7 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

 

I agree with every word he says, and there are even rumors that he's a spook. Essentially, he argues that the war in Ukraine is likely to drag on for months or even years because Russia holds significant advantages and Zelensky faces serious domestic constraints, making a decisive Ukrainian victory or a reliable peace unlikely. Fighting Russia on its own borders is inherently difficult and likely to end in defeat, given the scale of Russian resources and territorial depth. Moreover, Ukraine’s survival is heavily dependent on external financial and military support andif that funding stops, the state risks collapse. In hindsight, much of this was probably inevitable from the start. What the West has done is prolong the conflict and the suffering, but not fundamentally change the outcome. Z should have taken the ride and don't beleive in your own script. The Russian ability to take and inflict pain beyond anything which we can imagine or tolerate is etched into their cold dark hearts - it was ever thus. 

To add to your following a fool I have attached another Putin appologist on youtube.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Lira

 

oh wait they now say he is dead 

oh well <deleted> happens

 

Delusional at best, grifter at worst

 

15 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

 

I quickly fact-checked your desertion claims with ChatGPT. It’s not just a few bad apples it’s happening in huge numbers. Still, carry on with your fine words. ARSS is very heavily moderated, but it provides spirited debate and solid soldier insights, so I make a point of spending some time there each day reading the posts.

 

Here are the most up-to-date insights on the state of Ukraine’s armed forces—focusing on the manpower situation without any reliance on Russian state sources:

---

Ukrainian Army Strength & Deployment

• Total Troop Strength: Ukraine officially maintains over 1 million active personnel, but the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) notes that only 300,000 or fewer may actually be deployed on the front line (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty).

• Future Structure: Ukraine is expanding its military through the formation of new units—like the 17th Army Corps (40,000–80,000 troops formed around Zaporizhzhia in 2025) (Wikipedia)—and the 3rd Army Corps (~20,000 troops, focused on Kyiv front operations) (Wikipedia).

• Unmanned Systems Forces: As of early 2025, the dedicated drone warfare branch includes 5,000 personnel structured into one regiment and six battalions (with more being formed) (Wikipedia).

---

Casualties & Manpower Strain

• Casualty Estimates (Ukrainian losses combined with wounded):

  • President Zelensky estimated 43,000 killed and 370,000 wounded as of late December 2024 (Russia Matters).

  • The CSIS (June 2025) projects between 60,000–100,000 killed and 300,000–340,000 wounded (Russia Matters).

  • The U.K. Ministry of Defence estimates over 250,000 killed within the broader casualty count by mid-2025 (Russia Matters).

• These figures reflect significant attrition, reinforcing the manpower pressures Ukraine continues to face.

---

Recruitment Issues & Public Sentiment

• Conscription Challenges: With public resistance rising, multiple forced-draft incidents have surfaced—including men being taken into vans. As a result, Ukraine introduced a provision for voluntary service for ages 18–24 and over 60, though only 10% of recruits are volunteering, meaning forced mobilization remains the primary method (Financial Times).

• Desertion and Morale: The Ukrainian military continues to grapple with a desertion crisis—driven by exhaustion, morale issues, and harsh combat conditions. The government has responded with measures like decriminalizing voluntary return, easing transfers via an app, and increasing transparency in recruitment—but structural challenges persist (The Guardian).

---

Summary Table

Category	Key Insights
Total Troop Strength	Over 1 million, but only ~300,000 on front line (OSW estimate)
New Formations	17th Army Corps (~40–80k), 3rd Army Corps (~20k), and drone unit expansion
Casualties	Estimated 60k–250k+ killed; up to ~340k wounded (various sources)
Recruitment	Growing resistance to draft; only 10% volunteer; forced conscription continues
Desertion & Morale	Ongoing desertion crisis; reforms underway but problems remain

---

Overall Assessment (August 2025)

• Manpower is critically strained. Casualties and battlefield attrition continue to outpace replacement through recruitment.

• Structural expansion efforts, like new Army Corps and drone forces, reflect Ukraine’s adaptation to limited manpower, but these units face pressure to fill ranks.

• Public dissent over conscription and desertion trends signal ongoing morale issues, despite reform efforts.

---

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/31/tired-mood-changed-ukrainian-army-desertion-crisis?

 

In May that same year, Viktor left his position to seek further medical treatment. He did not come back. His commander marked him down as awol. Viktor is one of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who have abandoned their units. The exact figure is a military secret, but officials concede the number is large. They say it is understandable, when tired troops have served for months without a proper break.

