Good Times in Ukraine and Russia

[Lhalo]

Russian forces claim full control of Bakhmut, ending brutal battle that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-captures-bakhmut-putin-ukraine-counteroffensive-rcna72615

[Kotchman]

26 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

Russian forces claim full control of Bakhmut, ending brutal battle that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-captures-bakhmut-putin-ukraine-counteroffensive-rcna72615

Yes it’s amazing how the media here has reported Ukraine is kicking ass. Anything that disagrees with that narrative is Russian propaganda. While it ain’t been pretty, Russia is winning and the margin may get worse. If nato isn’t going to send troops , they better negotiate an exit. Little Z turned out not to be George Washington after all 

[Blarg]

Z is a head of state, not a general. He was never going to be Washington but rather Churchill fending off the Nazis. 

[Kotchman]

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

Z is a head of state, not a general. He was never going to be Washington but rather Churchill fending off the Nazis. 

More like Stalin than Churchill 

[Blarg]

Stalin won.

[Kotchman]

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

Stalin won.

Yes that won’t happen this time 

[Lhalo]

Russia will win the war. It sucks but it’s true. It’s time to stop pissing tax dollars away on this fiasco. 

[Kotchman]

Yes, the media and nato keep blowing smoke up people’s ass with this under dog story and this provides cover for all the politicians funneling “aid” into their pockets. 
Im totally against college loan forgiveness but I’d much rather piss money away for Americans than these socialist Ukrainian bastards. I’m convinced Little z is lining his pockets while his people get totally destroyed. When the dust settles the vast majority of Ukrainians are going to be worse off and Little z will live like a king

[cals]

I liked it better when republicans had balls.

[Kotchman]

4 hours ago, cals said:

I liked it better when republicans had balls.

I don’t have a problem with whipping Russia’s ass. I probably would take the Chinese down first and leave Russia to the Euro fags. The reality is that we aren’t fighting to win. We’ve pissed away good money for a an eventual peace treaty that will acknowledge significant if not all Russian gains. A leader of an organization needs to define the mission and victory. No need for Biden to go all mission accomplished like Bush but I haven’t seen him define the end game. 

[Blarg]

8 hours ago, cals said:

I liked it better when republicans had balls.

[cals]

45 minutes ago, Blarg said:

“Oh man, I wonder if that guy was ok?”

- Jason 

[Blarg]

I think we've gone about this war in the wrong way. Russia is relying on The Wagner Group, a mercenary army made up of criminals with orders of attack or be executed. A very motivated group of sociopaths that is lead by a power hungry self appointed general in Prigozhin.

But they are mercenaries which means they have no true political alliances, so just buy them out. In fact pay them to turn on the Russians and play for the Ukraine. It would cost so many billions less and they will already be armed by Russia so there is very little hardware or munitions investments. 

Wagner Chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has berated the Russian army, their leadership, their chain of command, he is not liked by anyone but Putin, who pays for his services. The man is just nuts enough to think that he could stage a coup considering he has access to Putin at any time and the blueprint to defeat the Russian army. 

So make the call and double, triple, what Putin is offering in US Dollars he can actually spend instead of nearly worthless Rubles. Even if he fails in a coup it would send Russia into a tailspin as they fight and internal war with themselves and the Ukraine can work at reclaiming lost territories. Putin will probably be killed along with Prigozhin and whomever takes over is going to want a retreat from this disastrous war before it collapses Russia's economy further.

[cals]

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

I think we've gone about this war in the wrong way. Russia is relying on The Wagner Group, a mercenary army made up of criminals with orders of attack or be executed. A very motivated group of sociopaths that is lead by a power hungry self appointed general in Prigozhin.

But they are mercenaries which means they have no true political alliances, so just buy them out. In fact pay them to turn on the Russians and play for the Ukraine. It would cost so many billions less and they will already be armed by Russia so there is very little hardware or munitions investments. 

Wagner Chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has berated the Russian army, their leadership, their chain of command, he is not liked by anyone but Putin, who pays for his services. The man is just nuts enough to think that he could stage a coup considering he has access to Putin at any time and the blueprint to defeat the Russian army. 

So make the call and double, triple, what Putin is offering in US Dollars he can actually spend instead of nearly worthless Rubles. Even if he fails in a coup it would send Russia into a tailspin as they fight and internal war with themselves and the Ukraine can work at reclaiming lost territories. Putin will probably be killed along with Prigozhin and whomever takes over is going to want a retreat from this disastrous war before it collapses Russia's economy further.

I’m fairly certain I read somewhere that Ukraine tried this and it didn’t work.

[Blarg]

Yes but they were trying to pay in Doner Kabab so you can see how the offer was rejected.

[Kotchman]

The problem is we haven’t targeted the mercs leadership as we have Russian assets with our special forces etc. If these merc leaders double cross Russia and China they’re dead men walking. Money is great but the Mercs understand that switching teams isn’t a great option.The only way they switch teams is if the threat of us killing them enters negotiations. 

