ransomnote: "Western nations are beginning to *facepalm* as Zelensky has sent some of his best soldiers to die in Kursk." Maybe, we really don't know yet, because the fog of war is still far too thick in Kursk and different reports are literally all over the map.
- Some reports say there were only two Ukrainian battalions -- about 2,000 men -- invading Kursk.
- Others say, no, there were two whole corps -- about 75,000 men.
- Some say Ukrainians now occupy about 100 square miles of Kursk.
- Others say, no, it's closer to 600 square miles.
- One report even showed, or seemed to show, Ukrainians within a few miles of Kursk City itself.
- Russians, of course, say they have defeated Ukrainians in every battle and driven them back to... to... somewhere, I think.
Nobody outside Moscow's Ministry for Agitation and Propaganda has ever made such a claim.
ransomnote: "The hint is ther e- Zelensky gets more money/weapons are he's going to 'do' something to the nuke plant.
Z actually claimed the Russians started a TIRE FIRE at the nuke plant.
Really! that's the best he could come up with?"
Black smoke from Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant:
Ukrainians have only reported accurately that, despite the plume of black smoke from one cooling tower, there was no increase in radioactivity, suggesting whatever caused the smoke was not nuclear related.
The claim of Russians burning tires to make smoke at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant came from the mayor of Nikopol, Ukraine, about four miles away from the plant, not from Zelenskyy.
ransomnote: "Even supporters are starting to say it's time for him to go!"
As for Zelenskyy's future, we might well remember that even Winston Churchill himself was defeated for reelection in July 1945, three months after the German surrender at the end of WWII.
But also remember the German WWII surrender was unconditional, meaning they represented no further threat, so the British voters wanted serious peace and social welfare while Churchill could only think of war-related problems.
Churchill was reelected as Prime Minister in 1951.
Zelinsky and Churchill, both 5 feet 7 inches:
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I don't see Russians ever surrendering unconditionally to Ukrainians, the way Germans did in WWII, so I don't see how the benefits of peace will ever be prioritized above the needs of national security for average Ukrainian voters.
By the way, it's interesting to notice that the population of Britain in 1940 (48 million) was roughly the same as Ukraine in 2013.
And it turns out that Churchill and Zelenskyy were/are the same height.
Both Britain in WWII and Ukraine today depended for victory on their own indefatigable courage and massive foreign aid -- as had Americans from 1776-1781.
Brits paid a huge price for WWII victory, namely human and physical destruction, plus the loss of their great empire.
Ukraine's price, so far, is incalculable, though also immense.
The Russian GDP is said to be growing at a rapid rate -- 3.5% if I remember correctly -- but that is 100% focused on war production, none of it goes for basic needs like roads, bridges, dams, hospitals, central heating systems, etc. and those are in advanced stages of collapse.
Russia's unemployment rate is quite low, low enough to force Russian military recruiters to pay increasingly high bonuses for enlistment contracts, up to levels which are now approaching compensation in Western peacetime armies.