The issue of desertion has made headlines in Ukraine. Last week the government launched an investigation into the 155th Mechanised Brigade. Fifty-six soldiers disappeared while training in France. Hundreds of others are said to be missing. The unit’s commander, Dmytro Riumshyn, was arrested. He faces 10 years in jail for failing to carry out his official duties and to report unauthorised absences.

 

https://archive.ph/402OX

 

Shoved into vans, slashing tyres: Ukrainians balk at conscription
Kyiv’s top brass under fire over violent recruitment practices - FINANCIAL TIMES 

 

Zelenskyy has said that his armed forces are able to draft up to 27,000 conscripts a month. While Ukrainian authorities decline to quantify the country’s frontline manpower gap for security reasons, commanders and soldiers routinely warn about defensive positions being undermanned and further exhausting the remaining troops.
By contrast, independent analysts say Russia is probably recruiting more than 30,000 soldiers every month — mostly volunteers attracted by significant sign-on bonuses.
But Ukraine still has to rely mostly on conscription, with only about 10 per cent of the fresh recruits being volunteers, according to Fedir Venislavsky, a member of the parliamentary committee on intelligence and national security.

 

 

 

 

Spell Arrse correctly.

 

Predictably, you have spent your time trying to prove how terrible Ukraine is, and zero time showing far higher Russian resistance to conscription, because basically you are a Tankie. Go ask Arrse what that means. I post on there.

 

 

You are an ignorant man. 

 

You make a statement

 

Quote

Total Troop Strength: Ukraine officially maintains over 1 million active personnel, but the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) notes that only 300,000 or fewer may actually be deployed on the front line (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty).

 

 

Cherry picked to belittle the Ukrainian military, because you think it shows the Ukrainian military in a bad light. Your mates in green will verify this; in WW2, the British army varied between about 900,000 and 3 million men, but of those, only about 20% at any one time were on the front line.

 

In June 1944, the British Army in the U K was about 1.5 million men. A further half million were in the Middle East, Africa, Asia. In June 1944, 156,000 British troops hit the beaches in Normandy. So what's your explanation why only 10% were sent over?

 

Its also why the entire Russian army isn't in Ukraine. Russia is a bigger county, with a bigger population. But it also has more borders to defend. It borders several NATO members. It borders Japan. It borders China, who recently has been making claims to parts of far eastern Russia, recently occupying some Russian islands. 

 

The answer is to do with troop rotation, training, logistics. In Iraq, 60% of the Americans deployed were not even in uniform, let alone frontline roles.

 

You provide a plagiarised paragraph in support of the Russians, pointing out how they are willingly volunteering; you nicked the statement from a paywalled Economist article. The statement is unsourced "30,000 per month", versus "27,000 per month" for Ukraine. In both cases, the numbers are before losses. Of course, like all wars, the aggressor (Russia) is suffering higher losses that the defender (Ukraine), thats why typically, when planning an offensive you need a 4:1 to 3:1 advantage.

 

Why are you so intent on discrediting the Ukrainian military, and so obviously championing the Russian military? It is because you are a pro-Russian propagandist, wrapped in the sheen of Chat-GPT. You fail to mention why early in the war Russia felt the need to scour prisons for pressganged convicts. You fail to mention why Russia had to deploy North Korean troops, not Russian troop, to Kursk (its to do with the terms of the Russian military service). You fail to comment on the large numbers of clearly unwilling African and Indian fighters captured by the Ukrainians (totally different from the small numbers of foreign volunteers in the Ukrainian forces).

 

What you deliberately fail to mention, because I know you have read exactly th same OSINT source that I have is that in many cases, Ukrainian troops desert one unit to join a preferred unit. You also deliberately fail to mention the Ukrainian programme to reintegrate men who have gone home, with some success.

 

Ukrainian and Russian desertion rates are roughly in line with American desertion rates related to Vietnam, and similar to what the Soviet Army, even when it was winning, during WW2 (5-10%).

 

You are promoting a pro-Russian ideology which is broadly to over emphasize Ukrainian difficulties, ignore Russian problems and exaggerate Russian successes. Kremlin playbook. You cherry pick sources that support your bias, which is broadly anti-Ukrainian, painted in a cloak of respectability.

 

Since when has "conscription" anywhere been anything but "forced". Conscription is by definition, compulsory. I had a Great Uncle who deserted in WW2. he was a Bevin Boy, didn't fancy being down a mine, so went home. Eventually he was caught by the Red Caps  and ended up in Court, where he played the system long enough to eventually agree to join the army after VE day. War was over by the time he finished Basic. Earlier, another Great Uncle was dragged out, crying, by the Provosts, after he went AWOL. He went back to the front.

