you’ll see one or two new videos a week of Ukrainian men being kidnapped off of the streets and stuffed into a van

When it’s the police, we just call it “detained”, even though it’s the same thing. Saying “kidnapping” and “brutal measures” is a little saucy when this is exactly how the police where I live operate, too. We don’t have conscription or a war on right now, but we have in the past, and we might in the future.

the political benefit of holding onto that land for just a little longer is worth more than the lives of real human beings. you are a soldier and you are expendable

That’s pretty much the job description of a soldier. For example, this describes the recent American wars. They had lower tolerance for casualties, but that’s just because it was an optional war rather than an existential one.

It was less that OP pointed out this stuff, and more that their “friend in Kiev” apparently phones them up about this and doesn’t mention anything about the Russians who are perpetuating all this and could leave at any time.

It’s pretty much certain Putin has more idea about how long than we do, and is on a clock of however long that is, yeah.

That being said, the big factor at the moment is Trump. Ukraine can no longer rely on US assistance, and Putin thinks he might give him a more favourable deal somehow, so that’s incentive for both sides to wrap it up.

Yes, that’s actually pretty typical of warfare under the original feudalism, too. The rich hoard their wealth, until they’re gone and their palaces can be looted, or they need to bribe a mass of peasants to save their ass. Then you get redistribution.

I’m not really sure I’d call a short-term, unsustainable cash injection at the cost of actual infrastructure and development “good for the working class”, though. If Russia becomes the next Venezuela or even Somalia they might end up with bigger problems than no Lada.

I hope they win is probably good. I hope they continue to fight might be out of touch. OP sounds fake though, who has a friend in Kyiv “Kiev” that repeats Russian propaganda narratives to them?

Then go fight there. They’re hiring.

Fair point.

I have a friend in Kiev and they’re kidnapping people to send them to the frontline. Maybe you can take his place if you like Ukraine that much. It’s funny how jingoists who cheers for war are never the ones actually fighting it.

Oh wait, this is an astroturf post.

It’s what the troll center boss told them to say.

Once their mothballed armour runs out it seems pretty guaranteed, and there were reports of a surge in bankruptcies a bit ago.

I’d be surprised if it’s a full year. Some kind of treaty might come soon anyway, though.

I mean, only sometimes. Stuff kind of comes out of bodies at it’s own pace.

Yeah, that’s one of my main sources too.

This is what I mean - they need money to pay for their military industry, ever-scarcer volunteers and a bunch of feel-good handouts like cheap mortgages on top of it. They’ve basically just been burning the economic furniture to make that happen (including the old Soviet stockpiles), and at some point raising the interest rate will get diminishing returns. Eventually, their spending is going to come up against what they actually physically have and lose, and then they’ll get hyperinflation.

It’s been suggested they could just muscle through that, and I can’t rule it out, but Russia is not Nazi Germany or even Venezuela. Putin’s regime has pretty much discouraged ideology of any kind in favour of cynical patronage, so once all the rubles they have to slosh around are worthless they’re kind of in uncharted territory.

I actually doubt the US state department ever said that, exactly. They’re diplomats, are very careful about their wording, and are unlikely to promise something they aren’t totally sure about.

I’m going by the trajectory of the now >20% interest rate, the fact they’re politically covering for massive military spending with massive handouts, the amount of assets still in Russia and the recent reports of a surge in bankruptcies. I don’t know if it will be two weeks or a year, but they can’t keep this up the same way forever.

Lol, no.

Which is probably why they’re trying to bid up Ukraine with the US using their own minerals.

Edit: Although some are suggesting this article is just propaganda, Russia’s main challenge is that their economy is on the brink of failing and domestic support becomes a question if that happens. From a skim that appears to be the main thrust of it.