From some videos I’ve seen today, Ukrainian morale seems to be high and the Russians seem to be taking far more losses than anyone expected…I can only expect that Russian soldiers morale is low.
She is a badass.
so much of the death cult right have been so determined to praise and excuse putin’s actions. it takes only a small rewrite of hegel to sound like them–
sovereignty at home is this ideality in the sense that the moments of mind and its actuality, russia, ha[s] become developed in its necessity and subsist[s] as the organs of the state. mind in its freedom is an infinitely negative relation to itself and hence its essential character from its own point of view is its singleness, a singleness which has incorporated these subsistent differences into itself and so is a unit, exclusive of other units. So characterised, the russia has individuality, and individuality is in essence an individual, and in putin is an actual, immediate individual
Lack of control!
Ukraine is doing a Finland on the Russians. I thought Putin was a student of history? Hell, very recent history, even. They are denying him his blitz victory and allowing the international outrage to coalesce against Putin. I still am not hopeful Ukraine will survive, but they are setting a hell of an example. And i am increasingly hopeful Putin will not survive being humiliated by his much smaller neighbor. The videos coming out just make me think they grow incredibly bold people there, and that the president has truly risen to the occasion. I could never imagine Il Douche wearing a flack jacket and carrying a rifle to defend the country. How many of his uber-macho followers could match this guy?
People dont seem to realize that Ukraine has been preparing for a Russian invasion since they became independent. They’ve been war-gaming scenarios for ages. I couldnt say whether they could have foreseen treachery from Belarus though.
I also don’t think Ukraine will prevail, however I expected Russia would be able to take Kyiv right away. Even when Russia does eventually take control, they will be dealing with one hell of an insurgency. I don’t see the Ukrainian people giving up.
Last few weeks they sure could.
Speaking of missed history lessons (cross-post)…
I’d add that the Tsar had enthusiastic and powerful international allies in the other Entente nations. Putin only has Belarus, half-hearted support from China, and a handful of small authoritarian basket-case countries supporting him.
speaking of twitter, marcy wheeler has been keeping up a devastating rundown of all the pro-russian voices. here’s a few:\
I think Russia will eventually take major cities, after a lot of losses and humiliation. Russian occupiers will find rockets and Molotov’s coming out of bushes and 4th-floor windows for as long as they are in Ukraine.
True, but thats not a lot of time to have assets assigned to defend the northern corridor. And i dont think anyone would have expected Russia to actually maneuver through the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
That, and Ukraine has been handing out rifles to anyone who wants one…I read last night it was something like 18,000…just looked it up, that was just Kyiv.
I suspect that the longer it takes for the Russians to prevail, the more likely a protracted insurgence. People will have hope, examples of bravery, heroes, international support, etc.
You can be sure they are blocking every street they don’t need, turning every street they do need into a slow and difficult path to pass, stationing people with rifles or rockets on the top floors of every building, and trying to turn every choke point into a potential ambush.
Russia is looking to get a stark reminder of how Stalingrad went. They may take the cities, but it’ll cost a lot.
Their list of heroes will continue to grow. They already have the soldiers from that island, a soldier who sacrificed himself to blow a bridge, the Ghost of Kyiv and likely more that I just haven’t read about.
Russia has owned Lukashenko since the presidential election last year.
When Lukashenko lost last year’s election and pretended to win, he handed his country to Russia. Had he left power gracefully, his successor would have had the loyalty of Belarusian institutions, and the support of the population. Because Lukashenko chose violence against his own people, his regime has lost not only support but also authority and legitimacy. If he wishes to stay in power, he now must rely upon Russia. And of course that means that Russia will also decide when he will leave power.
