Olivier5

Do you see a contradiction?

My point is simply that it is obviously the belligerents who will decide wether or not they keep on fighting. It's not the EU, and it's not little me ...

You misunderstood my point. Try again.

Sure, EU citizens are welcome to demonstrate or argue against what the EU does, ie the EU sanctions or the EU support to Ukraine. But they are not the...

I am not 100% certain of much. Let's not pretend that things are impossible to tell in the specific case of Ukraine... There's more info on Ukraine th...

Europe facing the energy crisis https://www.cartooningforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/01-cartoon_sabado_crise_energe%CC%81tica.1-scaled-e16632...

Personally, I think that if the Ukrainians size the initiative, the Russian front can only take so much; it will collapse at some point under various ...

Actually, a vast majority of Ukrainians think they can beat the Russians, using NATO-donated weapons as well as their own.

You might have to tell about your point 3 above to the Ukrainians, because they don't seem to be aware of it... Some 80% of them believe they can beat...

My position is simply that, if you support the Russian war of aggression and related bombing, murders, tortures and rapes, then you won't be my friend...

This is an illusionary objective, in any case. Nobody can change someone else's perspective. Rather, a person can decide to change her perspective, or...

People don't change perspective, most of times. Cf. any debate on TPF for evidence of that. Let's not aim for the impossible. No pro-russian poster is...

The Nazis had their perspective too. Doesn't make it right.

You know the FSB is worried when their rep here writes down walls of text addressed to no one in particular about climate change, the EU, bitches and ...

There are also attacks that some call "probes" after they failed.

Are we to believe then, that if the Russian 'probe' had succeeded all the way to Kiev, it would have been a failure of the Russian strategy?

Iconic Russian singer Alla Pugacheva, 73, a variety superstar for decades in the USSR and Russia, has denounced the conflict in Ukraine on Instagram, ...

Talking about historical precedents to the current war, and for all the mentions of WW2, there is also a possible parallel to be made with WW1, -- in ...

Likewise... :-)

Fair enough.

Does that mean you are indifferent to the outcome of the war?

Oh I am clearly pro-Ukraine, I haven't been shy about it. Whose side are you on?

Okay. It should thus be easy for you to point out a military event or offensive or situation that did not go according to Russian plans. What would th...

Don't change the subject all the time. I'm trying to help you understand something, and it's hard enough. The reason you are "struggling to see where ...

I trying to help, by teasing out unconscious, unexamined assumptions, thus allowing us to examine them -- a time-honored philosophical tradition.

It's subconscious, I think.

And you seem to assume that the Russian side never makes any mistake, and that "everything is going according to plan". So the reason you are "struggl...

So you think they are dumber than I think they are, because it made no sense to sacrifice the best Russian troops around Kiev just to make a diversion...

All you said was: What was the purpose of sending -- and in effect sacrificing -- all these elites troops in the general direction of Kiev at the onse...

Indeed, excellent analysis, eg on why the dam was bombed.

I see that my previous response was deleted. Oh my... This has nothing to see with being a fool, and everything to do with being human. Putin is a hum...

And yet, they tried to take Kiev and to kill Zelensky. Have you considered that what seems obvious to you may not seem so obvious to someone else? A d...

The soldiers and officers all thought it would be a walk in the park. That's what they say in any case. The plan B was evidently to take Kiev and inst...

No, it does not. That is only your interpretation of it. The war goals of this "special operation" haven't been made public. My interpretation is that...

Nope. I simply said that if Russia can be beaten in this oblast, it can be beaten in other oblasts. Do you understand now?

Larger still are the Ukrainian regions the Russians failed to invade. Because the Russians blown up the bridges over the Oskil river while leaving, du...

Why look at a map? It is significant because it means that the Russians can be beaten. If they can be repelled in Karkhiv, they can be chased from oth...

Your confusion is easily solved: it comes from them losing ground on the battlefield.

None that I can think of, which is perhaps why they aren't negotiating, in actual fact.

Sure. All I am saying is don't insult the future. Meaning, when you try and tease what could happen, do not assume that the future will necessarily re...

Exactly. And such is often neglected by people who think "inside the box".

Yes, an official breakdown would be politically expensive. Still, they could 'suicide' one or two of them, like they did to so many oligarchs. But the...

Social networks are not reality, so fucking what? The point is that a better Russia could emerge from this war, IFF Russian forces lose the war. Of co...

Putin's failure to invade Ukraine will probably lead to his death and/or replacement by someone else at the helm of Russia. Regime change, IOW. Perhap...

By this measure, since Russia is not capable of invading and conquering Ukraine, Russia cannot win either. I'd rather think this is only what it means...

You seemed to be of the opinion that Ukraine could not win this war. It can, and it will! Foxes and sour grapes, again. When the Russian are booted ou...

Thanks for this background. Still, couldn't they arrest the most negative milbloggers and send them to jail for 15 years?

You mean, corrupted generals and such? Those getting the ghost soldiers' pay? On russian milbliggers, it baffles me that they are right now the world'...

Interesting to note that, given the current news blackout from Ukraine, these Russian military bloggers have become our main source of info on what's ...

He needs to decide fast, as training recruits takes time, and Ukraine has the initiative for once. Problem is, I guess they can't be sure that the ave...