Ukraine started this year {2024} on the brink of disaster. A lot has changed since.

Business Insider ^ | September 9, 2024 | Thibault Spirlet

[Cronos]

After entering 2024 in a sorry state, Ukraine has notched up a series of notable achievements since the start of the year, giving fresh impetus to its fight back against Russia.

... Western allies have let it use some of the missile systems they've supplied to hit targets inside Russia, with notable caveats, giving it a better chance to defend itself against incoming Russian attacks.

And it also regained the initiative with its surprise incursion into the Russian region of Kursk in August, even while gradually losing ground in eastern Ukraine.

"What Ukraine has done in the past month, starting with Kursk, is not going to turn around the war by any means," Abishur Prakash, the founder of The Geopolitical Business, Inc., a strategy advisory firm in Toronto, told BI.

"But it's definitely changed the war," he added.

...Russia, meanwhile, has struggled to respond quickly and effectively, partly due to its complex military structures, a lack of contingency plans, and poor command and control.

...Putin still believes Russia can slowly and indefinitely take over Ukraine through grinding advances and accomplish its objectives by fighting a war of attrition and outlasting Western support, it said. Ukraine's emphasis on regaining territory and reluctance to mobilize more soldiers may have complicated its defenses.

[OldHarbor]

Cope Bro, Cope !

Counter Battle In The Kursk Direction💥Ukrainsk On the Verge Of Collapse⚔️Military Summary

[OldHarbor]

Here’s a Aussie mapper that is Pro -Uke Nazi,even he knows the Ukies are losing.

Rapid Advancement - RU Deploys SF Elements: It's Time To Be Realistic - Ukraine Map & News Update

[iluvschnitzle]

“Our pro-Russians here have said the same things every day since February, 2022.”

Yes. Self awareness is lacking

[BroJoeK]

wildcard_redneck: "Hey Bert, did you hear that even now Europe is importing more oil from Russia than it is from the U.S.?"

US oil, LNG & coal exports to Europe are relatively small drops in the Europe's energy bucket.

1. 3%: US oil exports to Europe are around 600,000 barrels/day -- 3% -- of Europe's 18 million barrels/day consumption.

2. 9%: US LNG exports to Europe are equivalent to circa 1 million barrels of oil per day -- 9% -- of Europe's 11 million barrels equivalent consumption of LNG plus natural gas.

3. 18%: US coal exports to Europe are about 230,000 tons per day -- 18% -- of Europe's 1,300,000 tons per day consumption, equivalent to 6.5 million barrels of oil.

Russian global energy exports are potentially much greater:

1. Russia's global oil exports have fallen to around 3 million barrels per day -- from 9 million bpd in 2017.

2. Russia's natural gas and LNG exports are equivalent to around 1 million barrels of oil per day.

3. Russia's coal exports are circa 1 million tons per day, equivalent to 5 million barrels of oil.

So, Russia is potentially energy dominant in Europe, while the US is currently, at best, a supporting actor.

[ransomnote]

President Trump stated that our STate Department helped overthrow the Ukraine in 2014. We have audio of CIA Nuland ‘picking’ the people to install in charge of the government. That’s when Putin annexed territory - to keep NATO off his border. You just sing LA LA LA louder when this is pointed out.
The West overthrew the Ukraine and built/equipped an army to take on Putin, and provoked until he invaded. Let’s not forget the bio warfare labs in the Ukraine, and the DNC, Biden, Schumer, Pelosi crime family activities in the Ukraine, which Zelensky refused to investigate. Remember Biden bragging how he extorted the Ukraine to fire the prosecutor investigating Hunter? The Ukraine is the DNC crime hub, although there are some republican traitors involved there too. I’m not going to forget the thievery, fraud, child trafficking, organ harvesting, bio warfare lab territory of the Ukraine.

Your assertion about Georgia Ukraine and NATO negating Putin’s moves is too irrational to bother with. You have a need to rewrite reality, and I’m not interested.

[BroJoeK]

Cronos: "I think the data since 1991 is more skirmishes (with the except of Georgia and Ukraine) rather than conventional war."

Agreed, all of Russia's victories since 1991 have been very minor operations.

[ransomnote]

In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled Ukraine started this year {2024} on the brink of disaster. A lot has changed since., Cronos wrote:

Ransomware Those numbers aren't valid. If Ukraine had anywhere near those numbers, their lines wouldn't be breaking, Russians are advancing everywhere, at an accelerating rate.

The Muscowite advance is not "at an accelerating rate" and if Ukraine doesn't have those numbers how do you explain the special military operation in Kursk?