 

Yes, Ukraine has to conscript men. Britain had to as well. Conscription had to come in WW1 because not enough were volunteering.

 

Russian law forbids conscripts with less than 4 months training from being in combat, and forbids service outside of Russia. But the conscripts are often tricked or threatened into signing contracts, which releases them for deployment outside of Russia. But you deliberately fail to mention this, because you are so intent on discrediting the Ukrainian serviceman.

 

https://www.sibreal.org/a/obmanom-zataschili-na-voynu-kak-srochnikov-otpravlyayut-za-lentochku-/33397552.html

 

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-conscripts-youth-dying-ukraine-putin/33351828.html

 

https://www.severreal.org/a/my-v-uzhase-voevat-ne-hotim-srochnikam-platyat-po-falshivym-kontraktam/33164620.html

 

https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/russia-s-forced-conscription-in-occupied-ukraine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 8/15/2025 at 11:47 AM, Jingthing said:

Mearsheimer agree with his theories or not (I usually don't) is a respectable academic. MacGreggor is a useful idiot for Putin.

Why post garbage from him?

 

 

Maybe he's helping top up his pension. Macgregor needs the clicks.

1 hour ago, sharot724 said:

Delusional at best, grifter at worst

 

Aaahhh NAFO 

YES. 

 

James Orr - THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

The British Right should put Kent before Kyiv

A tension is emerging across the Western world over how to weigh national interest against involvement in faraway conflicts 

 

https://archive.ph/KAfOV

 

This mindset – “World War Two Brain,” in the idiolect of the Right-wing Zoomers who are most mystified by it – motivates hopelessly muddled thinking and ignores the realpolitik of Russia’s longstanding paranoia over Nato, the conflict’s devastating effects on European energy prices, and the disastrous realignment of Russia with China.
It is fuelling a confrontation that is inflicting damage on Ukraine from which it will take decades to recover, it is straining Britain’s resources amidst a flurry of domestic challenges unprecedented in living memory, and it is demonising voices calling for peace and restraint.

 

As for the emerging figures on Britain’s New Right, it is they alone who seem to understand that the time has come to rally behind politicians who will put Kent before Kyiv, Glasgow before Gaza, and Bournemouth before Beijing.

36 minutes ago, MicroB said:

 

 

Spell Arrse correctly.

 

Predictably, you have spent your time trying to prove how terrible Ukraine is, and zero time showing far higher Russian resistance to conscription, because basically you are a Tankie. Go ask Arrse what that means. I post on there.

 

 

You are an ignorant man. 

 

You make a statement

 

 

 

Cherry picked to belittle the Ukrainian military, because you think it shows the Ukrainian military in a bad light. Your mates in green will verify this; in WW2, the British army varied between about 900,000 and 3 million men, but of those, only about 20% at any one time were on the front line.

 

In June 1944, the British Army in the U K was about 1.5 million men. A further half million were in the Middle East, Africa, Asia. In June 1944, 156,000 British troops hit the beaches in Normandy. So what's your explanation why only 10% were sent over?

 

Its also why the entire Russian army isn't in Ukraine. Russia is a bigger county, with a bigger population. But it also has more borders to defend. It borders several NATO members. It borders Japan. It borders China, who recently has been making claims to parts of far eastern Russia, recently occupying some Russian islands. 

 

The answer is to do with troop rotation, training, logistics. In Iraq, 60% of the Americans deployed were not even in uniform, let alone frontline roles.

 

You provide a plagiarised paragraph in support of the Russians, pointing out how they are willingly volunteering; you nicked the statement from a paywalled Economist article. The statement is unsourced "30,000 per month", versus "27,000 per month" for Ukraine. In both cases, the numbers are before losses. Of course, like all wars, the aggressor (Russia) is suffering higher losses that the defender (Ukraine), thats why typically, when planning an offensive you need a 4:1 to 3:1 advantage.

 

Why are you so intent on discrediting the Ukrainian military, and so obviously championing the Russian military? It is because you are a pro-Russian propagandist, wrapped in the sheen of Chat-GPT. You fail to mention why early in the war Russia felt the need to scour prisons for pressganged convicts. You fail to mention why Russia had to deploy North Korean troops, not Russian troop, to Kursk (its to do with the terms of the Russian military service). You fail to comment on the large numbers of clearly unwilling African and Indian fighters captured by the Ukrainians (totally different from the small numbers of foreign volunteers in the Ukrainian forces).

