Even in the instant degradation that people have responded to this war with everywhere, including on HN, it's shocking to experience how quickly comments like this become acceptable in many minds. As long as I'm running this place they will never be acceptable here.
This upcoming week is going to be crucial - peace talks have technically started, but it is unknown if Putin’s ego will cloud fair judgment leading him to double down on war efforts. OTOH if Russia’s oligarch bank accounts are heavily impacted, then they might be able to sway Putin away from doubling down.
China isn’t showing signs of aggression, which provides major relief to the international markets.
Ukrainians are turning out to be pretty bad ass freedom fighters.
Russia's military being in that condition opens up interesting opportunities for China in the next decade or two. 10-15 more years and China will be far beyond Russia militarily.
Are you referring to Russia's atrocious success in invading Ukraine to date? I thought it was odd too. You'd think if they were really seeking maximum damage there would be no power or communications in Kyev/Kiev and there would be a lot more bloodshed, and perhaps Russia wouldn't have increased gas flow through Ukraine over the past week.
I saw a DPR military soldier interviewed this weekend in a Russian military convey headed west, his comments were not one of those looking to destroy Ukraine and everyone in it. https://youtu.be/-eiNmxCJC4s?t=345
That Russia would win ultimately is no surprise at all, at least for the invasion stage of things. They have such overwhelming numbers that it should be an inescapable outcome. If they occupy Ukraine with that force, it'll be a disaster for both Russia and the Ukrainian civilian population.
https://twitter.com/tuckermax/status/1497609615151800323?s=1...
Now, though, his military looks weak and the constant stream of war pictures has forced other countries into harsh actions. He can still get a pyrrhic victory, but for the most part this looks like a lost cause.
They were already out of the Ukraine's control before this started.
It's barely day 4 with misinformation and fog of war everywhere. There aren't much useful info to extrapolate from other than RU has committed half to two-thirds of low/medium tier units while being fairly restraint in not massacring fellow slavs. Departure from past RU war atrocities - almost kid gloves compared to how western wars (including those prosecuted by RU) slaughter brown people in the ME. Even the internet is still up. RU's massive artillery parks aren't levelling villages and they've barely expended 200 missiles or used much precision munitions (assuming they have any). All capabilities PRC has in abundance.
If there's any lesson to be learned, it would be not to half ass for optics. Western reporting and social platforms seems to have gone full koolaid regardless. And perhaps seriously think about preemption, instead of letting weapons flow in for for weeks while posturing.
And Putin is well-known to be paranoid, he must've shielded himself extremely well. Save alone a full-blown civil war in Russia (highly unlikely, even after the current events), no one but his trusted people would be able to get anywhere nearby. If someone helps him to leave that most likely will be an inner job.