That’s the same reasoning as the Tawny Scrawny Lion used with his prey: if the rabbits didn’t run so fast then he wouldn’t have to eat so many of them. Except, obviously, that Putin is a nuclear armed kleptocrat and unlikely to convert to eating proverbial soup.
Economically the benefits of deleting Ukraine as a competitor in oil, gas and (apparently) steel production appear to still outweigh the military cost. I suppose I should get off my lazy a** and run the numbers on that one. Given that Russia proper is extremely unlikely to be attacked by NATO then any number of old tanks that are otherwise just rusting in inventory, and any amount cheap artillery, all operated by otherwise underutilized and readily expendable labour, isn’t going to tip the scales.
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See also: “I wouldn’t hit her if she just did whatever I told her to do. I’m the victim here!”
The Putin regime is government by gaslighting.
And also taking control of the agricultural land, per Timothy Snyder.
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And controlling or eliminating Ukraine’s aerospace and shipbuilding industries.
Meanwhile:
US announces plan to build silos on Ukraine border to export grain
(Something on the Guardian’s website must have been changed, because the previews don’t work any more.)
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I saw someone on another thread saying that oneboxes from other sites have stopped working as well.
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Is that what makes Harbour Freight or Princess Auto smell just so?
ETA: thrilled to receive my Ukraine Postal Service “Russian ship, go f*#k yourself!” stamps a few days ago. Whoop!
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I quite like the bat stamps too.
I might take up philately myself. Goodness knows I need more hobbies!
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Finally, somebody used my idea.
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As a former and future Philatelist, I appreciate your new stamps!
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Scholz, Macron and Draghi vow support for Ukraine’s EU bid on Kyiv visit
‘It was worse than hell’: life in Mariupol under Russian occupation
Chasovnikova said her patients also had a hard time understanding why a country that many in Mariupol had considered a friendly neighbour “could do such a thing”.
Mariupol, just 60km (37miles) from the Russian border, is a largely Russian-speaking city where both economic and family ties with Moscow run deep. “In the end,” Chasovnikova said, “I tell them that these are the actions of a schizophrenic president. And maybe there is just no point trying to understand him.”
Plan needed to make Russia pay reparations to Ukrainians, says report
Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees left homeless in England, data shows
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BBC’s Steve Rosenberg interviews Lavrov today - in person.
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“Not squeaky clean”. No-one can say this scumbag isn’t qualified for his job when it comes to diplomatic understatement.
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Some of his other statements are as bizarre.
We did not invade Ukraine, we launched a special operation as the only way to demonstrate to NATO that dragging Ukraine into it was a criminal act.
A criminal act? Don’t we have international courts for those, as an alternative to military action?
Oh, wait … yeah, invasions are in scope, too.
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