Even the Ukrainians note the increased pace of Russian advances. The Ukrainian operation in Kursk is behaving like a terrorist attack, and the Ukrainians withdrew troops from Donetsk needed to hold that terrain, to send them to Kursk. So now the Ukraine is losing the Donbas, and gaining...nothing. Their best troops were sent to Kursk, and they are losing them.

You're not even trying to have any sort of conversation - apparently you just have to post X amount per day and you're blinding cranking it out without a thought in your head.

[BroJoeK]

Cronos: "To me it still looks like stalemate.
The Russians are inching forward, but these are extremely costly."

Agreed. Russia's strategy seems to result in roughly 1,000 Russian casualties for every square mile they conquer.
In 2024 Ukrainians say their average exchange rate is six Russians for every one Ukrainian, but this can increase to 10 Russians during their insane "Meat Wave" assaults.

Cronos: "Will it result in a Ukrainian collapse? Who knows?
I think predictions either way would be foolish"

Ukrainians seem both highly motivated and extremely resilient, so I would not expect any temporary collapse in one short section of their lines to cascade into total collapse of Ukraine's front.

Also, there's this -- we are hearing hints that the Baltic states may be preparing to send their troops to help Ukrainians.
But I wouldn't expect to see that happen short of a serious breach in Ukrainian defenses -- or maybe something like an invasion from Belarus... ?

[BroJoeK]

iluvschnitzle: "Pray for a end to this war with a just peace. Vote Trump."

Agreed, and God bless Donald Trump.
But I doubt if achieving a permanent & just peace in Ukraine will turn out quite as quick & easy as he makes it sound today.

[iluvschnitzle]

Me neither.

[bimboeruption]

>>>>As usual the Muscowites call anyone who opposes Kremlin rule as a “Nazi” - forgetting that the USSR was Nazi Germany’s partner in crime for 2 years and the USSR started the war with Germany.<<<<

Who’s a “Muscowite”?

I live in Ohio.

In response to the rest of your statement:

In August, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact which secretly carved up the land between their borders.

Shortly after Germany invaded Poland and the Soviet Union attacked Poland. starting the war. Then Hitler turned against the Soviets.

The following is from an article entitled: “VE Day 70th anniversary: We should never forget - the Soviets won World War II in Europe”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ve-day-70th-anniversary-we-should-never-forget-the-soviets-won-world-war-ii-in-europe-10239369.html

“’The Red Army was “the main engine of Nazism’s destruction,’ writes British historian and journalist Max Hastings in ‘Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945.’ The Soviet Union paid the harshest price: though the numbers are not exact, an estimated 26 million Soviet citizens died during World War II, including as many as 11 million soldiers. At the same time, the Germans suffered three-quarters of their wartime losses fighting the Red Army.

“’It was the Western Allies’ extreme good fortune that the Russians, and not themselves, paid almost the entire ‘butcher’s bill’ for [defeating Nazi Germany], accepting 95 per cent of the military casualties of the three major powers of the Grand Alliance,’ writes Hastings.”

Hate Putin all you want, but don’t ignore the fact that the Soviets won WW2 in Europe.

[bimboeruption]

>>>>You do realize that the ones pushing for nuclear war are Putin supporters, right?<<<<

How so?

[dfwgator]

As usual the Muscowites call anyone who opposes Kremlin rule as a “Nazi” - forgetting that the USSR was Nazi Germany’s partner in crime for 2 years and the USSR started the war with Germany.

Which is why they don't use "Nazi", they use "Fascist", because to say "Nazi" (short for "National Socialist"), would imply that they were fellow socialists.

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]

ARTICLE

“The Soviet Role in World War II: Realities and Myths”
Mark Kramer
https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/insights/soviet-role-world-war-ii-realities-and-myths

[BroJoeK]

ransomnote: "Those numbers aren't valid.
If Ukraine had anywhere near those numbers, their lines wouldn't be breaking, Russians are advancing everywhere, at an accelerating rate."

Only in the fantasies of Russian propagandists.
In reality, Russian Donbas gains in the past year are roughly equivalent to Ukrainian Kursk advances in the past month.
Recent Russian advances east of Pokrovsk are indeed notable and worrisome, however the most recent information is that Ukrainian reinforcements have stopped those -- at least for now -- about five miles from Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian total armed forces numbers of 900,000 active, 1,200,000 reserves and another 500,000 recently called up can all be reasonably accurate without meaning that Ukraine has 2,400,000 troops in its front lines.
Clearly, it does not.
The vast majority will be serving in reserve, support and training, available as needed in emergencies.

ransomnote: "No. He's [Putin's] been consistent for many years about the Ukraine and NATO.
He doesn't want to be at war forever, so he'll keep what minimizes threat to Russia because the Ukraine and NATO have shown there is no other way.

So, first of all, your term "The Ukraine" is only used as Russian propaganda.
What Vlad the Invader has been consistent about is this:

"The breakup of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century...
...Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us.
It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture, and spiritual space."