[Lhalo]

5 hours ago, Blarg said:

I think we've gone about this war in the wrong way. Russia is relying on The Wagner Group, a mercenary army made up of criminals with orders of attack or be executed. A very motivated group of sociopaths that is lead by a power hungry self appointed general in Prigozhin.

But they are mercenaries which means they have no true political alliances, so just buy them out. In fact pay them to turn on the Russians and play for the Ukraine. It would cost so many billions less and they will already be armed by Russia so there is very little hardware or munitions investments. 

Wagner Chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has berated the Russian army, their leadership, their chain of command, he is not liked by anyone but Putin, who pays for his services. The man is just nuts enough to think that he could stage a coup considering he has access to Putin at any time and the blueprint to defeat the Russian army. 

So make the call and double, triple, what Putin is offering in US Dollars he can actually spend instead of nearly worthless Rubles. Even if he fails in a coup it would send Russia into a tailspin as they fight and internal war with themselves and the Ukraine can work at reclaiming lost territories. Putin will probably be killed along with Prigozhin and whomever takes over is going to want a retreat from this disastrous war before it collapses Russia's economy further.

What makes you think our politicians and the MIC want this war to end?

[Kotchman]

Very true. We let all the trained Ukrainian troops get slaughtered before handing over tanks and planes. 

[Blarg]

53 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

What makes you think our politicians and the MIC want this war to end?

Because we need to move to Iran so we can save them from the Taliban. 

[cals]

Holy shit you guys are huge faggots.

[Kotchman]

25 minutes ago, cals said:

Holy shit you guys are huge faggots.

This ain’t a winning strategy. No reason to slow walk to war. If we want war then do it.

[cals]

33 minutes ago, Kotchman said:

This ain’t a winning strategy. No reason to slow walk to war. If we want war then do it.

Fine, but this college hippie conspiracy bullshit about the military industrial complex is giving me a headache 

[notherhalo]

I had 2 offices in Ukraine before covid, one in Kyiv and one in Zyhtomyr (2 hours away).   I was going to buy an office building a month before the war started.

We still have all the staff there employed (about 20)

One emigrated to Canada, another to Poland.   At the outset of the war, most of the female employees went to a neighboring country, most came back.

The males are still not allowed to leave.  There is still frequent missile attacks from the Russians.  Only one person I know through a friend died.   My best employees best friend who I drank with a lot, his wife wanted to stay in Mariupol early on and got hit with a missile.   He got a lot of brain damage from another attack and is really messed up, making it hard to take care of his three kids.  Most of my team seems mentally rattled now, still having a friendly attitude, trying their best but obviously not the same.

Most Ukrainians there just wish (long before this war) that they didnt have Russia as a neighbor.   They always treated me as an American super well (unlike many older Russians, French and other Europeans).  The West has always been separate from the East, as its a more agricultural, Ukrainian proud area where in the East I met some pro-Russian Ukrainians.   Indeed I met some real racists when I was there and the corruption there was pretty high (like Russia).

Its sad when Im on a call with my best teammate there, someone who me, my wife, him and his wife have vacationed with several times, get interrupted by an air raid siren.   I used to ask him if he had a place to go, he said not and if he gets hit, it happens. 

 

Its a shame and I just hope this thing can end somehow.

[Kotchman]

57 minutes ago, notherhalo said:

I had 2 offices in Ukraine before covid, one in Kyiv and one in Zyhtomyr (2 hours away).   I was going to buy an office building a month before the war started.

We still have all the staff there employed (about 20)

One emigrated to Canada, another to Poland.   At the outset of the war, most of the female employees went to a neighboring country, most came back.

The males are still not allowed to leave.  There is still frequent missile attacks from the Russians.  Only one person I know through a friend died.   My best employees best friend who I drank with a lot, his wife wanted to stay in Mariupol early on and got hit with a missile.   He got a lot of brain damage from another attack and is really messed up, making it hard to take care of his three kids.  Most of my team seems mentally rattled now, still having a friendly attitude, trying their best but obviously not the same.

Most Ukrainians there just wish (long before this war) that they didnt have Russia as a neighbor.   They always treated me as an American super well (unlike many older Russians, French and other Europeans).  The West has always been separate from the East, as its a more agricultural, Ukrainian proud area where in the East I met some pro-Russian Ukrainians.   Indeed I met some real racists when I was there and the corruption there was pretty high (like Russia).

Its sad when Im on a call with my best teammate there, someone who me, my wife, him and his wife have vacationed with several times, get interrupted by an air raid siren.   I used to ask him if he had a place to go, he said not and if he gets hit, it happens. 

 

Its a shame and I just hope this thing can end somehow.

Appreciate the info. Are any of your friends ready to surrender? Seems like the only winners will be Little z and Russia. Although it has come with a steep price for Russia

. In a lot of ways the dems kinda screwed Ukraine over the years. Yes they can say we are helping them now but there isn’t going to be much left at this point. It’s almost like the west wants Ukraine to burn , negotiate a settlement, and then politicians get paid in the rebuild process 

[Lhalo]

Gnarly.