every Ukranian one they destroy. Normally, that's something a larger attacker could do -- just swarm the smaller defender until they get enough natural 20s to win. Russia hasn't been replacing them. Their leadership is falling apart. They have no supply lines. Oh, and of course, Ukraine has better weapons given to them by Germany, Norway, etc. Russians have been firing a few shells then fleeing in terror before the counterattack removes the howitzer and every carbon-based life form within 300 meters.

So when Putin says Western tanks are a priority target, there's no reason to expect anything different. Russia's tanks are already being destroyed and abandoned. Thinking the way to handle this is to send them after, say, US tanks is just suicide.

No wonder Putin's hiding out in the last level of Hitman where he thinks nobody will find him. His country is falling apart, and he's the only person to blame.

[YUPPIE]

None of this matters because Russia has the ultimate coercion tool in case things go absolutely FUBAR. But given their ability to wage this war within the estimate of some years, that's not even close to happening.

"Some years" is a long time.

[Corvus]

Those are the officially released figures, so who knows just how bad it really is.

The car sales one has another factor as well - prior to sanctions they imported a lot of western made cars. Now the largest share of sales are the inferior Lada. No one really wants them, especially those in Moscow or St Petersburg, but it either that or a Chinese made car. And the Lada is winning that option.

Russia had a lit of artillery and it is dying fast, especially their self propelled and long range guns. They have been seen to be transitioning more to shorter range mortars as their long range guns get taken out, and those are even more vulnerable.

Ukrainian guns are more accurate and their self propelled ones are much faster at shoot and scoot, leaving them less at risk. The Ukrainians are also much better at counter battery work. The sacked russian general complained about the lack of counterbattery ability they had and how Ukrainian artillery was wrecking them.

The way it is going, Ukraine may soon have artillery equality, if not superiority to russia, just like some reports indicate they may have with tanks.

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The russian state TV hack ended with Swan Lake, which everyone in russia knows what it means.

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Russian reports are saying a section of the Crimea bridge is down.

[Azadina]

None of this matters because Russia has the ultimate coercion tool in case things go absolutely FUBAR. But given their ability to wage this war within the estimate of some years, that's not even close to happening.

"Some years" is a long time.

Oh? What's that? Are you invoking the N word again?

[jonnysensible]

russias dogshit logistics going to get even shitter

[YUPPIE]

No torture depicted. But here is a good glimpse at what Putin puts you if you do not fight in Ukraine

You get sent into dark pits and corridors to languish in filth and darkness until your will breaks.

A Russian soldier convicted of insubordination was among a group of conscripts who accused their superiors of locking them up in a cellar in eastern Ukraine after they refused to fight, subjecting them to unsanitary living conditions and an insufficient diet, according to a report by an independent Russian news outlet.

The conviction of soldier Yevgeny Frolov in the far-eastern city of Spassk-Dalny on July 13 came days after new video footage emerged purporting to show Russian soldiers in Ukraine placed in captivity for refusing to go to the front line with insufficient equipment and support.

"We are locked up in this pit for refusing to go to the front line," a man out of frame can be heard saying in the video, which shows men in camouflage lying in a dank cellar-like room with crumbling walls.

"There are no commanders that would take us to the front line. There is no equipment, evacuation teams, radios. We are just thrown into the woods like dogs," the man adds in the video, which was published by the independent Russian Telegram channel Astra on July 8.



Relatives of the conscripts shown in the video from the cellar released last week told Astra that they had been unable to contact the soldiers after the footage was released online.

[Deus Mortis]

Do you guys think this will buff out? /s For those not aware the picture is of the Crimea Bridge.

[Gabriel]

Do you guys think this will buff out? /s For those not aware the picture is of the Crimea Bridge.

Haha. Stupid gay-nazi-jews think this will stop the glorious russian army? They'll just fill in the gap with NOOOOOKS!

[korijenkins]

even if it's in collaboration with Putin or whatever, Putin is being made to look like a bitch by Erdogan publicly more than once now.

Public image as a strongman is important to Putin, so it's not a small deal when this man does things like making him wait for him or publicly saying things that absolutely go against his interests.

I mean, Xi also made him look like a bitch. So did Kazakhstan's president. It's basically over for any perception of Putin's competence as a leader as well as his international respect. Russian media and random bozos on twitter might fellate him, but virtually the entire rest of the world knows the country is a joke.

Putin genuinely needs Turkey's middle of the road approach more than Erdogan needs anything from him.

[Iphie]

Do you guys think this will buff out? /s For those not aware the picture is of the Crimea Bridge.

Just some paint, good as new.

[MCMLXXXII]

Do you guys think this will buff out? /s For those not aware the picture is of the Crimea Bridge.

Russian watercylce launch platform.

[Corvus]

Not sure bridges, even in russia, are meant to look like this.

https://twitter.com/AndrewPerpetua/s...21838857814018