No. It's a sign of unlimited trust Russians had in Ukranians, close cultural and economical ties, and eternal brotherhood and friendship between Ukrainians and Russians. This is literally what's written in the transfer decree linked above. If Ukraine wants to have nothing to do with Russia from now on, they should let Russia have Crimea back. It's literally a sign and a baggage of what they try to get rid of. If Ukraine wants to leave its old Russian family and join the new Western family, they should give old family gifts back.
Doesn't really make a lot of sense, because who owned what land changes so dramatically depending how far back you go in history. The capital of the Rus Empire was Kiev.
Next step will be asking for Alaska back.
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"By Grabthar's hammer ... what a savings."
Can't find it now but I saw a tweet showing Russian POW's and some of them were wearing sneakers and open toe shoe shoes. Seeing as Russia didn't expect this war to still be going on I wonder what sort of winter gear their soldiers will be getting. Gotta imagine those supplies got pilfered along the way along with everything else. Could be a long winter for them.
Another excellent video from Perun summarizing the Kharkiv offensive.
Lots of good points made as usual, and since most people don't take the time to watch 1h+ powerpoint presentations on YouTube willingly, I'll bring up a couple that stuck out for me.
One was that if the war in Ukraine was really as popular in Russia as many are claiming, there really shouldn't be a shortage in volunteers on the Russian side. After all, Russia is still a huge country by population, and they're offering really good money for anyone who's willing to sign up. So when the Russian army is filling it's ranks from among the homeless and the prison population, that raises some questions about the lack of actual volunteers.
Another was that this victory was hugely important not just for morale, but also for diplomatic efforts for further support of Ukraine. Pictures of westeen military aid delivering battlefield wins makes it a lot harder to withdraw support now, and helps put a lid on the worries about corruption.
There were already questions raised about why aren't we seeing more foreign equipment at the frontlines, now we know that at the very least a partial answer is that Ukraine was pooling them up for this push, that it wasn't all getting lost somewhere on the way.
It also helps put a temporary stop to the claims that giving aid to Ukraine only prolongs the suffering, that Ukraine can't actually win this. Right now they're very much looking like they can, if the west keeps supporting them. Right now, it's not looking like yet another forever war.
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People really seem to be talking past Pointman a lot.
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I imagine they're being pretty careful about what exactly they're typing into the internet from inside Russia.
I don't know exactly how much risk Pointman is in posting on here as he does, but personally I'm grateful for being able to read his contributions to the thread. Thanks for posting.
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One was that if the war in Ukraine was really as popular in Russia as many are claiming, there really shouldn't be a shortage in volunteers on the Russian side. After all, Russia is still a huge country by population, and they're offering really good money for anyone who's willing to sign up. So when the Russian army is filling it's ranks from among the homeless and the prison population, that raises some questions about the lack of actual volunteers.
Regardless of how popular a war is, how many people are going to volunteer to risk being killed or seriously maimed in the modern world. Even if many people in Russia feel the war is justified, how many want to die via American drone.
In a modern world, where people have a lot more freedoms (even in Russia, everything is after all relative) and access to education, I just don't see a large desire for huge amounts of people to enlist, generally, and not just in Russia. How many accountants, computer programmers, etc... are just going to up and join the Russian military. Russia has the second highest level of tertiary education in the world. I just don't see a situation where people living in a relatively modern country are signing up on mass to fight in a war, unless it's their country being invaded.
Honestly, that's probably a good thing. It stops modern countries from raising huge armies and then invading their neighbours.
Regardless of how popular a war is, how many people are going to volunteer to risk being killed or seriously maimed in the modern world. Even if many people in Russia feel the war is justified, how many want to die via American drone.
In a modern world, where people have a lot more freedoms (even in Russia, everything is after all relative) and access to education, I just don't see a large desire for huge amounts of people to enlist, generally, and not just in Russia. How many accountants, computer programmers, etc... are just going to up and join the Russian military. Russia has the second highest level of tertiary education in the world. I just don't see a situation where people living in a relatively modern country are signing up on mass to fight in a war, unless it's their country being invaded.
Honestly, that's probably a good thing. It stops modern countries from raising huge armies and then invading their neighbours.
A lot of people in Russia outside the big cities are very poor and from what I understand they are being offered a lot of money. If they believe the propaganda about the mighty Russian Army I can see people taking the money when they have next to nothing. You're right that it probably won't entice the white collar workers though.
A lot of people in Russia outside the big cities are very poor and from what I understand they are being offered a lot of money. If they believe the propaganda about the mighty Russian Army I can see people taking the money when they have next to nothing. You're right that it probably won't entice the white collar workers though.
Yeah it's reportedly the equivalent of 2700€ per month, which is a lot compared to Russian average salary of 620€ per month. They're also accepting people up to 60 years of age.