 

What you deliberately fail to mention, because I know you have read exactly th same OSINT source that I have is that in many cases, Ukrainian troops desert one unit to join a preferred unit. You also deliberately fail to mention the Ukrainian programme to reintegrate men who have gone home, with some success.

 

Ukrainian and Russian desertion rates are roughly in line with American desertion rates related to Vietnam, and similar to what the Soviet Army, even when it was winning, during WW2 (5-10%).

 

You are promoting a pro-Russian ideology which is broadly to over emphasize Ukrainian difficulties, ignore Russian problems and exaggerate Russian successes. Kremlin playbook. You cherry pick sources that support your bias, which is broadly anti-Ukrainian, painted in a cloak of respectability.

 

Since when has "conscription" anywhere been anything but "forced". Conscription is by definition, compulsory. I had a Great Uncle who deserted in WW2. he was a Bevin Boy, didn't fancy being down a mine, so went home. Eventually he was caught by the Red Caps  and ended up in Court, where he played the system long enough to eventually agree to join the army after VE day. War was over by the time he finished Basic. Earlier, another Great Uncle was dragged out, crying, by the Provosts, after he went AWOL. He went back to the front.

 

Yes, Ukraine has to conscript men. Britain had to as well. Conscription had to come in WW1 because not enough were volunteering.

 

Russian law forbids conscripts with less than 4 months training from being in combat, and forbids service outside of Russia. But the conscripts are often tricked or threatened into signing contracts, which releases them for deployment outside of Russia. But you deliberately fail to mention this, because you are so intent on discrediting the Ukrainian serviceman.

 

https://www.sibreal.org/a/obmanom-zataschili-na-voynu-kak-srochnikov-otpravlyayut-za-lentochku-/33397552.html

 

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-conscripts-youth-dying-ukraine-putin/33351828.html

 

https://www.severreal.org/a/my-v-uzhase-voevat-ne-hotim-srochnikam-platyat-po-falshivym-kontraktam/33164620.html

 

https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/russia-s-forced-conscription-in-occupied-ukraine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm off to bed now I will probably answer you in the morning - but minus the personal abuse which I don't think helps any argument or debate and it requires me taking off my cloak of respectibility.

8 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

I'm off to bed now I will probably answer you in the morning - but minus the personal abuse which I don't think helps any argument or debate and it requires me taking off my cloak of respectibility.

 

9 hours ago, MicroB said:

 

 

Spell Arrse correctly.

 

Predictably, you have spent your time trying to prove how terrible Ukraine is, and zero time showing far higher Russian resistance to conscription, because basically you are a Tankie. Go ask Arrse what that means. I post on there.

 

 

You are an ignorant man. 

 

You make a statement

 

 

 

Cherry picked to belittle the Ukrainian military, because you think it shows the Ukrainian military in a bad light. Your mates in green will verify this; in WW2, the British army varied between about 900,000 and 3 million men, but of those, only about 20% at any one time were on the front line.

 

In June 1944, the British Army in the U K was about 1.5 million men. A further half million were in the Middle East, Africa, Asia. In June 1944, 156,000 British troops hit the beaches in Normandy. So what's your explanation why only 10% were sent over?

 

Its also why the entire Russian army isn't in Ukraine. Russia is a bigger county, with a bigger population. But it also has more borders to defend. It borders several NATO members. It borders Japan. It borders China, who recently has been making claims to parts of far eastern Russia, recently occupying some Russian islands. 

 

The answer is to do with troop rotation, training, logistics. In Iraq, 60% of the Americans deployed were not even in uniform, let alone frontline roles.

 

You provide a plagiarised paragraph in support of the Russians, pointing out how they are willingly volunteering; you nicked the statement from a paywalled Economist article. The statement is unsourced "30,000 per month", versus "27,000 per month" for Ukraine. In both cases, the numbers are before losses. Of course, like all wars, the aggressor (Russia) is suffering higher losses that the defender (Ukraine), thats why typically, when planning an offensive you need a 4:1 to 3:1 advantage.

 

Why are you so intent on discrediting the Ukrainian military, and so obviously championing the Russian military? It is because you are a pro-Russian propagandist, wrapped in the sheen of Chat-GPT. You fail to mention why early in the war Russia felt the need to scour prisons for pressganged convicts. You fail to mention why Russia had to deploy North Korean troops, not Russian troop, to Kursk (its to do with the terms of the Russian military service). You fail to comment on the large numbers of clearly unwilling African and Indian fighters captured by the Ukrainians (totally different from the small numbers of foreign volunteers in the Ukrainian forces).

