A hero of the Russians, yet they will do that to his daughter if he speaks out of turn.
What about the context of the thread? That the Russians are evil and have no heroes?
Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Thread starter Wednesday at Stoke
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A hero of the Russians, yet they will do that to his daughter if he speaks out of turn.
What about the context of the thread? That the Russians are evil and have no heroes?
I took your post too literally, fair enough (not sure how much of a hero Emelianenko is to ordinary Russians but to some, I guess).
Emelianenko openly supports this war (which, in his mind, is a war of Russians vs "Russians, who's conscious is clouded by fascism") , he's one of Putin's trusted figures (as actual title of those who have officially, publicly, endorsed him in elections), hence my odd reaction, sorry.
Seems a matter of time for Pokrovsk to fall.
https://www.reuters.com/world/ukrai...ty-pokrovsk-military-analysts-say-2025-10-29/
- Opening fire on refusers and dump their bodies
- Using drones/explosives to finish off wounded or retreating soldiers
- Tortured to death
- Being thrown into pits with metal grates
- Fighting eachother to the death gladiator-style
- Financial extortion against those who refuse suicide missions
- Deliberately thrown in front of an assault group without equipment to draw Ukrainian fire
Russian army chiefs torturing and executing soldiers who refuse to fight in Ukraine, report says
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...rs-who-refuse-to-fight-in-ukraine-report-says
Russia blasts Ukraine’s power grid again, causing outages across the country and killing 6
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-attack-power-outages-2110169707d2d8c7757ce4fc807cff4c
Pentagon gives greenlight for Tomahawks, final decision left to Trump.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/31/politics/pentagon-tomahawks-trump-ukraine
How would it not affect existing stockpiles??
TLAMs are the one missile type where production has been shit in
There's no chance of Ukraine receiving Tomahawks, its just a nonsense statement to feed the media circus for a few more days. Then there will be something else, then something else, etc with jack shit actually being done, for reasons everybody is way overdue accepting by now.
"leaving the final political decision in President Donald Trump’s hands" err yeah it already was.
On Patriot systems:
Ukraine had been criticized before for withdrawing troops far too late and unnecessarily risking casualties.
As Pokrovsk is set to fall, Ukraine must choose to fight or save troops
As Pokrovsk is set to fall, Ukraine must choose to fight or save troops
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/11/06/ukraine-pokrovsk-fall-russia-war/
Horrible stories from the Ukrainian side and the toll it takes.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-front-lines-donbas-9.6964222
Another Russian drone/missile attack.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/08/europe/ukraine-russia-power-attack-intl
Ukraine announced 2 days ago they have suspended all "peace talks" for the time being, putting an end to the farce. The next day they immediately ramped up cruise missile strikes into Russia. Feels like they are about to turn the screw, or at least make a statement.
Another major oil terminal just been smashed.
Kyiv is also being hit hard right now, but that's nothing new. What happens in Russia this winter will be something new.
Another major oil terminal just been smashed.
Kyiv is also being hit hard right now, but that's nothing new. What happens in Russia this winter will be something new.
This is the type of nonsense that the warmongers spew to keep the war going, for their own financial and political gains. Take a look back through this guy's X feed and see if it correlates even slightly with the objective reality on the ground. It is full of these "big blow to Putin's war machine" micro-victories, yet the Russians keep advancing.
From a Ukrainian perspective, prolonging this war only means:
- more young Ukrainian men will be snatched off the streets and sent to the front line with minimal training just to die in a trench;
- more Ukrainian land will be lost;
- greater infrastructure reconstruction costs will be required;
Very simplistic view of the world you have, must be a great comfort to you.
Yeah, you're right. I did try to get my head around the nuanced "Russia = bad, West = good" narrative but it went completely over my head.
Isn’t the “Russia is advancing” narrative also in the same category? It’s frequently parroted but never quite substantiated by reality. One would think they would be half way to Berlin by now.
And again.
Unfortunately, they control an area greater than the size of Greece, which is more than half the size of the UK if I am not mistaken. The rate at which strategically important towns and cities are being lost seems to be increasing as well. A lull is expected due to the rasputitsa, which should give Ukraine a chance to regroup and build fortifications in the hope of slowing down the Russian advance, but there’s no chance of regaining any land as to conduct an offensive in this type of war you need a 3:1 advantage in man power and that is not something which can be achieved.
Maybe if Western countries extradited Ukrainians back to Ukraine you could get a boost in numbers, but that would be terrible for optics.
