So many that many times their posts outnumber the others, almost like they are coming here to get hits and clicks😎"
Anti-Ukers do seem to outnumber Ukraine defenders on Free Republic by roughly the same ratio as Russians outnumber Ukrainians on the battlefield, several to one.
And our anti-Ukers are no more observant of the niceties of civilized debate than are Russians on battlefields in Ukraine.
They are aggressive and brutal beyond reason; often seem drunk with vodka and don't care what incivilities they commit.
So it has always been a desperate battle.
blitz128: "As to Denys making money off this through YouTube, so what, don’t subscribe, like or visit
Personally I find his content pretty fair, he is hard on Ukrainians when he sees fault, reports what he knows about frontlines, hits and loses, Russian advances/loses."
Right and, as you point out, there are several others doing similar reports, though Davydov is arguably the most popular of them.
Why he should attract such vicious personal attacks from our anti-Ukers is inexplicable except as a function of their mind-sets, if not mental illnesses.
As a test of my own feelings, I've listened to a pro-Russian YouTuber reporting on the same data from a Russian perspective.
And while it's easy to see where he emphasizes, if not exaggerates, Russian successes and Ukrainian losses, I felt no urges to attack him personally or concoct ridiculous stories about him "living large" while other Russians are fighting and dying in "Meat Wave" assaults in Ukraine.
So I conclude that at least some of our anti-Ukers are sick in their hearts & minds.
blitz128: "Simply calling one side of the other propaganda (lies) is lazy and weak."
Agreed.
The question here is whether the word "propaganda" means anything objectively, or is it simply, like beauty, in the eyes of the beholder?
I think "propaganda" does objectively mean: lies or distortions weaponized for political purposes.
In the Old Soviet Union, agit-prop was an official art form originating in their Department for Agitation and Propaganda.
Today, in re-Sovietizing Russia, media is controlled by Roskomnadzor -- The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (RKN), though I couldn't say exactly who is responsible for what.
And there are plenty of western "influencers" who repeat Russian propaganda points, some of them perhaps unknowingly.
blitz128: "Is Ukraine winning, I would say no, "
It's all in how you define "victory" and "defeat".
For Vlad the Invader, "victory" originally meant a quick and easy conquest of Ukraine. Now it means holding onto what Russia currently occupies.
For Ukraine, "victory" originally meant just surviving the Russian onslaught. Now it means regaining all lost territories.
For Americans, our big victory came in 1991, with the collapse of the Old Soviet Union and the end of Cold War I.
This led to expansions of the European Union and NATO into Eastern Europe, a process culminating in Finland and Sweden now joining NATO.
But today, with Russia recovering some of its old swagger and aggressiveness, Western interests have taken setbacks, as has the deterrence value of American military strength, especially after Biden's Afghanistan debacle.
And now, with Russia allied to CCP's China, plus Iran and North Korea, thus threatening the "world order" all around Russia, in the Middle East, the Western Pacific and beyond, we are seemingly into a new Cold War -- Cold War II.
blitz128: "Call that propaganda, but that is how I see it"
I define "propaganda" as lies or distortions weaponized for political purposes, and I don't see anything like that in your comments, FRiend.