 

What you deliberately fail to mention, because I know you have read exactly th same OSINT source that I have is that in many cases, Ukrainian troops desert one unit to join a preferred unit. You also deliberately fail to mention the Ukrainian programme to reintegrate men who have gone home, with some success.

 

Ukrainian and Russian desertion rates are roughly in line with American desertion rates related to Vietnam, and similar to what the Soviet Army, even when it was winning, during WW2 (5-10%).

 

You are promoting a pro-Russian ideology which is broadly to over emphasize Ukrainian difficulties, ignore Russian problems and exaggerate Russian successes. Kremlin playbook. You cherry pick sources that support your bias, which is broadly anti-Ukrainian, painted in a cloak of respectability.

 

Since when has "conscription" anywhere been anything but "forced". Conscription is by definition, compulsory. I had a Great Uncle who deserted in WW2. he was a Bevin Boy, didn't fancy being down a mine, so went home. Eventually he was caught by the Red Caps  and ended up in Court, where he played the system long enough to eventually agree to join the army after VE day. War was over by the time he finished Basic. Earlier, another Great Uncle was dragged out, crying, by the Provosts, after he went AWOL. He went back to the front.

 

Yes, Ukraine has to conscript men. Britain had to as well. Conscription had to come in WW1 because not enough were volunteering.

 

Russian law forbids conscripts with less than 4 months training from being in combat, and forbids service outside of Russia. But the conscripts are often tricked or threatened into signing contracts, which releases them for deployment outside of Russia. But you deliberately fail to mention this, because you are so intent on discrediting the Ukrainian serviceman.

 

https://www.sibreal.org/a/obmanom-zataschili-na-voynu-kak-srochnikov-otpravlyayut-za-lentochku-/33397552.html

 

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-conscripts-youth-dying-ukraine-putin/33351828.html

 

https://www.severreal.org/a/my-v-uzhase-voevat-ne-hotim-srochnikam-platyat-po-falshivym-kontraktam/33164620.html

 

https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/russia-s-forced-conscription-in-occupied-ukraine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can keep shouting “Kremlin playbook” at me, but that doesn’t make it true. I’m not pro-Russian, I’m anti-war. There’s a difference. Pointing out Ukraine’s manpower and morale problems isn’t “propaganda,” it’s drawing on what even mainstream Western sources are now finally reporting and in volume it must be said.

 

I’ve been providing article after article from reputable outlets for years by august publications sich as the Financial Times, Guardian, Economist, NYT,WSJ,The Spectator and more  and they broadly back up the world view I’ve laid out - gathered piecemeal and reading in between the cracks but we are still fortunate to have a free press however much Trump and others will try and puncture that balloon.  That view hasn’t come out of nowhere: it’s informed by reading and digesting thousands of hours of reports, OSINT maps, military forums on both sides, and discussions across platforms like X and Reddit. If this was just Russian spin, it wouldn’t be repeatedly echoed in mainstream Western publications and by pro-Ukarainian commenators that I also follow - I even read BanderaFella on X and we know where his support emanantes from.

 

You also seem personally invested in a kind of binary, good-vs-evil, domino-theory position: “If we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine, he’ll be lapping at our shores next.” But which is it? One minute we’re told Russia’s military is a joke that can barely function in Ukraine, the next we’re told Putin is the new Hitler bent on global conquest. It can’t be both. That’s Schrödinger’s Russia: simultaneously too weak to be credible, and yet powerful enough to threaten all of Europe. It’s a contradiction that exposes the fearmongering.

 

Britain today is not in 1940. Putin is not Hitler, and Ukraine is not standing in for Normandy. Back then, Britain fought for its own survival. Today, we’re being asked to underwrite a grinding war far away that does not serve British interests, while increasing the risk of escalation with a nuclear-armed power.

 

You may wish to read the Telegraph piece I quoted above: “Regrettably, that is an approach that seems to enrage the Old Right, which insists on refracting almost every geopolitical crisis through the prism of the 1930s and 1940s. Steeped in the post-war myths of British exceptionalism – Chamberlain’s folly, Churchill’s heroism, the grit of the Blitz –they insist on treating Putin as Hitler, Zelensky as Churchill, Ukraine as Poland, and any pursuit of peaceful resolution as the appeasement of a Chamberlain or the collaboration of a Pétain.” That exactly captures the problem with your framing.

 

And as for the lazy slur yes, I know exactly what “Tankie” means. I was a Trot at university; we despised Tankies, often more than the “capitalist running dogs of the West.” To smear anyone questioning the wisdom of endless escalation as one of them is just historically illiterate.

