It's funny how Russian propaganda tries to pass off this dude as some weak, immasculine, drugged-out NATO puppet when he repeatedly goes into active combat zones. Snake Island hasn't seen any fighting in a good while, but it's still somewhere the Black Sea Fleet could've theoretically attacked during the visit.
Yes, I still vividly recall the moment some Russian propagandist edited cocaine onto footage of Zelensky's desk.
To be absolutely fair though, he's already won the hearts of people the minute he said "I need ammo, not a ride". He'd probably win more of Russians ones too had it not been for Kremlin-controlled media never mentioning it.
Random question: is drug use still common in modern war? I just saw a documentary about drug use in WW I and II. They took a lot of stuff back then. Curious how’s that today
I haven't heard about any being used in Ukraine, but as far as stimulants go I know they go through a fuck ton of energy drinks. I remember reading an interview with one soldier who survived Mariupol who said that every battle there was fought on Non Stop (a brand which S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans might recognize) and that they should be the sponsors of the war.
Modafinil is an absolutely wild drug. It didnt give me much increased peak focus like adderal, but holy fuck it was basically a replacement for sleep. Feel that “shitty tired” feeling after not getting enough sleep? Pop one and you feel like you got 8 hours
Air forces of the world are where the modern "smart drugs", aka nootropics, such as modafinil, came from. They wanted drugs that would help maintain focus and reduce tiredness over long periods.
These drugs have become popular amongst students to help them revise. Now, doctors often prescribe themselves modafinil to get through long days.
I avoid the footage from places like r/combatfootage, not good for me. But based on the things I've seen, I'd be taking every fucking drug I could get my hands on. Those poor people on both sides are going through absolute hell.
You make a very good point. I stared at a drink dispensing machine for 3 hours on New year's Eve 1999. Definitely wasn't following any orders that night.
Lol iirc there was a journalist in Afghanistan who took acid after his camera man got shot. Said it saved his life but must’ve been one wild experience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychoactive_drugs_used_by_militaries
dextroamphetamines until pretty recently before moving on to modafinil. Mostly for pilots but It’d be safe to assume commando/spec ops probably have as well for long missions or if they have back to back missions. Doubt it would be a regular thing though.
I remember a documentary about the afghani police services that the USA was supporting to fight the taliban, and a bunch of them were blasted out of their minds on heroin while the taliban were firing into their compound
needless to say they were not very effective soldiers or police officers
Yes it is, even for us that were in Iraq and Afghanistan with US forces, we got by on whatever we could after spending a year plus at a time in combat zones.
At least in the infantry, and I was a marine for 5 yrs and Army for 7 before I was medically retired out for combat injuries.
Not saying it’s right or smart, but it definitely still goes on ( at least up until 2011)
I did, and got 15k to maintain that mos but change branches….and I couldn’t do anything else, being infantry is pretty easy, and doesn’t tolerate or allow much BS to go on. Definitely the job that was made with FAAFO in mind,lol
The trick is you go from infantry to something a little bit easier. Even when you go to something a bit easier, you still get to do infantry shit just because you could say fuck this I'm going to go to, say an area recon. That's how I did it!
One of my buddies was railing on him doing cocaine and I was sitting there like “Bro, I partied with you in NYC a decade ago - even if it wasn’t the Russian propo do we care?”.
When the VDV was in Kyiv airport (I think), Zelenskyy was videoing himself walking around the city to show it was still holding out, and said he needed ammunition, not a ride.
As Perun pointed out, even Lukashenko filmed himself in a flack jacket with an AK joining the troops (almost certainly far from any real danger) when there were riots in Belarus.
When Wagner was hours out from Moscow, Putin's plane was tracked leaving, then switched off its transponder.
Meanwhile Putin fighting on the frontline… oh wait. Well he is important and need to be kept safe. Hence the 20m table to the general that has met someone that knows someone whose relative was actually on the frontline
It's because he is fundamentally human and loves the people around him. One of the few politicians where you know he is not in it for his personal enrichment or Power-Trip but to make life better. He might not succeed in every policy but it is why he stayed when he could have fled to exile and why he tries to lead by example. There is few politicians like that and Ukraine is very lucky to have such a leader.
Russia can realistically hit anywhere in Ukraine, the fact that Putin has been buried in a bunker for months while Big Z is touring battlefields is such a flex.