Sham referendums are scheduled for next week. Reportedly, LNR and DNR are set to join Russia, at least technically, and Kherson is about to join in a bit later. Another news is that Russians are adjusting laws to harshen punishments for deserting, surrendering and avoiding conscription. There's significant panic at my work chat. Seems like Putin is set to declare that some parts of Ukraine are now Russia, which would give him a reason to start a mass conscription and probably lock the borders.
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A lot of people in Russia outside the big cities are very poor and from what I understand they are being offered a lot of money. If they believe the propaganda about the mighty Russian Army I can see people taking the money when they have next to nothing. You're right that it probably won't entice the white collar workers though.
Even Russian propaganda gave up on "mighty Russian army" stuff. They are now selling the new "we are underdogs fighting for survival against mighty NATO" narrative.
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Doesn't really make a lot of sense, because who owned what land changes so dramatically depending how far back you go in history. The capital of the Rus Empire was Kiev.
Next step will be asking for Alaska back.
Alaska was sold for money. With Crimea the issue was not that Russia used to own it, but more about how Russia lost it. When the country joined the union and then left the union, it should have left with the same lands it had joined.
Alaska was sold for money. With Crimea the issue was not that Russia used to own it, but more about how Russia lost it. When the country joined the union and then left the union, it should have left with the same lands it had joined.
Even if that argument had any merit, you don't just seize land from another country. They should have done it at a negotiating table. It's all kind of irrelevant now, becuase of Russia's current actions. They are using the same premise they did for Crimea in LNR and DNR, but this time being murderous thugs about it. So they've lost any moral ground they may have stood on. Turning over Crimea at this point is the bare minimum they should do in reparations for their murderous monstrous acts.
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Alaska was sold for money. With Crimea the issue was not that Russia used to own it, but more about how Russia lost it. When the country joined the union and then left the union, it should have left with the same lands it had joined.
This might be an argument during a friendly succession. However after an invasion arguing that Ukraine should do something for Russia is ridiculous.
Moscow opened an army recruitment center. Allegedly they will only recruit migrants non-citizens with promise to give them Russian citizenship for army service. Not sure if anyone would want Russian citizenship this bad...
Even if that argument had any merit, you don't just seize land from another country. They should have done it at a negotiating table. It's all kind of irrelevant now, becuase of Russia's current actions. They are using the same premise they did for Crimea in LNR and DNR, but this time being murderous thugs about it. So they've lost any moral ground they may have stood on. Turning over Crimea at this point is the bare minimum they should do in reparations for their murderous monstrous acts.
You absolutely don't seize the land and I was actually against it if you go back to my 2014 posts. It should have been negotiated and probably purchased. While Putin does come up with various and baseless claums about Donbass, Russians don't really consider Donbass as our lands, hence this war is so unpopular from the start.
This might be an argument during a friendly succession. However after an invasion arguing that Ukraine should do something for Russia is ridiculous.
Arguing for Ukraine to not go after Crimea is arguing for quicker peace and to save lives, including lives of Ukranians. I don't see how it is ridiculous. Russia actions notwithstanding, there's solid argument that Crimea should be Russian. If you want to punish Russia for it's moronic barbarian actions - fair enough. Russia can be punished in other ways, though, without necessarily killing people in an attempt to bring Crimea back to Ukraine.
Arguing for Ukraine to not go after Crimea is arguing for quicker peace and to save lives, including lives of Ukranians. I don't see how it is ridiculous. Russia actions notwithstanding, there's solid argument that Crimea should be Russian. If you want to punish Russia for it's moronic barbarian actions - fair enough. Russia can be punished in other ways, though, without necessarily killing people in an attempt to bring Crimea back to Ukraine.
Leaving Crimea in Russian hands just guarantees future risk to Ukraine.
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Arguing for Ukraine to not go after Crimea is arguing for quicker peace and to save lives, including lives of Ukranians. I don't see how it is ridiculous. Russia actions notwithstanding, there's solid argument that Crimea should be Russian. If you want to punish Russia for it's moronic barbarian actions - fair enough. Russia can be punished in other ways, though, without necessarily killing people in an attempt to bring Crimea back to Ukraine.
I agree with you it is the route that likely leads to less death, but it was Ukraine's territory and Russia invaded and took it. Its up to them what they want to do about it. Just because Russia made a deal they regret - doesn't mean they can just take it back.
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Leaving Crimea in Russian hands just guarantees future risk to Ukraine.
There's some truth in it, but so does leaving Siberia in Russian hands. As much, as we are cheering for Ukraine to sweep away Russians, they have to stop at some point.
In the meantime Putin is looking poised to declare a mass conscription. Seems like the new plan is to throw masses of untrained recruits into the grinder. I guess it's better than nuking Kyiv. This mass conscription may or may not result in riots.