 

And don’t think I haven’t spotted the double-standards in your own responses. We all know people here are leaning on ChatGPT  but unlike you, most of what I write comes from my own head. I use it only for proof-reading, and occasionally quoting verbatim when the source calls for it.I oppose Putin’s invasion but I also oppose bankrupting Britain and endlessly poking the Russian bear in a war that isn’t ours. That’s not Kremlin propaganda. That’s realism and thinking critically for myself .

 

Oh, and as for ARRSE  I’ve been a long-time lurker and daily reader. It’s great for cherry-picked OSINT and discussion (mostly reposts from r/Ukraine), but it rarely entertains contrarian views or sources that would broaden the picture. I get it: most over there are fully invested in the downfall of the Orc/Mordor universe. The notable exceptions are posters like Steamboat and Resident_KGB, who at least provide some grit in the oyster.Send my regards to the boys hopefully they will figure out how to stop the boats whilst simultaneously solving the Ukarine war. 

 

And one final note: you closed by citing Genocide Watch. Are they really the unimpeachable authority you seem to think? I’ve just read their recent paper on Israel, and let’s just say it wouldn’t go down well with many here. If you’re going to accuse others of cherry-picking, maybe take a harder look at your own sources.

8 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

Aaahhh NAFO 

I had forgotten ....

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Moscow is preparing to raise taxes and cut spending as it tries to maintain high defence expenditure with Russia's economy creaking under the weight of financing the more than three-year war in Ukraine, officials and economists say.

 

President Vladimir Putin has rejected suggestions that the war is killing Russia's economy, but the budget deficit is widening as spending mounts, while revenue from oil and gas is declining under pressure from Western sanctions.

 

Russia's economy is cooling, with some officials warning of recession risks, and though interest rates are starting to come down from 20-year highs, its budget deficit has widened to 4.9 trillion roubles ($61 billion), suggesting Russia will struggle to fulfil its current obligations and keep financing the war at its current pace.  

 

Russia, under war spending pressure, set for more austerity, tax hikes

 

12 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

 

 

You can keep shouting “Kremlin playbook” at me, but that doesn’t make it true. I’m not pro-Russian, I’m anti-war. 

 

 

The lady doth protest too much.

 

You admit it, you are a Trotskyist. I said earlier there was a certain sort in the 80s who made a habit of listening to Radio Moscow, to form their world view. That person instinctually took a "West Bad East Good" line. You're that person.  Corbyn and Galloway are other examples.

 

We're all Anti-war, don't try that crap with me. I know a Red when I see one. 

12 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

Resident_KGB

 

Literally the Russian on that forum who tried to post pictures of some random bloke in Spain, pretending it was him.

Just now, MicroB said:

 

 

The lady doth protest too much.

 

You admit it, you are a Trotskyist. I said earlier there was a certain sort in the 80s who made a habit of listening to Radio Moscow, to form their world view. That person instinctually took a "West Bad East Good" line. You're that person.  Corbyn and Galloway are other examples.

 

We're all Anti-war, don't try that crap with me. I know a Red when I see one. 

Was a Trot way back when I'm now a democratic socialist voted Labour all my life come rain or shine but at th next election may vote for the Greens or Jeremy's Corbyn's new party. Oh and I did visit the USSR exhibtion in Earl's Court in 1979 in the interest of full disclosure. 

17 minutes ago, MicroB said:

 

Literally the Russian on that forum who tried to post pictures of some random bloke in Spain, pretending it was him.

Has he been banned he seems to have dissapeared or on ROPS as they say over there though I might be wrong on the meaning of that word. 

 

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1958282884055207936/pu/vid/avc1/720x1280/GPzAXddXUZ8P4rO5.mp4?tag=12

time to include the reality people. elections have consequences, so they say

On 8/19/2025 at 4:03 PM, MicroB said:

and forbids service outside of Russia.

That was one of the reasons Russia annexed the Donbas. To be able to get around, "one can only fight within  Russia"  rule.

While Europe waits on Trump, Putin is winning
Focus on summits and supposed security guarantees misses the point: Russia has the initiative - THE TIMES 

 

https://archive.ph/E9bCn

 

The security guarantees are a nonsense. One reason is lack of muscle. Providing Ukraine with real defence against a renewed Russian attack would require the sort of force, hundreds of thousands strong, deployed in Cold War West Germany. That is far beyond European capabilities. A tripwire presence, with or without bells and whistles, lacks credibility, because we palpably lack resolve. As General Sir Richard Barrons, co-author of Britain’s most recent strategic defence review, asks, are we willing to shoot down a Russian missile heading for Ukraine? And the plane that launched it? Or the base inside Russia it flies from? If yes, we must be ready to go to war with Russia. If not, our presence is a sham.