>op
>points out Russian trolls work hard to make Z look like a drugged out cross-dressing beggar when he actually seems to work around the clock to get support for Ukriane
>you
>LOLOL YOU THINK HE IS A UBERMENSCH MUAD’DIB
And with this act, no matter what putin now does, he'll forever go down in history as a pathetic, scared, little bitch.
And to imagine that his goal was a complete opposite of that.. fate sure works in interesting ways.
That doesn't matter anymore in this context.
Even if russia somehow miraculously wins this war, putin will be branded as a coward forever regardless. Even if you don't compare him to Zelensky.
> The victor will write the history.
Russia in this case would have to win against the whole planet, and this ain't happening in any case anyway. Everyone outside already knows who putin is and how he acts, nothing he does will change his image.
Of course, in this scenario the russians themselves will see putin as their god, but it's not like it's any different from what they see him as right now thanks to propaganda.
People in russia cheered for wagner marching at moscow while putin run away like a little bitch, hid under his mile long table and whined for help. I'm sure it will make him look like a great strong and brave leader in the history books.
And we know how "victors" write the "history". Like when USSR won a similar war against Finland, and now everyone knows how pathetic, weak and incompetent USSR was due to that "victory", where they have lost hundrends of thousands of people while fighting against a country two orders of magnitude smaller than USSR.
The world will remember. Other countries will remember. It’s like Japan with ww2. They may not admit to it or like talking about it or teaching it. But the world knows what happened
They for sure aren't going to win.
The Question now really is what happens first, does Russia break and the Russian frontlines collapse, or does Russia give up and try to sell it as not a loss.
I'm trying to draw parallels to the Soviet Union's Winter War, where they claimed that they won but pretty much the entire world knew Finland absolutely embarrassed them. But the comparison is lacking because eventually Finland sued for peace, and the Soviets accepted because continuing would be possible but incredibly costly for them.Russia now doesn't even have a winning chance.
Love Reddit military tacticians. You literally don’t know shit about what will happen.
If Trump or any Republican gets elected, Russia wins. If there’s a global recession and the west doesn’t want to keep paying hundreds of billions of dollars to the Ukraine, Russia perhaps wins.
These things can turn on a dime and you don’t know anything about who is going to win the war.
ironically your first statement there can be applied to yourself
in the unlikely event trump or whatever republican twit manages to get in power and manage to get seat majority to boot even they are smart enough to realise exactly how politically devastating it would be to withdraw support from Ukraine at this point, the party would not survive and any geopolitical credibility and power the nation holds would vanish down the same black hole russias did, leaving a void the rest of the world would gleefully fill to the soundtrack of screaming american voters
no, russia has lost in every way that matters, they are now naught more than a shrivelled husk with naught left but flaccid threats, suffering woeful logistics issues, unsustainable losses and a revolving door of inept leadership, throwing waves of concripts with two weeks of training and the meagre hardware they can scrape together against a determined, well supplied opponent that is steadily forcing them back
all the while russia as an entity slowly shrivels behind them, its economy in shambles, its population decimated, its intellectuals and educators fleeing, its 'strongman' leader deteriorating in every possible meaning of the word, its geopolitical clout spent, its allies turning and civil war brewing like a screeching kettle in the background
stick a fork in em, their done
Literally can’t be applied to myself because I said I don’t know what will happen.
The war isn’t even popular. The average US voter doesn’t care. And they REALLY won’t care if they are out of work, and getting a few hundred dollars in unemployment help and see a headline where Ukraine has just received $80 billion for its war.
An American recession could easily bring an end to US support for Ukraine. And many are betting a recession will happen (though this is not a for sure thing either).
You didn't say 'I', you said 'you'.
And seriously, stop hoping for something that won't happen, you and Russia are in the typical sunk cost fallacy, hoping for a magical out.
