GRcade

Moggy wrote:

rinks wrote:The pretence of democracy is sickening. What sort of dictator is too cowardly to admit what they are?

Most dictators are too cowardly to admit it. That's why they call their countries names with things like "democratic" or "people's republic" and hold elections where they win 95% of the vote.

Bill Gates

I'm sure Tucker Carlson will get to the bottom of it.

Just as soon as he gets over being wowed at the concept of shopping trolleys with the coin deposit.

The Democratic Forum Republic of Huwrcade.

Moggy wrote:Alexei Navalny has been murdered.

Dreadful news.

So which one was it? Slippery balcony? Or something in his tea?

Got killed by a window.

Maybe he accidentally tripped and fell on to some sharp things which had been carelessly left lying around?

Poor guy shot himself in the back of the head from the building across the street.

There's a good chance he might have accidentally brutally cut his own head off while combing his hair?

He was singing a patriotic song about Putin being the greatest ever Russian and was so overcome with emotion for how wonderful Putin is that he literally died of happiness.

Probably drank a cup of tea and just dropped dead.

Two years on since Putin invaded Ukraine. Unthinkable at the time but Ukrainian valour and Western resolve has kept Ukraine fighting on.

Yep. In their grinding, relentless commitment to their hometown defence they've protected the rest of us.

It's gone so well for Putin. He's killed thousands of Russians, enlarged NATO (Finland and soon Sweden) and was forced to meet Tucker Carlson.

strawberry floating loser.

I don't think anyone predicted even Putin of all people would decimate his own army, willingly lose (estimated) 400k troops to keep this going for 2 years. The sad thing is, Ukraine don't have the manpower to keep this going for much longer I fear. They'll probably be at the negotiating table within a year.

It'll be nothing more than a pyrrhic victory for Russia if/when it happens though, but he'll end up with the chunk of Ukraine he desires. I just hope the Western world indefinitely maintains sanctions and refuses to begin selling vital parts to them ever again.

Imrahil wrote:I don't think anyone predicted even Putin of all people would decimate his own army, willingly lose (estimated) 400k troops to keep this going for 2 years. The sad thing is, Ukraine don't have the manpower to keep this going for much longer I fear. They'll probably be at the negotiating table within a year.

It'll be nothing more than a pyrrhic victory for Russia if/when it happens though, but he'll end up with the chunk of Ukraine he desires. I just hope the Western world indefinitely maintains sanctions and refuses to begin selling vital parts to them ever again.

Indeed, if they do end up negotiating a peace and the for example Russia gains what they currently have then yes the sanctions must remain and strong efforts should be made to secure the rest of Ukraine straight away to prevent it from happening again.

The best way to bring the war to an end is to support Ukraine properly. It's shameful that we're letting the fight for us but not giving them the means to do so properly.

The war does seem to be slowly shifting in favour of Russia, in large part due to the dwindling foreign aid support to Ukraine. The sad truth is that Putin is happy for as many Russians to die as necessary to achieve his goals. With his larger population to pull from and greater economic power, he can afford to watch it play out until Ukraine runs out of resources, be it human or military.

There is still promised aid yet to arrive in Ukraine. Most hyped is the F16 fighter jets. Obviously, training is required before these can be sent over to Ukraine and this is under way. Whether it will make a material difference though, who knows. It may allow Ukraine to take out some high profile targets, which will make things harder for Russia, who will need to concentrate air defenses to priority areas and give them something else to consider. But Ukraine will also need to store the jets, so they too will need to concentrate air defenses. I imagine that the F16s will be focused against high priority targets, supply lines etc, but against infantry, the direct impact of jets will be more limited. The delay in getting weaponry over to Ukraine could ultimately leave the West with the choice between supporting with ground forces, or abandoning Ukraine to Russia.

Even if (and it's a big if) Russia can take Ukraine, their losses will only just be starting. They'll be facing insurgents for as long as they try and hold onto it.