Ukraine vs Russia III

Why Zelensky’s refusal to conscript more men has torpedoed his relationship with Washington
The telegraph

I really don't understand what is the fixation on this on the US side. I know that there is manpower problems, but again, there are more important priorities.

Ukraine has bleed enough with the west indecision to provide help in an oportune manner.

 

Really. Ukraine has proved they are willing to sacrifice for their country. Instead of us demanding they sacrifice more, we should be providing the mechanization they need to multiply the manpower they have. Seven soldiers working an artillery piece or driving in a Bradley are infinitely more powerful than seven guys in a ditch. It takes so much less effort to kill a hundred Russians in a base with a long range missile than when they are rushing your front lines.

I've said before that it seems the White House's overriding concern is to get Putin to be a good little citizen of the world again and out tactic is to use the bloody stump of Ukrain's arm to beat Russia until they comply.

 

Is it tho? Considering we’re over a year into Ukrainian commanders complaining about having manpower issues and that their men are tired and would like to be rotated off the front lines, is it really surprising that Ukraine’s Western supporters would also have issues with Ukraine not addressing the issue?

 

Replace desperation with the word urgency if you wish.

 

Given the long term demographic impact this would have on Ukraine,,,yes. It’s disheartening. Because it’s none of our ********ing business. It’s for the Ukrainians to decide.

And if we hadn’t slow walked pretty much everything…this wouldn’t even be a topic for discussion.

 

The protests are still going on in Georgia, but the government has been using thugs dressed in black to go beat up protesters, journalists, even entering buildings assumed to contain someone they don't like and just pounding on everyone they see. They have police protection, and move in big groups so no one can stand up to them.

 

And as Ukraine drags its feet on addressing its year long manpower issues, Russia is advancing faster and faster and Ukraine seems unable to slow that advance. Ukraine lost more territory in November than they did in all of 2023. That’s not happening because the West is dragging its feet. That’s happening because Ukraine’s military commanders aren’t listening to local commanders.

 

In addition to falling oil and gas prices. These two indicators (petro prices and military costs) moving in opposite directions is what contributed the most to the collapse of the Evil Empire. Additional factors were ethnic pressures and casualties of Afghan war.

 

That is an empty statement. Russia's advance, while it is "faster and faster" accounted for a capture of 0.4% (less than half a per cent) of Ukrainian territory in the entire 2024 calendar year to this point. Not to mention these 0.4% is burned and devastated.

 

I find a big difference in dragging your feet about getting a generation killed vs dragging your feet about creating a power vacuum in Russia.

 

Looks good then, with casualties exceeding the Afghan war big time.

 

I think we need to make clear to both Pootin and the fatman from NK we donot tolerate non European soldiers on our soil and start bombing the shit out of them.

 

But that’s just it. It’s not just about killing a generation. It’s about ensuring a second generation actually exists. When you send an 18-24 y/o that has never had a family off to die in war…you don’t just lose them. You lose the two kids (insert your birth rate here) he would have had.

 

Ukraine's population isn't even 25 million.

 

Simple trade:
Step 1: Ukraine drops the draft age to 18
Step 2: DC gives 1,500 TACMS, 100 F-16s, 300 Bradleys, 300 Strikers, cluster munitions, etc.

any and all decommissioned weapons scheduled for disposal (safe and EPA-compliant
disposal costs shedloads) for $1​

Step 3: no restrictions on use except a) territory of Ukraine, Russia & Belarus b) laws of war

 

Uhm.
You mean ethnic Ukrainians in the unoccupied part of Ukraine?
There are about 10 million ethnic Ukrainians outside their borders.

 

Ukraine has launched a huge drone attack across southwestern Russia and Crimea.

https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3ld2gmkyvpc2e

There was also a large attack on another oil refinery last night.
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3lczdrt3cwc23

And the Beriev Aviation Scientific-Technical Complex in Taganrog. I'm not sure what exactly the complex is working on, but Beriev was in the process of developing an AEW&C aircraft to replace the A50.

https://bsky.app/profile/noelreports.com/post/3lcz2ysm4y22x

 

As part of my job I occasionally go to political science conferences.

I went to a conference back in 2019 where a demographer credibly showed that Ukraine's population was somewhere between 25 and 35 million and dropping *then*, and is likely now between 20 and 30 million.

The population decline in post-Soviet Eastern Europe is far more horrific than anything you can imagine, in part because it precedes "post-Soviet" due to the Communist mindset of Always Be Lying.

When the Ukrainians refuse to conscript any 18-24 year olds, listen to them.