Posted on 08/23/2025 6:56:17 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
It is a curious thing when a superpower begins to run out of the two things it needs most in war: fuel and men. Yet that is precisely what seems to be happening to Russia in Ukraine. After more than two years of fighting, Moscow’s once-vaunted war machine is showing unmistakable signs of exhaustion.
When Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, it relied heavily on professional soldiers but the disastrous battles outside Kyiv and Kharkiv shattered that backbone. Thousands of seasoned fighters were lost, and the logistical chaos that followed forced Russia into an embarrassing retreat from northern Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s answer was Wagner. The mercenary army, battle-hardened from Africa to the Middle East, became the spearhead of Russia’s offensive. For a time, Wagner succeeded. In the brutal fight for Bakhmut, it won headlines, captured territory, and gave Moscow its only significant victory of 2023. Yet those same battles consumed Wagner’s ranks, and the rebellion that followed sealed its demise. The Kremlin had sacrificed its sharpest blade.
Since then, Russia has leaned on a far weaker substitute: poorly trained volunteers and mercenaries recruited from among ordinary citizens. These men have been thrown into grinding assaults in the south and east. For a while, they produced modest gains. Some analysts even warned that Ukraine’s lines were close to breaking, or that the war was sliding toward stalemate. The pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government was intense.
-snip-
Today, Russia faces a crisis that no artillery barrage can solve: firstly its own fuel shortage. Videos emerging from Crimea show gas stations with long lines and dwindling supplies. In Moscow, the government has gone so far as to ban price hikes at the pump—an extraordinary intervention that signals just how tight supplies have become. Exports of gasoline have also been restricted.
(Excerpt) Read more at azernews.az ...
This means Ukraine has no further need for US assistance.
Bingo! You win
hahahahaha
LOL- PHEW! Was worried zelenski might drag it out for years or sumthin
Putin and his Russia is on the skids. It will not survive too much longer. Putz Putin is killing important administrators who put up any opposition to his faulty planning. He wants to keep any Ukraine lands he seems to control to justify his actions and use the lands as bartering tools to save the disaster he created. Maybe a major revolt is in the near future for Russia. Maybe the Clintons are advising him.
Russia’s fuel crisis is at breaking point and could become Vladimir Putin’s biggest vulnerability yet, a US-based expert has claimed. David Kirichenko, an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, believes Ukraine’s deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure are undermining the Kremlin’s war effort from within.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2098987/russia-economy-meltdown-putin-faces
“The author, Ciaran McGrath, is nothing more than a shanty Irish stenographer for MI6.”
Posting lies loses credibility.
“So this is the outcome they wished after 3 1/2 years?”
Nope, Closer to 11 years when they started committing troops and arms to the border.
One of the interesting things about having power is the intelligence to use it. Russia is behind the US in that category. The have more arms than we do, but are only able to deploy those arms in a haphazard way intending to just overpower whoever is in front of them. They have fought this way since before the czars. And during those times they had no reason to hold back and to just level everything and kill everyone.
But this is a different type of war. They aren’t going in to take over a country. They are going in to take over certain parts of the country. The ones that have worth/wealth. So in their efforts to take baby steps and not wipe out their value making the war worthless, they have had to hold back on their tactics and destruction. This is the only thing that has kept Ukraine in the war even with the weapons they have been given. Russia has more, a better location to attack from, and in the beginning, they confused themselves in how to orchestrate this war. They screwed themselves up with a lack of aggression thinking the Ukraine would fold up. And when they didn’t, the Russians didn’t know how to react and just continued their tactic of playing offense and defense at the same time.
Oh, Russia will win unless some outside source steps in physically and cuts off their ability to fight any war until they can regroup. Whether it be funds, trade tariffs to them and their supporting countries, bad publicity to the Russian people, and/or enough of hitting their citizens in the pocketbook, it will continue with Russia playing both sides of the ball...or trying to.
wy69
“The have more arms than we do,”
No, the US military is considered superior in overall military power, though Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and is producing arms at an unprecedented rate, particularly ammunition, thanks to its transition to a war economy. The US maintains a larger number of total military aircraft and more advanced ground vehicles and tanks than Russia, though some sources suggest Russia has a higher tank count in older models.