The articles are now coming thick and fast, starkly laying out the new security landscape: Putin controlling Trump, the U.S. holding the lion’s share of industrial defense production, money, and intelligence — and Europe’s fanatical, supposed support for the plucky underdog having led to the greatest tragedy this side of World War II: the destruction of a nation.

 

Putin’s trap: how Russia plans to split the western alliance
Owen Matthews  -THE SPECTATOR

 

The brutal truth is that for the past three years the Europeans have been lying to Ukraine and themselves. In the spring of 2022, Europe, led by Boris Johnson, encouraged Zelensky to fight on and promised Ukraine ‘as much support as they need for as long as they need it’. Ukraine kept its part of the bargain, and with the help of hundreds of billions in military and financial aid pushed Putin’s far larger army back from over half of the territory it once occupied.
That’s an extraordinary achievement. But it hasn’t been enough to win. And by this point many of Kyiv’s most passionate defenders in Europe are starting to acknowledge that there is little military or political point in fighting on. Others, like the Baltic nations, disagree.
For those allies who believe that it’s time to call it a day, the main point that remains to be decided is how Ukraine’s reduced new borders can be protected in a way that Putin will not dare to challenge. Starmer and Emmanuel Macron’s idea of putting Nato boots on the ground is foolish and misunderstands that the basis of Putin’s paranoid logic in starting the war was to avoid precisely that outcome.

 

Putin would like nothing more than for Europe to encourage Ukraine to fight on, and to lose even more of their land and independence. The question Ukraine’s friends must ask themselves today is whether it’s time to choose an unjust peace over a righteous but never-ending war.

The BBC reports that thousands of North Korean citizens are being sent to work in slave-like conditions in Russia, covering vacancies as Russian men are either working in the war effort or dying in the battlefield.

 

Independent news outlet The Moscow Times highlights that North Korean laborers mostly work in construction and are kept under strict surveillance by Pyongyang security operatives to ensure they don’t defect.

 

Still, the BBC managed to interview six escapees, who revealed the long hours, minimal pay, and paltry conditions they have are forced to endure: all six defectors described working 18 hours every day, from 6 am to 2 am, in the construction of high-rise apartments. They only had two days off a year.

 

North Korean laborers are sent as slaves to Russia

 

According to The Moscow Times, thousands of North Korean workers managed to avoid UN limitations using student visas to get into Russia.

The long-range cruise missile Flamingo has become a major success of Ukraine’s missile program. Very soon, it will go into mass production, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a meeting with journalists on August 20.

 

“And so far, this is the most successful missile we have. It flies 3,000 kilometers, this is important,” the president noted.

 

“By December, we will have more of them. And by the end of December or in January-February, mass production should begin. We need to look at success in testing, we need to look at the funding of this program,” Zelenskyy added.

 

Ukraine's Flamingo missile reaches 3,000 km range: Zelenskyy calls it a major success

Ukraine's strikes on oil refineries have disabled part of Russia's refining capacity. The market is facing an acute shortage of gasoline, according to the Financial Times.

 

Wholesale gasoline prices in Russia have reached record highs. On August 20, a ton of A-95 gasoline on the exchange cost 55% more than at the beginning of the year and 8% more than at the beginning of August.

 

The market is experiencing fuel shortages in many regions due to Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries.

The crisis has forced Moscow to suspend gasoline exports to keep refined products on the domestic market. However, this measure has failed to curb price increases and exacerbate the shortage.

 

Ukraine's strikes on oil refineries spark fuel crisis across Russia — FT

 

Russian occupation authorities describe the overnight explosions and massive fire at the Khersones airfield in Sevastopol as “training exercises” by the Black Sea Fleet, but NASA satellite imagery suggests otherwise - the fire is still not extinguished, the Russian Telegram channel ASTRA reports.

 

Local citizens said they heard a series of blasts and saw flames rising into the night sky. Despite official claims of “planned emergency response training,” social media users expressed anger, saying the occupation administration was “treating people like fools.”

 

Analysis of NASA fire data indicates that the blaze has not yet been extinguished.

 

Explosions in Sevastopol: NASA satellite data confirms fire at military airfield

17 hours ago, bunnydrops said:

That was one of the reasons Russia annexed the Donbas. To be able to get around, "one can only fight within  Russia"  rule.

 

And technically Putin broke Russian law in February 2022 (Article 353 of the Russian Criminal Code criminalizes planning, preparing, or initiating an aggressive war and waging an aggressive war. Planning or preparing an aggressive war is punishable by 7 to 15 years in prison, while waging one carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years). Hence SMO.

