Posted on 12/23/2022 4:05:09 AM PST by Cronos
After nearly 10 months of war, but referring to the brutal invasion of Ukraine instead as “a special military operation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday finally called it a “war” for the first time, setting off an uproar among antiwar Russians who have been prosecuted for merely challenging the Kremlin-approved euphemism.
“Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin said during a televised news conference following a government meeting on Thursday. “This is what we are striving for.”
...Putin has alternately said that he is seeking to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, to “liberate” Russian-speaking regions in the southeast of the country, and to stop NATO countries, especially the United States, from trying to destroy Russia. He has denied wanting to conquer the country and topple the government, an assertion undermined by his failed effort to invade and occupy Kyiv.
What Putin had not said until Thursday was that the fighting in Ukraine, whatever the goal, is, in fact, a “war.”
...After several days of antiwar protests in Russia and critical coverage in the last few remaining independent media outlets, the Russian authorities rushed to suppress criticism and effectively mandate the use of “special military operation” by passing draconian laws to prohibit “spreading fakes” and “discrediting” the army, which essentially made it illegal to call the war a “war.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Just march eastward and the war will end.
Interestingly, he calls it a war but says it was to stop aggression.
Putin would never say such stupid things unless the Russians were in trouble. He has never made concessions unless forced to do so.
I thought the war was basically a stalemate at this point. Obviously it’s not.
“ So, Pooptin now calls it a war.”
*******************************
It’s good that we never officially had a war in either Korea or Vietnam. We loved ourselves some robust “police actions”. /sarc
Hawkeye on M*A*S*H*: If it’s a ‘Police Action’, Why didn’t they send cops?
Cronos isn’t an American, so he’s not part of we.
FAKE NEWS
He said “Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war”
He never said that Russia was at war, but only that there is a war, as there has been since the Neocon coup in Ukraine, in 2014.
But,but,but.....Free Republic is actually a global entity
Therefore, we is a broader thought?
Setting that aside, Puttin is desperate in the realization that he is at war with the west and his resources are severely inadequate for his task
"Special Military Operation is hell!"
I think it’s better said this is O’Bidens War ......h’s been gearing up for this since Obama was in office.
Russia has made known for months that it declare and an end to the Special Operation when they launch the Winter Offensive. The SO was hampered by it not being War and thus Russia was only allowed to send the 160,000 men against Ukraine. Ukraine spent from 2014-2022 stating they would abide the Minsk II Agreement, but it was a ruse to build an Army and massive fortificatons. Russia underestimated the firepower and defensive fortifications; attacking Ukraine with only 90,000 combat soldiers would naturally only produce varied results.
Today’s declaration of war allows Russia to send the 745,000 men prepared over the fall and especially past few months under the single commander. Ukraine will face the kind of onslaught that should eventually crumble all the defensive fortifications, currently being weakened by artillery over the past four months.
Russia should destroy all the Ukraine forces sent into the meatgrinder. Most of the best Uke Army has been destroyed. They have an operation reserve of about 30,000 men to stop gap any Russian breakout. The problem is that the defensive positions around Kiev require 100,000 men. This means that a majority of Ukraine’s operatonal forces are in the major defensive position around Kiev.
I predict Russia will take the originally stated areas of Russian speaking areas and the cities Katherine the Great built. Odessa will fall. Ukraine will no longer have any port access once this ends and is carved up like NATOs destruction of Yugoslavia when they went in destroying all the railways and electric grid first.
putin is a known liar and a killer
ha ha, May it be so
‘Putin Faces Push to Be Investigated and Jailed for Calling Conflict ‘War’
May putin he held accountable for every death:
U.S. Reacts to Vladimir Putin’s ‘Slip of the Tongue’
“for something that was supposed to be over in 3 weeks”
Link please.
Link please.
No, of course you're right, russian invasion plan was to fight Ukrainians for at least 10 months with repeated 'strategic withdrawals' at the end.
everyone here on FR was even agreeing on that in the first few weeks, Bob
tiny Ukraine going up against a superpower! what possible chance did they have!!
... and then we found out Russia wasn’t really a “true superpower” in terms of conventional forces, just a mid-level power like Poland or Canada
so suddenly the war was a lot more evenly matched ... and that why it’s going into the 11th month now, Bob ...
biden’s war but he did not plan it this way and still does not admit his role.
russia depends on fossil fuel sales to the west. the west had a mixture of us, arab and russian suppliers.
jan 2021 biden killed us fossil fuel ability to source europe. without that competition, putin knew he could finance the war. follow the money.
jan 2021 biden announced american rescue plan. from putin tolarry summers to the avg freeper it was obvious that the only thing it rescued was putin’s fabtasies.
putin did this when obama and biden were president. but not when trump was president. why? trump went in the direction of cheap fossil fuels.
like a good republican, trump spoke softly to putin .. . and carried a big stick .... the americn economy unloosed from iss socialist chains.
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