Key Comparisons:
Overall Military Power: The US is generally ranked as the #1 military power, with Russia at #2, though this can be subjective and depends on the factors considered.
Nuclear Weapons: Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world.
Aircraft: The US has a significantly larger and more technologically advanced air force compared to Russia.
Ground Vehicles: The US generally possesses more advanced tanks, such as the M1 Abrams, and other modernized ground vehicles like the M2 Bradley, compared to Russia’s T-series tanks and BMPs.
Naval Power: The US Navy is larger and more powerful than Russia’s naval fleet.
https://www.google.com/search?q=does+russia+have+more+arms+than+the+us
“They aren’t going in to take over a country.”
They originally went in to take over the entire country. And, as Putin stated, Ukraine was only one step in establishing the Empire.
Can’t be sure, but went looking for youtube vids of long gasoline lines. Kanal13 I think is the channel.
It had long car lines along the right side of the road. Very long, as the camera stayed focused as the car carrying the camera passed by.
Then . . . never reaching the front of the line. There would be some footage of gas stations (which did not have lines). And then finally, back to the enormously long line, and reaching the front. You have to freeze the video because the front of the line got little attention. It had turned off into some . . something. I could see no gas pumps there. I don’t think that line was for gas.
And as noted elsewhere, 5.6 million bpd is Russia refinery capacity. Allegedly 11% of it was reduced (with no talk of duration for returning online). Regardless, 5.6 minus 11T is about 5 million bpd of refining.
Russian domestic consumption 3.6 mbpd. There remains surplus. Refineries are just not difficult to repair, especially when the damage is from 5 lbs of drone explosives.
11T=11%
Yep. Russia is hollowing themselves out. Any man with testosterone will soon be dead. They will become more dangerous as a result.
Since when do I need to answer ‘your’ questions?
GFY.
You write like a fool. I imagine your sixth grade teacher just finally gave up and passed you.
When you get to the “red tabs” let me know.
This is totally ridiculous.
P killed tons of Ukes and you nincompoops act like his passing is a sad thing. LOL
He should have known the stunt he pulled was going to be the end for him.
With what he did, it probably would have been the same outcome in any other country.
Azernews? Really?:)
You read and comprehend like a 3rd Grader.
So let me make it easy for you.
Zelensky does not have warm, male bodies to go on Offense
and Push Ruzzia out of it’s Territory.
If he lowered the Draft Age to 18-26 Year Olds that would give him
a lot of the manpower he needs.
In addition, if Zelensky increased his FORCED Snatch and Grab
Conscription Squads, that would also help supply his manpower needs.
Can’t be sure, but went looking for youtube vids of long gasoline lines. Kanal13 I think is the channel.
********************
That’s because it’s a propaganda video for supporters of Ukraine. They’ve been gulping this stuff down for 3.5 years.
Some of the best are over at Daily Kos, where the “blood thirst” towards Russia is off the charts.(They want direct American military intervention.)
Where were they during the Cold War with the USSR?
Answer: Doing their best to serve as a 5th column.
In the Soviet Union, only the elite had cars.
The folks in Russian Federation cities can get by with public transportation.
The 15-minute city is a Russian invention.
The Russians live in the industrialized country with the harshest weather on Earth.
They are tough.
“By the second winter, the boots had worn out... but the line still held. Even Comrade Lenin underestimated both the anguish of that 900-mile long front... as well our own cursed capacity for suffering. Half the men went into action without any arms... irregular rations... led by officers they didn’t trust.”
Doctor Zhivago movie quote:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059113/quotes/?item=qt0272844
Russians aren’t tough. They’re drunks.
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