Update from Ukraine | Ruzzia Lost The ground near Bakhmut and many Tanks in Andriivka. Ukraine wins

President Zelenskyy ran on a reform platform to remove gov’t corruption [deep-state] much like President Trump. David Arakhamia, described the survey as “manipulative”

https://www.businessinsider.com/corruption-in-ukraine-zelenskyy-is-responsible-says-national-survey-2023-8?op=1

• All of Ukraine’s recruitment chiefs were fired after an investigation revealed widespread corruption.

• Officials who recruited troops accepted bribes up to $10,000 to help people dodge the draft.

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the actions “treason” and has initiated criminal proceedings.

In The Ruins Of Ukraine's Besieged City Of Vuhledar RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty By Serhiy Nuzhnenko October 13, 2023 09:52 GMT https://www.rferl.org/a/vuhledar-ukraine-war-russian-invasion-donbas-gallery/32635828.html?withmediaplayer=1 RFE/RL photographer Serhiy Nuzhnenko was granted access to Ukrainian positions in the eastern city of Vuhledar. The town has been under near-constant attack from Russian forces since the beginning of the invasion.

1. At around 5 a.m. we set off toward Vuhledar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Steam from the Kurakhiv Thermal Power Plant drifts into the dawn sky as we drive.

2. The towers of the Vuhledar coal mine seen during the drive to the besieged town. Driving in the gloom before sunrise minimizes the risk of being targeted by Russian kamikaze drones. Bomb-dropping quadcopters are also used on these eastern roads to target military equipment and sometimes even cars.

3. A soldier walks past ruined buildings in Vuhledar. The town was once home to around 14,000 people. Now, just a few hundred civilians -- and the Ukrainian military -- remain.

4. A damaged church in Vuhledar. Residents remaining in the town rely on volunteers, and the Ukrainian military, to supply them with food and medicine.

5. The ruins of a building in Vuhledar. The town’s name means “gift of coal.” Since March 2022, Russian forces have made repeated attempts to storm the town.

6. A child's bike in a rubble-strewn courtyard. In January 2023, a massive Russian assault on Vuhledar reportedly collapsed with the loss of many tanks and armored vehicles and hundreds of Russian troops.

7. A Ukrainian soldier monitors Russian positions while piloting a drone from inside a building in Vuhledar. The town lies near a strategically crucial highway and railway line.

8. A burned-out apartment block. Remaining residents of Vuhledar now survive mostly underground in basements that offer shelter from the splinters of shrapnel that frequently ricochet through the streets.

9. In the time we spend in the frontline town, a wide array of different projectiles can be heard flying into Vuhledar from Russian positions.

10. Almost no undamaged buildings remain in the town, which is shelled several times each day by the Russian military.

11. Remnants of a peaceful life seen through windows blown out by explosions.

The situation is similar to if Texas had been allowed to secede in 1991 and President Biden decided that the “United States” wanted it back because the government had become a Chinese puppet state and they had assembled a Chinese proxy army that was threatening all of the bordering states.

Sorry to interject myself in your conversation, fireman15, but I am having difficulty understanding your analogy.

What (foreign) proxy army has been assembled in Ukraine, and is/was threatening "all the bordering states?"

As you know, Ukraine borders Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belarus, and Russia.

And with what was this (foreign) proxy army threatening these six states?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

What (foreign) proxy army has been assembled in Ukraine

You are well aware of the situation and the parallels to which I was referring.

The Ukrainian military has been propped up, trained, and funded by the US and other NATO members. The Zelensky regime is in power mostly because of foreign interference in Ukraine's political process and outsiders are pulling his strings.

While "campaigning" Zelensky promised to bring peace and end corruption in the country. He lied and did the opposite. 80% of the people still living in Ukraine believe that he is now the person most responsible for corruption in the country. He of course did nothing but increase tensions with Russia. He has cracked down hard on any internal resistance and has suspended all elections for the foreseeable future. Feigning ignorance in your case seems absurd, but it is possible that you and your better half have too many bitter personal experiences to see this situation with anything resembling perspective.

NATO started with 12 member countries in 1949 to deter Soviet expansion. Since its inception NATO is the entity who has constantly expanded to the point where it now has 31 countries who are members with Sweden still going through the ratification process.

The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 31, 1991. Many of its former members joined NATO. The following is a map showing the expansion of NATO. It takes very little imagination to understand why Russia which tends to have paranoid leadership anyway would feel threatened.

An animated map of the expansion of the military alliance, NATO from its founding to 2023.

Do you want to pretend that the Russia's leadership should not feel threatened by NATO's expansionist policies?

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