Russia will be a 'pariah state in the eyes of many people forever' and there'll be no

[Tranquillus in Exile]

Not gonna be a stalemate at all.

Putin's stated aims were to 'denazify' Ukraine (code for overthrowing the government and replacing it with one of his choosing) and protect Russian speakers from 'genocide'.

In two months Russian forces have lost more men and vastly more materiel than the US lost in 20 years of interventions in the M.E. They have, however, succeeded in devastating large parts of the country, especially Russian-speaking areas like Kharkiv and Mariupol.

Now the plan is to use these decimated and demoralized forces to enlarge Russian control in the south-east - and hold it. That must have been the plan all along! Putin is smart, eh?

 

[moon]

That must have been the plan all along! Putin is smart, eh?

( code for ' Let's stick to wishful thinking dressed as fact and hope that nobody notices )



Haw, haw....................................haw.

 

[BartenderElite]

Yeah I do. But it's not a cerebral smart. It's more instinctive, like a good gambler. And he thinks about the bets he's making.

What corner?

The Russian economy has sucked for more than a century, mostly because of socialist central planning that never went away with the "fall" of communism. Pooty poot will never miss a meal, and the peasants will just have to get used to it again. They don't care.

Do you think he did this because he wanted to be "popular"? What do you think is happening here, high school superlatives or something?

Not gonna be a stalemate at all. The smallest thing he'll get out of this is his land bridge to Crimea and the black sea, where there is gas, oil and minerals. As to the strength of his military, he has an army of conscripts. I'd bet human casualties aren't even mentioned in putin's morning reports. If enough of them die, they conscript more.
They are not the most professional, well equipped, and well trained soldiers, but there are a lot of them and pooty has the hard heart and iron will to throw them into a meat grinder if he has to.

Well, we see different versions of reality for sure. I don't know how anyone could see Putin's strategy here as smart anymore.

To just say the economy there has never been good really downplays how devastating this action has been for most Russians. The oligarchs ain't too happy about it either. It's not just "the peasants." And being a worldwide pariah has more significant consequences than just being unpopular.

Like I said - Putin miscalculated, and he miscalculated badly. This did not go how he planned, and he'll have to deal w/ the negative consequences for a long time.

 

[Nordberg]

Flight time is still an important factor.

Nope. Nukes cannot be stopped. We have thousands of them. We have them on submarines too.