There's only one way this war ends, with the fall of the Putin regime. There's no plausible "end" I can think of apart from that, only temporary pauses. Even that is still no guarantee, but its all we've got.
To that end, put more stock in economics & logistics rather than lines on the ground, Ukraine & 'the west' certainly is and has been from day 1. The map changes are fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The only goal on the ground is to attrition Russian forces (add cost).
The reality however is that this conflict is a stalemate. If the Russians had accomplished any meaningful progress by capturing one strategic location after another, the war would’ve long been over by way of a Russian victory.
If anything, the Russians have lost a vast majority of any gains they made in the early days of the invasion and we are basically locked in a war of attrition involving drones and long range missiles, where the front lines themselves rarely move in any meaningful way. That’s the appropriate way to frame it. “The Russians are advancing” or “Russia are winning” are closer to Kremlin talking points than reality.
What do you think will happen to the Ukrainians under Russian control, Ukrainians near the current 'borders' and the other Ukrainians if they give up on his war, so people don't keep getting financial and political gain (I don't think anyone is gaining political advantage anymore by being pro-Ukraine, if anything the Russian rhetoric about giving funds to Ukraine over helping the countries sending help is unfortunately growing) as you put it. Will they just be left alone by Putin? The same Putin that doesn't think of them as people and doesn't think they should exist? His goal when he started this war wasn't the current lines, it was the entire country.
Since you seem see through the current media landscape of 'Russia=bad' (despite them being the aggressors in the war and responsible for war crimes and against Ukrainians and their own fighters), can you explain how stopping the fighting will be a good thing for Ukraine.
Your points are valid, however this is key. Since the war turned into one of attrition, the Ukrainian army's only victory was the Kursk incursion which ultimately also ended in a costly defeat. This is how the shortage in man-power was created. From Russia taking most losses at the beginning of the conflict, as is expected when an army is attacking, we now find ourselves in an unsustainable situation where the Ukrainian army is taking more losses and also has less men. If things continue as is, there is only one outcome.
We’ve been hearing that for years and the only outcome has been the war of attrition we are seeing. Also, the Ukrainian incursion into Russia was quite a success since it not only humiliated Putin domestically, it also forced him to repurpose troops and resources to attack and consolidate gains in other parts of Ukraine, to help regain Russian territory. The fact that the Ukrainians were able to claim a piece of Russia, is alone evidence that Russia is neither gaining nor winning at the moment.
Do you mean Ukrainians living in the Donbass? Given the fact that the majority in the region were Russian-leaning, I assume they are probably better off now than they were between 2014 and 2022.
Have we started labelling facts as "Russian rhetoric"? The fact that the European cost of living crisis is due mainly to the billions in funding of the Ukrainian economy and army, and loss of access to cheap energy in the form of Russian sanctions, is just that, a fact. You can argue about the reasons for taking these measures, but you can't argue with the facts.
Where and when did Putin say Ukrainians are not people and shouldn't exist? Any links? His position, which I have heard him state repeatedly, is that Russians and Ukrainians are brothers.
Stopping the fighting will result in:
- Less Ukrainian youth dying;
- Less damage to infrastructure;
- Less land/resources lost;
- Less debt;
- Hope of one day becoming a functional state;
This was my original point. The Kursk incursion did what it was meant to do; give westerners a warm glowing feeling that Putin was humiliated, irrespective of the losses Ukraine sustained as a consequence. This reveals the real western agenda which is the overthrow of Putin. 'Slava Ukraina' really means 'down with Putin' and it doesn't matter how many Ukrainians have to die for us to achieve this.
The same cost of living crisis that started before the full-scale invasion?
His most relevant position is that Ukraine is not a country and Ukrainians are not a nation, just a bunch of brainwashed Russians. Brothers are also a misleading term since when it's used by Putin, it's not a term of endearment. Ukraine is a "little brother" in that imagined relationship — smaller, weaker, stupider and forever destined to be subservient to the "big" one.
Odesa, Mykolaev, and Kherson are also primarily Russian speaking areas. Do you think they would be better off if Putin conquered them as well? Don’t forget he currently holds large swaths of Kherson oblast now.
The issue isn’t that you’re suggesting to stop the fighting. The issue is you are proposing a scenario where Putin wins by annexing a large swath of Ukraine, a vast majority of which wants nothing to do with being part of an autocratic police state ruled by a dictator.