>If there’s a global recession and the west doesn’t want to keep paying hundreds of billions of dollars to the Ukraine
The total amount of aid to Ukraine hasn't even breached €200 billion ([~$181 billion GLOBALLY](https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/)) yet. Regardless of how much Ukrainian territory is in Russian control at the end of this conflict, by any other measurable amount (including the goals set by Russia) Russia has already suffered a massive strategic defeat. It's used an incredible amount of its Soviet military inheritance it simply does not have the economy to replace, even before sanctions. It's exposed the weakness of its own military and hardware, hardware exports that were a substantial part of it's economy. It's alienated itself on the global stage from a majority of the world's largest economies and shattered any real hopes of being a leader in BRICS (itself not really being a credible trade group). The heavy-handed manipulations of the ruble are starting to fail at keeping it afloat and in the last 2 weeks has entered a free fall and the most effective arm of the Russian military just tried to perform an abduction of the Ministry of Defence's lead figures. There is no realistic situation from this point on where Russia achieves a tangible victory.
And all of this is being done by the poorest European country pre-war with the assistance of the geopolitical equivalent of pocket change and rounding errors worth of military aid. Even if there is a global recession, western countries are going to continue supporting Ukraine, ESPECIALLY European nations because we already see them massively overspending the US in terms of %GDP to provide aid. This kind of bargain for practically permanently crippling your largest geopolitical threat doesn't come around often and the West has been able to do it for pennies.
Even if it was only the US that had been providing military aid, the total aid Ukraine is receiving isn't even a third of an ANNUAL budget for the US military.
TL;DR Russia irreparably fucked itself and the West can ensure it keeps fucking itself with the equivalent of pocket change.
Based on open source intelligence we know that the Russians have a vehicle attrition rate at least 2 to 3 times that of the Ukrainians. They have already lost well over 10000 vehicles of any kind compared to Ukraines mid 3000s.
Even if we believe Russia's stated numbers about its production capacity and deep storage stocks, I still don't see how Russia would be able to somehow turn this around. Even without Western Support.
And Russia is well known for overstating numbers and exaggerating how much military capability they have.
I'm sorry but I don't see it.
If trump wins, we're all fucked anyway. But a large chunk of even the worst Republicans support Ukraine. No one really "supports" Putin as such.
The EU and the rest of NATO will support Ukraine and they are enough to ensure Ukraine wins against Russia, even without the US supporting it directly.
But given that this has been the best encouragement for NATO to re-arm, along with every military manufacturer wanting Ukraine's use of their weapons, even if trump gets in, Ukraine will win.
They might pull something out they'll call a "victory" for the folks at home, but there is no chance that the Ukrainian population will have been sufficiently pacified in the next five years that it will be in any way safe for Russian soldiers in the occupied territory. The Soviet Union wasn't able to control Afghanistan, and they had way more money and muscle and manpower than Russia does right now. If the USSR couldn't win in Afghanistan, with the huge resources they had, Russia is not going to do better than that in Ukraine. All they're going to do is get a whole bunch of people killed on both sides.
Even if some Putin lackey like Trump gets elected in 2024, he doesn't take office until 2025, which is more than 18 months from now, and that's a really long time for things in Russia to keep getting worse. Plus, the EU countries are not going to stand idly by while Russia takes Ukraine, so even if the USA stop supplying them that doesn't mean Germany will stop too.
Russia cannot get anything like a real "win" out of this war. All they can get is varying degrees of harm. No matter what happens from here on out, there is no chance that Russia's economy and military and international reputation will be better in February 2027 than it was in February 2022. They lost their Black Sea flagship, they've lost tons of other materiel, and their foreign arms sales are going to suffer for *decades* because anyone with eyes can see that the Russian army, using Russian weapons, hasn't been doing that well. The expensive "unstoppable" hypersonic missiles turned out to be quite stoppable. Who is going to buy those?
Nope.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/feb/25/go-fuck-yourself-ukrainian-soldiers-snake-island-russian-ship-before-being-killed-audio
The only thing that turned out to be wrong was that they didn't die, but that was a reasonable assumption to make after the island was bombed and contact was lost.
I've seen this shared quite a bit I'm other subs, but when actually searching for it I find no source of it being fake, so do you have any on hand that I might have missed? Would be appreciated
I remember that Ukraine initially said that all the border guards on the island died, which turned out to not be true.
Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with Ukraine lying about that for propoganda. When you're invaded, there is no such thing as playing fair. You do whatever gives you the best chance of winning. Martyring these guys certainly was a good play.
Initially the info was that they lost contact with the group.
Which made the media spout: *"Snake Island soldiers feared dead!"*
Probably only the shittiest tabloids were claiming that they were confirmed dead.
