Russia's Catastrophe

[Cypress]

How Putin's War on Ukraine Became Russia's Catastrophe

President Vladimir V. Putin’s war was never supposed to be like this. When the head of the C.I.A. traveled to Moscow last year to warn against invading Ukraine, he found a supremely confident Kremlin, with Mr. Putin’s national security adviser boasting that Russia’s cutting-edge armed forces were strong enough to stand up even to the Americans.

Russian invasion plans, obtained by The New York Times, show that the military expected to sprint hundreds of miles across Ukraine and triumph within days. Officers were told to pack their dress uniforms and medals in anticipation of military parades in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

But instead of that resounding victory, with tens of thousands of his troops killed and parts of his army in shambles after nearly 10 months of war, Mr. Putin faces something else entirely: his nation’s greatest human and strategic calamity since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Continued
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/16/world/europe/russia-putin-war-failures-ukraine.html


Pre-war Predictions:

Cypress -->

Ukraine is not Chechnya, Georgia, or Moldava. Ukraine is a large country with a substantial military, capable of inflicting significant damage.

Ukraine has morale and commitment on it's side. There is a long history of proud nationalism in Ukraine which Putin may have underestimated.

Putin and MAGA-->

Putin Boasts of Being Able to Take Kiev in Two Weeks https://time.com/3259699/putin-boast-kiev-2-weeks/?amp=true

The Ukraine will be totally over run within days.

Soon the Ukrainian Army will be all but destroyed.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will be murdered soon. The Russian Federation will install a puppet government.The entire country of the Ukraine will be part of the Russian Federation.

^^ You are probably 100% correct.

Ukrainian army- leaderless, deserting, unsupported .

 

[evince]

And I said their History was one of FIGHTERS



Both you and me were correct


Facts do that for people

 

[Cypress]

And I said their History was one of FIGHTERS



Both you and me were correct


Facts do that for people

Putin has practically given up trying to defeat the armed forces of Ukraine, and he's just attacking civilian infrastructure.

I doubt this will intimidate Ukrainians into submission, but I do guarantee it will make most Ukrainians hate Russia with a burning passion for generations to come.

 

[Cypress]

You don't see journalism like this in many places, bless the NY Times

In interviews, Putin associates said he spiraled into self-aggrandizement and anti-Western zeal, leading him to make the fateful decision to invade Ukraine in near total isolation, without consulting experts who saw the war as pure folly. Aides and hangers-on fueled his many grudges and suspicions, a feedback loop that one former confidant likened to the radicalizing effect of a social-media algorithm. Even some of the president’s closest advisers were left in the dark until the tanks began to move. As another longtime confidant put it, “Putin decided that his own thinking would be enough.”

The Russian military, despite Western assumptions about its prowess, was severely compromised, gutted by years of theft. Hundreds of billions of dollars had been devoted to modernizing the armed forces under Mr. Putin, but corruption scandals ensnared thousands of officers. One military contractor described frantically hanging enormous patriotic banners to hide the decrepit conditions at a major Russian tank base, hoping to fool a delegation of top brass. The visitors were even prevented from going inside to use the bathroom, he said, lest they discover the ruse.

 

[evince]

He’s destroying Russia with every bombing


Reducing them to most hated nation in the world for a couple of generations

 

[Cypress]

He’s destroying Russia with every bombing


Reducing them to most hated nation in the world for a couple of generations

Even Putin's "great ally" China sees the writing on the wall and has backed off giving Putin any kind of tangible military support. The Chinese don't want to be associated with the losing side

 

[evince]

He turned it into the crap heap that it is


He oligarched the place out


Everyone began to skim cash


Top to bottom

 

[evince]

China found out the hard way that all China gave them got grifted away from the purpose it was given for

 

[ExpressLane]

How Putin's War on Ukraine Became Russia's Catastrophe

President Vladimir V. Putin’s war was never supposed to be like this. When the head of the C.I.A. traveled to Moscow last year to warn against invading Ukraine, he found a supremely confident Kremlin, with Mr. Putin’s national security adviser boasting that Russia’s cutting-edge armed forces were strong enough to stand up even to the Americans.

Russian invasion plans, obtained by The New York Times, show that the military expected to sprint hundreds of miles across Ukraine and triumph within days. Officers were told to pack their dress uniforms and medals in anticipation of military parades in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

But instead of that resounding victory, with tens of thousands of his troops killed and parts of his army in shambles after nearly 10 months of war, Mr. Putin faces something else entirely: his nation’s greatest human and strategic calamity since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Continued
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/16/world/europe/russia-putin-war-failures-ukraine.html


Pre-war Predictions:

Cypress -->






Putin and MAGA-->

Cypress . What happened with Crimea?