It’s a bit more complex - he basically claims that the existence of a Ukrainian political identity distinct from that of Russia is the product of external manipulations hostile to Russia; and that Ukraine can only ever be truly free and sovereign in “partnership” with Russia - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181
I realised quite a while ago that it doesnt serve any benefit to engage those parroting Russian talking points and legitimising their arguments. Might be harsh, might be divisive, but really there are some things that are just simply black and white, and you are either on the right side of history or you arent. An illegal and unwarranted invasion of a sovereign state, massacre of civilians, cultural genocide, kidnapping etc.... this all falls firmly into that "wrong side of history" camp. Anyone who says anything other than "feck Russia, slava Ukraine" isnt worth talking to.
Tbf he's started an interesting debate even if most of what he says is wrong.
Russian leaning is where he lost me.
Every region voted for independence. Putin isn't even offering them peace terms when they are being presented with Trump's Russian biased peace plan.
They have to keep fighting like their lives depend on it because they do depend on it.
How you then in good conscience stand back and blame the west or Ukraine for the whole mess I don't understand.
I hope they/we stop Putin and that next year it turns out Russia can't replace their lost kit while the west keeps supplying Ukraine with seized Russian money and we see a Ukrainian victory which they have more than earned.
Every region voted for independence. Putin isn't even offering them peace terms when they are being presented with Trump's Russian biased peace plan.
They have to keep fighting like their lives depend on it because they do depend on it.
How you then in good conscience stand back and blame the west or Ukraine for the whole mess I don't understand.
I hope they/we stop Putin and that next year it turns out Russia can't replace their lost kit while the west keeps supplying Ukraine with seized Russian money and we see a Ukrainian victory which they have more than earned.
Yes, its Russian rhetoric. Its the same here in Canada. They act like Nato countries are giving them billions in cash (that otherwise would have paid for homeless shelters? Thats not how any budget works, as nice as that would be) when you know its expiring missiles/equipment/ammunition that then is replaced by new equipment generally made by that nations companies. The rest of your points prove you have it in your mind that Russia are somehow the good guys here and its Ukraine thats messing everything up and not letting them be taken over.
Had they just not fought back when this invasion began, they wouldn't have had anyway near as many youth dying or 'debt' or resources lost. They should have let that massive convoy (maybe fix the tires on the trucks that broke down) and chechen special forces take over Kyiv and government. Would have been so much less bloodshed
This.
No point because no matter how many facts you’ll throw at them they’ll change the goalposts and make up untruths, lies etc that you just waste your own precious time to try debunk.
Monumentally unconstructive
Blummin difficult to resist sometimes though! I'm goin bed before I break
Huh?
Ukraine are only defending themselves from a Russian invasion because the west wants to humiliate Putin?
Well that is one very odd hot take.
That some assumption. A very wrong one.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...y-conscripted-by-russia-s-army_6746688_4.html
You just have to do some basic research on demographics (religion, language, ethnicity) and election results by region, prior to maidan (2014) to see which way the regions leaned. Post Maidan, in 2019, Zelensky won convincingly across the whole of Ukraine, running on a "peace with Russia" platform (watch his interviews). As often happens, his stance changed once in power but the majority of Ukrainians voted for peace.
The west had been pushing for this conflict long before the 2022 invasion. The CIA-backed Maidan coup to overthrow the democratically elected Yanukovych, was years and many billions in the making. During the Bucharest summit in 2008, the US stated that Ukraine (and Georgian) would become NATO member states. These were clear provocations of Russia. You have to ask yourself how the US would have reacted if, say, the Soviet Union threatened to station their missiles a few miles away in Cuba, and despite all negotiations and red lines the Soviets proceeded as planned. I know you can at least appreciate the threat that would pose to a country like Russia, given the whole reason for NATOs inception in the first place.
Your last sentence reveals you lack of basic knowledge regarding Russia's current military capacity compared to that of the west. You have been sold stories Russians fighting with shovels and stealing washing machines for chips, it is really affecting your judgement. If Europe seizes Russian assets it will be one more nail in the EUs coffin. The damage that would do to european financial institutions would be irreversible, which seems to be in line with most of the EUs actions of late, so wouldn't put it past them.
Just look at the demographics of the regions prior to 2014, look at which way they voted. If you were captured, what would you say, that you fought voluntarily or that you were forcefully conscripted? Just a simple question which you should have asked yourself before posting. And the amount of footage of Ukrainians being snatched off the street and forcefully mobilised is staggering, if you cared to look.
That some assumption. A very wrong one.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...y-conscripted-by-russia-s-army_6746688_4.html