22 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

Has he been banned he seems to have dissapeared or on ROPS as they say over there though I might be wrong on the meaning of that word. 

 

 

Thinking of Steamboat, seems one of your go-sources is a moron

 

 

 

 

Likely banned for being a Commie W⚓.

 

Great, now you admit to being a supporter of Corbyn, who backed the IRA. The IRA tried to kill my dad; stuck a device under the family Maxi when he was back on leave from Germany. A Trot and a supporter of Terrorism, but you deny supporting Putin. Meanwhile, where else have the Ukrainians hurt you.

 

I suspect why you are sympathetic to Russia and not sympathetic to Ukraine, is that you believe the Putin is still a Communist, the same Communist who was only interested in fraternal relations with the East German proletariat when he served the KGB in the German Democratic Republic. And because you are/were a Communist, yearning for 99 Luftballoons, unilateral disarmament, world peace, then surely Putin the Communist must be like you, and all of this is some collosal mistake, or you really believe in so-called "Banderists" and other ghosts of the past

 

Inside Russia predicted this months ago, about the Putin turning in on itself

 

 

Putin the Master Strategist

 

https://eurasianet.org/kazakh-gdp-per-capita-projected-to-outpace-russias-once-dominant-economy-amid-wartime-woes

 

Quote

 

Kazakhstan is now richer than Russia. 

That is according to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund showing Kazakh GDP per capita is projected to hit an all-time high of $14,770 this year, compared with Russia’s $14,260.

 

 

Things are bad when the Gopniks can't afford hooch.

 

https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/112546/

 

 

 

 

56 minutes ago, MicroB said:

 

 

Thinking of Steamboat, seems one of your go-sources is a moron

 

 

 

 

Likely banned for being a Commie W⚓.

 

Great, now you admit to being a supporter of Corbyn, who backed the IRA. The IRA tried to kill my dad; stuck a device under the family Maxi when he was back on leave from Germany. A Trot and a supporter of Terrorism, but you deny supporting Putin. Meanwhile, where else have the Ukrainians hurt you.

 

I suspect why you are sympathetic to Russia and not sympathetic to Ukraine, is that you believe the Putin is still a Communist, the same Communist who was only interested in fraternal relations with the East German proletariat when he served the KGB in the German Democratic Republic. And because you are/were a Communist, yearning for 99 Luftballoons, unilateral disarmament, world peace, then surely Putin the Communist must be like you, and all of this is some collosal mistake, or you really believe in so-called "Banderists" and other ghosts of the past

 

Inside Russia predicted this months ago, about the Putin turning in on itself

 

 

 

 

 

Give it a rest – forgive and forget. That’s what all good people need to do if we’re ever going to heal the world. And no, they’re not my go-to sources. I read ARSSE mostly for a bit of light relief and to watch how the two Russian supporters get absolutely annihilated by the rest of the crew there it’s very entertaining, but I keep going back anyway.

 

38 minutes ago, MicroB said:

Putin the Master Strategist

 

https://eurasianet.org/kazakh-gdp-per-capita-projected-to-outpace-russias-once-dominant-economy-amid-wartime-woes

 

 

Things are bad when the Gopniks can't afford hooch.

 

https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/112546/

 

 

 

 

Probably making their own potato moonshine samogon in the bowls when they aren't using their outdoor toilets looted from Ukarine as war trophies. 

 

 

Operators of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces paralyzed the logistics of Russian forces on one of the key directions. The combat work was recorded on video, reported the Command of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

 

"Burned vehicles, destroyed personnel, and broken logistics chains – this is the result of the work of the operators of the 427th Separate Regiment Rarog of the Unmanned Systems Forces group on one of the key frontline directions," the statement reads.

 

The command noted that the aerial reconnaissance personnel and strike drone pilots of the unit keep their area of responsibility under tight fire control.

 

Ukrainian drones paralyze Russian logistics on key frontline

On August 20th, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine reported that a Russian patrol boat in the occupied region of Kherson was destroyed by its intelligence officers with a precision strike. A video of the strike was published alongside the report. 

 

According to the Ukrainian military news website Militarnyi, the Russian patrol boat was destroyed in Zaliznyi Port by an air-launched missile. The footage showed the boat for only a few moments before it was destroyed.

 

Ukrainian Navy Commander Vice Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa published drone footage from the attack on social media and provided several key details about the strike. The Russian boat was moving along the coast of Kherson when it was spotted and slated for destruction.