Exactly what that means has been spelled out by his propagandists, such as Vladimir Solovyov:

"If you think we'll stop at Ukraine, think it through 300 times.
I'll remind you that Ukraine is just an intermediate step in the establishment of the strategic security of the Russian Federation."

ransomnote: "Putin is apparently the only one who cared that Western Ukraine has been shelling it's own people in Eastern Ukraine because of the cultural ties with Ukrainians of Russian dissent.
Should I want Putin to 'butt out' and let the Western Ukrainians ethnically 'cleanse' their nation per their constitution ("Ukrainian purity")?"

All that kind of talk is pure Russian propaganda lies.
The truth is that nothing resembling it happened before Putin's invasions of Crimea and the Donbas in 2014 and his launching of "civil war" in Ukraine.

ransomnote: "Once again, you muddy the waters with out of context and irrelevant content.
Wiki says this about the person you spastically quote here:

Alexander Dugin himself says his views changed drastically since his youth and the items you quoted.
Since at least 2014 Dugin has been known as "Putin's Brain", whether accurately or not is a matter of academic debate, but the fact is that Putin himself has never repudiated Alexander Dugin's ideas.

ransomnote: "Now quote former President Obama, for balance...."

Sure, this one is from February, 2014, and there are many other similar:

"...we are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine.
Russia has a historic relationship with Ukraine, including cultural and economic ties, and a military facility in Crimea.
But any violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing, which is not in the interests of Ukraine, Russia or Europe.
It would represent a profound interference in matters that must be determined by the Ukrainian people.
It would be a clear violation of Russia’s commit to respect the independence and sovereignty and borders of Ukraine, and of international laws."
B.H.O. -- February 28, 2014

ransomnote: "Now quote an American political scientist as if their opinion matters."

Sure, one of my all-time favorite political scientists, who matters a lot:

1. “Here’s my strategy on the Cold War: We win; they lose,” to Richard Allen, 1977

2. "Détente – isn’t that what a farmer has with his turkey – until Thanksgiving?" -- 1978

3. "In your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and labeling both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil."
   -- to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983

Vladimir Putin awards Order of Honor to Vladimir Solovyov:

ransomnote: "Let's quote Zelensky's choice of Ambassador to Ukraine who engages in "spirit cooking" which involves the ingestion of blood, sperm and breast milk, but mostly blood:"

Let's not, since she has nothing to do with Ukraine's military or foreign policies, nor has "spirit cooking" -- unlike Russia's "Russkiy Mir" -- ever been used as an excuse to invade Ukraine's neighbors.

ransomnote: "More irrelevance from you.
Here's what wiki says about the propagandist you quote which shows Russia currently forbids the broadcast of Solovyov's work in Russia.
That didn't stop you from treating him as representative of Russia, did it."

You sound very confused.
Vladimir Solovyov is a TV presenter (propagandist) for Russian state TV.
He is the Russian government's voice to the Russian people, as are "Iron Doll" Olga Skabeyeva and Margarita Simonyan.

Putin's mouthpieces: Simonyan, Solovyov, Skabeyeva & Nordkin:

ransomnote: "Welp, that's Ukrainian propaganda talking.
Ukraine is out of soldiers, possibly expedited by the fact that they sent poorly equiped and trained conscripts into the field under Russian air attack, without Ukrainian air defenses on the ground or in the sky."

Those are obviously the fondest hopes of Russian propagandists, but are not confirmed by independent observers.
The reality seems to me far more a matter of the best allocations of Ukraine's available resources to accomplish its strategic and operational goals.

Bottom line: The ultimate indictment of US and NATO leaders is that they have no plans for victory in Ukraine, indeed appear to be afraid of victory over Russia, and so are potentially merely wasting Ukrainian lives in a fruitless bloodbath.
Clearly what's needed here is serious US leadership, of the type once provided Republican presidents.

And I know just the man to provide it, he happens to be running for president and we need to be certain he gets reelected this time.

US Republican presidential peacemakers:
"Big Stick" Teddy Roosevelt (1905 Russo-Japanese War), "We Win" Ronald Reagan, Poppy Bush (1988 Cold War):

[Cronos]

Kremlin calls anyone who opposes them as a Nazi

[Cronos]

Because each time Medvedev calls for nuclear war, they say “See there” AND because they oppose telling Vlad to get back to his land.

[Cronos]

A Muscowite is a “Russian” federation citizen, like the ones who wrote the report you cited.

[Cronos]

A Muscowite is a “Russian” federation citizen, like the ones who wrote the report you cited.

The rest is where you agree that the USSR started the war by attacking Poland and that the Russians were German allies for the first two years of the war.