dimyh

Big resupply in motion...probably room for some nice hardware and some newly tailored pants for Zelensky. Current set is still chaffing his nuts and the man needs some room to breath.

I believe coming payment due is only 500M and Russia is still making billions monthly just from gas and oil so collecting is not going to do anything dramatic to their reserves. Better to have them default and take that long term credit hit. We could roll back sanctions tomorrow but that credit hit is not so easily reversed.

Here is a pretty long interview with one Russian soldier from the early days in the Kyiv invasion and stationed around Bucha. Talks about officers lobbing grenades at soldier's feets for refusing orders. That his CO was so paranoid about a mutiny that he was holed up in a separate area, pulling off recon troops from scouting UA area and instead had them posted as guards around his quarters. Anyone that tried to visit him was strip searched for weapons. Lots of fascinating stuff in this one. Best part though is when this Russian captive gets to talk with his mother. She starts off concerned about his safety and how badly the Ukrainians are treating him but he's adamant that they treat him better than his own army. She then tells him she's worried now that he may like it over there so much that he might not want to return which got a big round of laughter from everyone in the room. Again another one of those cases where the older generation buys into the propaganda but the front line warriors get to see the truth. This is one of the Russians that I'm rooting to return home, resume a normal life, and be honest about the bullshit reasons for Putin's war.

Yeah I'm assuming anything on that show is vetted out in advance. It's a chance to soften that hardline rhetoric and temper expectations of the victory goals. Will be interesting if this generates a gradual shift in tone over the next few days. If so then I'm thinking Putin is trying to figure out a suitable off ramp and looking to consolidate whatever gains possible.

"The couple claims what happened next was the 9-year-old hit the Nashes’ daughter, Jordan Nash, and she defended herself. The child was furious that the girl was fighting back." Gotdamn Russian invasion has already started! Sleeper agents already raising their kids among us!

Here is a graphic with casualties per region. Noticeably light is Moscow, St Petersberg, and....Chechnya. TikTok warriors still surviving all of those intense firefights with those traffic lights.

Understood once this is over that we will be adding in the lion share to rebuild but any ideas on their current monthly operational costs? And how much are we floating them right now?

Agreed if we could get a coup with a full pivot from this dinosaur mentality exhibited by Tyrantsaurus Vlad then there would be a willingness to open up for (limited) western business. #1 avg Ruskie has got to understand the west is not their enemy. We never wanted to invade, just stop fucking shit up with everyone else. We just want to live in a world where we can sponsor both Ukrainian tractors and Russian cam girls. Is that so wrong to want the best of both worlds?

Anyone have some projections on the financial stability for both Russia and Ukrain? As this meanders along it may be more of an economic attrition that decides this war. Below article covers some of the pending default details for RU. The narrowly avoided default at the start of May but has another deadline coming up on the 25th. What are the implications if they do default? How soon would that impact the purchasing power of the avg citizen? Putin has been walking a tightrope, still trying to ride out a losing ticket, desperately trying to reinforce losses without committing to a full mobilization. He's afraid of public sentiment shifting on him, he can control the mobilization narrative but he can't indefinitely control the economic plunge. Plus with all of the focus on Russia I'm still concerned about Ukraine's finances. Sure they are getting plenty of military assistance but how long can they sustain their economy during a total war? If it becomes a game of economic chicken who balks first? https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/russia-still-faces-high-default-probability-despite-payment-analysts-say.html

Ukrainian drone in action Knock knock Who's there? Ka Ka who? KA-BOOM!

Sentiment may be shifting in China. Former ambassador to Ukraine gave some opinions on the war and they don't follow Xi's current narrative. Article was taken down by censors but interesting to see if a different perspective is brewing. Especially interesting are some ideas on the new international world order after Russia's defeat with predictions for a reformed UN or even possibly a new international council if the West can't get the desired changes. Not sure how likely that all is but something to keep in mind as there will be some severe geopolitical shifts once the post-pandemic, post-war, post-recession trifecta circulates across the globe. https://gaodawei.wordpress.com/2022/05/10/fmr-prc-amb-to-ukraine-on-russias-impending-defeat-and-international-relations/

Can you also add a warning any time Mr. Chad Fuck starts talking about Taco Bell?

This one is chilling as fuck. Seriously Ramsay Bolton Jr vibes. If not iced during this war I hope there are some Mossad like agencies created to hunt this fucker down and beat his ass to death.

I'm tempted to join the saboteur party, secretly assassinate Lavrov, but continue to make proclamations in his name based on the below chart. Wonder how long I go before anyone notices anything amiss...

BREAKING NEWS - Confirmed biological weapon used! Possibly thought to be a false flag operation but verified to be 100% authentic.

Not sure if this legit, sounds a bit too articulate and dismal for a Russian volunteer, but does give a lot of details about the defensive tactics used on the UA side. Covers a bunch of the initial attacks of the war and how his BTG ended up shredded.

A lot of things you can classify as diarrhea of the mouth but this just straight diarrhea of the mind. Really this Ruskie dumbassery should be posted in the shart thread.

Pretty impressive...the parking brake comes with 2 cup holders.

Plus I suspect any sustained attacks on Russian clay = mass mobilization. That's something Putin could sell to his masses that this is now a defensive war.

Interesting article trying to better understand the general pro-war support in the Russian citizens. Difficult to trust any type of surveys in such a repressive system but this one at least tries to add some nuance to the analysis. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/russia-ukraine-war-support-interviews-opinion/