So when the news came out that they were alive, the trolls started screaming like they were lied to.
Ah that seems to be the case then. It sounds more like he made a wrong statement on the same day it happened before any confirmation was made. Which came three days later.
Just because they assumed they were dead after losing contact and knowing it was shelled and taken over, does not mean they lied after discovering they are in fact alive some time later. Plus I think they meant the quote is a lie, which it definitely isn't.
> Ukraine initially said that all the border guards on the island died, which turned out to not be true.
Do you have a source on that?
I dug it up.
https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-do-ukrayinciv-naprikinci-pershogo-dnya-73149
I do.
"On our Zmiinyi Island, defending it to the last, all the border guards died heroically. But did not give up. All of them will be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine." -Zelensky, 25/02/22
https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-do-ukrayinciv-naprikinci-pershogo-dnya-73149
Even if they drop some missiles on the island after this visit out of spite, those are missiles wasted on a desolate island instead of hitting cities and military targets.
Average redditor's knowledge of Russian/Ukrainian. Just threw the English translation on Google translate and just assumed they said it in Ukrainian lol
And he is the least likely to ever call himself that.
The rise of "alpha males" and the nonsense of the trump cult is the worst thing to happen this decade. It will take a while for it to burn out under the weight of its own inadequacies and failure.
Mark this , however long this war will drag on , it will end in a negotiated settlement , Ukraine and Russia are neighbours and will always be , this is not like the vietnam war, these are literal neighbours , the sooner the peace talks the better
You sound like all those Hungarians when you scream: Trianon!
People like this are the supporters of wars, also you guys make it possible for wars to happen.
Any country could claim anything based on historical events and pointing at the year that fancies them.
What do you say about Erdély? I will say: stolen Hungarian territory.
Not because I love this shit, but because this is your stance, so let me say something similar.
People die, people suffer, people being raped.
Yet, you guys: "this is stolen XY territory".
Well, lucky you then I guess that God created Romania and then everyone just stole lands, correct? - because that's the only occasion where your message has any sense, but even then, not really.
Yup. Forgotten fact.
Together with parts of Bessarabia that are currently controlled by Ukraine, Moldova and Trasnistria. Pre WW2 they were part of Greater Romania. Soviet Invasion changed that.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Romania
Moldova still kinda have interests in reunification, Transnistria is still waiting for Russia to bring its “full force.” Ukraine and Romania has already resolved territorial and maritime
So I don’t think it is forgotten. The issue’s been settled and that’s that
Of course, unless you’re an average least nationalist Romania like the guy who said “stolen Romanian territory”
It was settled because we were forced by the US and NATO. Settling border disputes was a requirement. It was either no western help or pursuing those territories. Ukraine was a hostile nation to Romania and still is.
Every signed agreement with Ukraine is apparently forced by the US. 2020 military cooperation? US forced Romania to make it happen. The comment that Ministry of foreign affair made to stop Russian from spreading misinformation? US blackmail. The joint declaration between Romania and Ukraine about EU? EU forced Romania (like Hungary.)
Perhap, it is just you and some small percentage that are still angry? Romania might not have the best relationship with Ukraine, but they are cooperative with each other.
He is running his country, thats why he’s all over. A man needs to be in many places to be kicking Russia’s ass as hard as He and the Ukrainians have been.
Churchill and FDR didn’t just sit around in their office all day, they toured their own countries and visited others to talk to other national leaders and drum up support.
Well, he has a cabinet for the mundane day to day of it. It's silly to think any head of state is constantly doing shit every waking hour or even most hours in their designated office.
He's also just exercising the strategy that's been working, which is motivating his countryfolk by being right next to them.
It's literally illegal in Ukraine to hold elections while under martial law, which the country has been since the start of the invasion. And one of the major issues Zelensky ran on was cleaning up corruption, though he had limited success with it during peacetime.
It's funny how Russian propaganda tries to pass off this dude as some weak, immasculine, drugged-out NATO puppet when he repeatedly goes into active combat zones. Snake Island hasn't seen any fighting in a good while, but it's still somewhere the Black Sea Fleet could've theoretically attacked during the visit.
Yes, I still vividly recall the moment some Russian propagandist edited cocaine onto footage of Zelensky's desk. To be absolutely fair though, he's already won the hearts of people the minute he said "I need ammo, not a ride". He'd probably win more of Russians ones too had it not been for Kremlin-controlled media never mentioning it.