 

[evince]

Cypress . What happened with Crimea?

Russia stole it

 

[Cypress]

NT Times: To Mr. Putin, Ukraine is an artificial nation, used by the West to weaken Russia. He describes it as a cradle of Russian culture, a centerpiece of Russian identity that must be wrested back from the West and returned to Russia’s orbit.

In his eyes, that is the biggest unfinished mission of his 22 years in power, people who know him say.

 

[Cypress]

Cypress . What happened with Crimea?

Putin illegally occupied it.

 

[Stone]

He turned it into the crap heap that it is


He oligarched the place out


Everyone began to skim cash


Top to bottom

So, pretty much like San Francisco.

 

[Hawkeye10]

This is a war between the New Chinese Empire and the West, and it is just getting started.

I fully expect that the Empire will win.

 

[ExpressLane]

Putin illegally occupied it.

So people reasonably believed that Putin taking the rest of Ukraine would be similar to when he took Crimea. Most of OUR TOP GENERALS thought Russia would roll over Ukraine in a couple of weeks.

 

[PostmodernProphet]

NT Times: To Mr. Putin, Ukraine is an artificial nation, used by the West to weaken Russia. He describes it as a cradle of Russian culture, a centerpiece of Russian identity that must be wrested back from the West and returned to Russia’s orbit.

In his eyes, that is the biggest unfinished mission of his 22 years in power, people who know him say.

odd that the centerpiece of Russian identity must orbit Russia instead of the other way around.......

 

[PostmodernProphet]

This is a war between the New Chinese Empire and the West, and it is just getting started.

I fully expect that the Empire will win.

????....what does China have to do with Russia/Ukraine?.....

 

[Althea]

How Putin's War on Ukraine Became Russia's Catastrophe

President Vladimir V. Putin’s war was never supposed to be like this. When the head of the C.I.A. traveled to Moscow last year to warn against invading Ukraine, he found a supremely confident Kremlin, with Mr. Putin’s national security adviser boasting that Russia’s cutting-edge armed forces were strong enough to stand up even to the Americans.

Russian invasion plans, obtained by The New York Times, show that the military expected to sprint hundreds of miles across Ukraine and triumph within days. Officers were told to pack their dress uniforms and medals in anticipation of military parades in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

But instead of that resounding victory, with tens of thousands of his troops killed and parts of his army in shambles after nearly 10 months of war, Mr. Putin faces something else entirely: his nation’s greatest human and strategic calamity since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Continued
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/16/world/europe/russia-putin-war-failures-ukraine.html


Pre-war Predictions:

Cypress -->






Putin and MAGA-->

Just read an article this morning that stated Putin's days are numbered. This coming from former Putin loyalists who are taking the temperature of the citizens.

Also interesting is that Ukraine has been hitting targets inside of Russia, as I had called for.

Still, Putin continues his war crimes. By the time he's gone, there will be no infrastructure left inside of Ukraine.

 

[Althea]

Putin has practically given up trying to defeat the armed forces of Ukraine, and he's just attacking civilian infrastructure.

I doubt this will intimidate Ukrainians into submission, but I do guarantee it will make most Ukrainians hate Russia with a burning passion for generations to come.

As you well know, those who escaped USSR to America in the late 70s all hate Putin.

 

[Althea]

In interviews, Putin associates said he spiraled into self-aggrandizement and anti-Western zeal, leading him to make the fateful decision to invade Ukraine in near total isolation, without consulting experts who saw the war as pure folly. Aides and hangers-on fueled his many grudges and suspicions, a feedback loop that one former confidant likened to the radicalizing effect of a social-media algorithm. Even some of the president’s closest advisers were left in the dark until the tanks began to move. As another longtime confidant put it, “Putin decided that his own thinking would be enough.”

The Russian military, despite Western assumptions about its prowess, was severely compromised, gutted by years of theft. Hundreds of billions of dollars had been devoted to modernizing the armed forces under Mr. Putin, but corruption scandals ensnared thousands of officers. One military contractor described frantically hanging enormous patriotic banners to hide the decrepit conditions at a major Russian tank base, hoping to fool a delegation of top brass. The visitors were even prevented from going inside to use the bathroom, he said, lest they discover the ruse.

That's not much of a surprise. Putin took control of everything in Russia via corruption, so it makes sense that the entire nation would follow suit whenever the opportunity arose.