VBer

The Washington Post confirmed that a military ceremony was being held there. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/04/16/ukraine-russia-sumy-missiles-strike/

Civilian deaths are 10 times smaller than militant deaths. This clearly shows that the primary target of the Russian army is the Ukrainian army, not civilians, keeping in mind that army personnel are usually more protected and better prepared.

He is alive because the bullet missed his brain. Apparently, there wasn't one.

There are numerous studies proving than general happiness and life expectancy depend on personal income. That’s true, after certain level of income the dependency fades, in US its around 70k$ per year, in Russia I would say it’s 30k$ per year. But below these amounts the relation is direct. The general poorness in Russia is the reason why going to war is fully voluntary (unlike in the Ukraine, where men are being catched at street like a stray dogs). For many people 10-20k$ payment on signing contract and 2.5-3.5k$ monthly is the only way out of poor life, that’s why Russia do not have problems with drafting new soldiers without general mobilization.

I disagree that GDP by PPP represents living standards Quality of life is affected by GDP by PPP per capita, not by GDP per PPP. GDP by PPP represents the total strength of economy measured in goods sold and services provided. In this term Russia is #4 is the world, went up from #6 in last some years.

“### GDP (PPP) - **Best for**: Comparing living standards”

So, ChatGPT says that Russia is number 4 of in the World in terms of livings standards? 😀 I quite disagree with it. if one country produces 1 ton of aluminium with the price of $500 and another country produces 1 ton of aluminium with the price of $1000 for me these are the same economies. However if count by nominal GDP economy of second country will be measured as two times bigger.

I not agree wiith it. The standard of living in a country relevant to GDP (ppp) per capita as in your link. In that term you are right, the standard of living in Russia is pretty low. However GDP by PPP represents whole economy more precisely than nominal GDP

GDP comparisons using PPP are arguably more useful than those using nominal GDP when assessing the domestic market of a state because PPP takes into account the relative cost of local goods, services and inflation rates of the country, rather than using international market exchange rates. Here the list of countries by GDP using PPP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP) Guess which country is in the top ten? 🙂

Western civilization relies on freedom. Freedom of movement, freedom of expression of option and also freedom of doing business. Telling to private companies what to do is attribute of dictatorship regtime.

Several months passed since this post. Anything changed since then ? Got any recent charts of plunging rouble? Please share current information from objective source.🙃

Reality check: that's a lie. Vladimir Putin did not sign the Budapest Memorandum. In 1994, he was not a prominent political figure. A crucial detail is that the Budapest Memorandum was signed in 1994, when Ukraine was a neutral state, as enshrined in its constitution. However, subsequent coups and constitutional changes, aiming for NATO membership, have altered Ukraine's status. Therefore, the Ukraine that signed the memorandum is not the same entity today.

Not only medicines, there are many sectors on economy relying only on import.

Rouble significantly strengthened in the last weeks to the level that started to be inconvenient for exporters ( why I do not see these news from local regular posters, why?? 😅). However this level should put inflation down and make abroad travelling and imported goods more available to people.

In the last weeks rouble significantly increased its value, so there will be only more. Despite of “nobody can afford to go on holiday” propaganda.