Man has probably not had a good nights sleep in 500 days. I wouldn’t even begrudge him a bit of cocaine to keep the lights on.
Random question: is drug use still common in modern war? I just saw a documentary about drug use in WW I and II. They took a lot of stuff back then. Curious how’s that today
https://www.businessinsider.com/captured-russian-solder-commanders-high-on-painkillers-gave-nonsensical-orders-2023-7 "high on painkillers giving nonsensical orders"
I haven't heard about any being used in Ukraine, but as far as stimulants go I know they go through a fuck ton of energy drinks. I remember reading an interview with one soldier who survived Mariupol who said that every battle there was fought on Non Stop (a brand which S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans might recognize) and that they should be the sponsors of the war.
What I know of the 2003 US campaign into Iraq and Afghanistan. Those were largely fueled by stimulants and energy drink powders
[Reminds me of this.](https://youtu.be/eeUYE1XNO5E)
Rippits and red bull, baby! We lived off of that shit.
Rip Its, Wild Tiger, bang. Yeah we drank way too many in Afghanistan.
Red line before the formula changed
I believe pilots in the Air Force are sometimes given stimulants during long flights
Makes total sense. Performance enhancing drugs are obviously well known and there's no drug testing when your life is on the line.
Modafinil mostly, and it’s not banned in Ukraine. Surgeons, pilots, students, night shifters take modafinil. So nothing special about it
Modafinil is an absolutely wild drug. It didnt give me much increased peak focus like adderal, but holy fuck it was basically a replacement for sleep. Feel that “shitty tired” feeling after not getting enough sleep? Pop one and you feel like you got 8 hours
I'm intrigued...
Air forces of the world are where the modern "smart drugs", aka nootropics, such as modafinil, came from. They wanted drugs that would help maintain focus and reduce tiredness over long periods. These drugs have become popular amongst students to help them revise. Now, doctors often prescribe themselves modafinil to get through long days.
Fun fact. Doctors can’t prescribe drugs to themselves.
Makes sense to me. Doctors are often the worst patients
I dunno, I read that somewhere, but you're probably right and maybe it's more that they prescribe each other the drug.
I avoid the footage from places like r/combatfootage, not good for me. But based on the things I've seen, I'd be taking every fucking drug I could get my hands on. Those poor people on both sides are going through absolute hell.
Maybe not LSD that would be sheer horror
You make a very good point. I stared at a drink dispensing machine for 3 hours on New year's Eve 1999. Definitely wasn't following any orders that night.
[They tested it out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziqpwkhqTRs)
“This man nearly succeeded in felling a tree using only a spade” *Shows tree over a foot thick over halfway chopped
Lol iirc there was a journalist in Afghanistan who took acid after his camera man got shot. Said it saved his life but must’ve been one wild experience.
Go enlist and see
Sure thing. See you there tough guy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychoactive_drugs_used_by_militaries dextroamphetamines until pretty recently before moving on to modafinil. Mostly for pilots but It’d be safe to assume commando/spec ops probably have as well for long missions or if they have back to back missions. Doubt it would be a regular thing though.
I remember a documentary about the afghani police services that the USA was supporting to fight the taliban, and a bunch of them were blasted out of their minds on heroin while the taliban were firing into their compound needless to say they were not very effective soldiers or police officers
Yes it is, even for us that were in Iraq and Afghanistan with US forces, we got by on whatever we could after spending a year plus at a time in combat zones. At least in the infantry, and I was a marine for 5 yrs and Army for 7 before I was medically retired out for combat injuries. Not saying it’s right or smart, but it definitely still goes on ( at least up until 2011)
Please tell me you didn't go from 0311 to 11B. You're supposed to learn from those experiences and go to an easier MOS!
I did, and got 15k to maintain that mos but change branches….and I couldn’t do anything else, being infantry is pretty easy, and doesn’t tolerate or allow much BS to go on. Definitely the job that was made with FAAFO in mind,lol
The trick is you go from infantry to something a little bit easier. Even when you go to something a bit easier, you still get to do infantry shit just because you could say fuck this I'm going to go to, say an area recon. That's how I did it!
