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Posted on 02/23/2026 3:51:01 AM PST by RandFan
At first glance, Yelets in winter looks like something from a Russian fairy tale.
From the embankment I spy the golden domes of Orthodox churches and, down below, ice fishermen dotted along the frozen river.
But in this town, 350km (217 miles) south of Moscow, the fairy tale feeling is transient.
On the riverbank I spot an army recruitment billboard. It promises a one-off sum equivalent to £15,000 ($20k) to anyone who'll sign up to fight in Ukraine.
Close by there's a poster of a Russian soldier taking aim with a Kalashnikov.
"We're there where we need to be," the accompanying slogan declares.
The Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Outside Russia it was widely seen as an attempt to force Kyiv back into Moscow's orbit and to overturn the entire post-Cold War security architecture in Europe.
The Russian leadership envisaged a short and successful military operation.
It didn't go to plan.
Four years later, Russia's war on Ukraine grinds on. It has lasted longer than Nazi Germany's brutal war on the Soviet Union, known here as the Great Patriotic War.
And, in this town, you can see some of the consequences.
A giant mural fills one side of a nine-storey Yelets apartment block. Depicted here are the faces of five Russian soldiers, local men killed fighting in Ukraine.
"Glory to the heroes of Russia!" has been painted at the top.
The Russian authorities do not release casualty figures for the so-called "special military operation". But Russia is known to have suffered huge battlefield losses. So many of the towns and villages I've visited in the last two years have had museums and monuments dedicated to soldiers killed in Ukraine, as well as separate sections for recent war dead at local cemeteries.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
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Yawn
Fake News told us NATO directed armies of The Ukraine were to roll over Russia and drive out Putin in four weeks.
Four years later......
Given it is the BBC I am inclined to believe the direct opposite is true.
Cyber psych Propaganda from the communist BBC.
The greatest threat to western civilization is from the EuroTrash, headquartered in the UK.
Amelia is right on. The limp wristed Starmer and Macron want to deflect from the Muslim invasion. Look at the shiny bobble in Russia, Russia.
Russians are sturdy people.
They can live through huge sufferings without complains.
They consider well being of the Mother Russia is above any personal suffering.
While most countries would give up and try to make a deal, Russians will suffer until the ultimate victory, despite all the costs.
“Putin is literally of options”…. 😂
While I agree the low fertility rate puts a new , and potentially disastrous, variable into the traditional Russian way of waging war.
Any “news” pertaining to the Uke war, regardless of source or side, is propaganda. This BBC (British Broadcasting Communism) is among the worst.
Number 1: The BBC is not to be trusted.
Number 2: The Russian people are experts at suffering and and tragedy. They have been doing this for 1,000 years. Human life still means nothing in the former CCCP.
Number 3: The West is living in denial about the Muslim hoards about to take over so they shift their attention to Putin.
Number 5: Appeasement is the name of the game for the West. Only Farage, Trump and Meloni can slow down this disaster.
I’m well aware of that but I try and be balanced. I don’t like Z-man either
There are plenty of Uke supporters here and i recognize that (sometimes).
Like USA-FRANCE for example?
Hordes, not “hoards”
Weird.
When I run a date-based search, I find the opposite: Lots of posts here about the imminent collapse of Ukraine due to the onslaught of Putin’s armies.
Oh, and who is this Scott Ritter guy that seemed to once be popular? I thought that guy was in prison for his second time trying to get teen love online. Then there’s this Doug MacGregor guy who seems to say the next 10 days should mark the end for Ukraine... He must use a different measure to mark time.
Do you possess discernment?
Fake news carpet bombed readers with stories how sanctions, tanks, tactics, strategies and the ghost of Kiev would run Putin out of office.
Freepers in total have diverse conclusions, opinions, and obervations.
Why are you spewing nonsense about folks you prolly have never met??
You can’t take Brit reporting on Russia or Ukraine seriously. Obviously they want the US to keep it going there. Everyone wants us involved in their wars. They can fight their own battles. We aren’t stopping them.
Now the cartels have made hostages of US tourists in Mexico.
This situation is one that actually is our problem.
“””””Fake News told us NATO directed armies of The Ukraine were to roll over Russia and drive out Putin in four weeks.
Four years later......”””””
LOL, that is a new twist, a complete reversal of reality.
The 4 year shocker is that Ukraine still exists and holds Odesa, it isn’t that Russia’s invading army still exists.
I agree those cartels are ruthless especially pushing that disgusting drug laced with God knows what and they also traffic Heroin
I’m not absolving other drugs but the former are much more knowingly dangerous
The BBC has been misreporting about this war since day one. Along with most of the other UK press.
Reads like a propaganda piece.
Not really. Russia was defeated by Japan in 1905, with additional defeats by Germany in WW I that brought down the Tsar and then the Kerensky government. Without Western aid, the Nazis would likely have beaten the Soviets in WW II. And the Soviets were beaten in Afghanistan and by the US and the West in the Cold War.
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