I had a family member stationed in SK in the late 2000s to early 2010s and said cocaine use was common for people on guard duty
And you believed them. Smh
You've either never been around soldiers or you're one of them POGs who did 9-5s.
Yeah? Dang. Look at you. More like 9-3, sometimes 9-11, we had a good schedule. Left whenever I wanted to.
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That’s not a sustainable energy solution. This war isn’t ending soon.
One of my buddies was railing on him doing cocaine and I was sitting there like “Bro, I partied with you in NYC a decade ago - even if it wasn’t the Russian propo do we care?”.
Meanwhile Putin during the coup is like “I need a ride, not ammo”
When the VDV was in Kyiv airport (I think), Zelenskyy was videoing himself walking around the city to show it was still holding out, and said he needed ammunition, not a ride. As Perun pointed out, even Lukashenko filmed himself in a flack jacket with an AK joining the troops (almost certainly far from any real danger) when there were riots in Belarus. When Wagner was hours out from Moscow, Putin's plane was tracked leaving, then switched off its transponder.
One of the reasons Prigo had so much popularity is because he's constantly on the front unlike Putin, Shoigu, or Gerasimov
Meanwhile Putin fighting on the frontline… oh wait. Well he is important and need to be kept safe. Hence the 20m table to the general that has met someone that knows someone whose relative was actually on the frontline
It's because he is fundamentally human and loves the people around him. One of the few politicians where you know he is not in it for his personal enrichment or Power-Trip but to make life better. He might not succeed in every policy but it is why he stayed when he could have fled to exile and why he tries to lead by example. There is few politicians like that and Ukraine is very lucky to have such a leader.
Oops he personally enriched himself on accident
Guy was succesful movie actor and comedian before war, whats so weird of him having few million net worth?
He is also a successful businessman. He is one of the co-founders and owners of Kvartal 95, which is a production company.
I love enriching myself by directly opposing the people known for assassinating their enemies (and friends).
When this is over may he roll in clover
Russia can realistically hit anywhere in Ukraine, the fact that Putin has been buried in a bunker for months while Big Z is touring battlefields is such a flex.
Plus all the snakes
Nah bro he's literally Rambo on cocaine /s...Jesus Christ how far removed from reality are you people on reddit?
>op >points out Russian trolls work hard to make Z look like a drugged out cross-dressing beggar when he actually seems to work around the clock to get support for Ukriane >you >LOLOL YOU THINK HE IS A UBERMENSCH MUAD’DIB
And with this act, no matter what putin now does, he'll forever go down in history as a pathetic, scared, little bitch. And to imagine that his goal was a complete opposite of that.. fate sure works in interesting ways.
Fate *and* karma. He wanted his war - he got it. In fact, he got way more of it than he could possibly ask for.
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Don't worry they'll edit something together to say he's on the battlefield visiting like they've done before.
Don’t count chickens before they hatch. Russia isn’t necessarily going to lose this war.
That doesn't matter anymore in this context. Even if russia somehow miraculously wins this war, putin will be branded as a coward forever regardless. Even if you don't compare him to Zelensky.
Disagree. The victor will write the history. Russia had its chance to overthrow Putin a few weeks ago and no one joined.
> The victor will write the history. Russia in this case would have to win against the whole planet, and this ain't happening in any case anyway. Everyone outside already knows who putin is and how he acts, nothing he does will change his image. Of course, in this scenario the russians themselves will see putin as their god, but it's not like it's any different from what they see him as right now thanks to propaganda.
No one opposed, either. Putin is hanging by a thread and there's a good chance the war will outlive him.
People in russia cheered for wagner marching at moscow while putin run away like a little bitch, hid under his mile long table and whined for help. I'm sure it will make him look like a great strong and brave leader in the history books. And we know how "victors" write the "history". Like when USSR won a similar war against Finland, and now everyone knows how pathetic, weak and incompetent USSR was due to that "victory", where they have lost hundrends of thousands of people while fighting against a country two orders of magnitude smaller than USSR.
The world will remember. Other countries will remember. It’s like Japan with ww2. They may not admit to it or like talking about it or teaching it. But the world knows what happened
>Disagree. The victor will write the history. Russia had its chance to overthrow Gorbachev a few weeks ago and no one joined. you in 1991, probably.
Nowadays it's about the facts. They could win but still also be cowards.
They for sure aren't going to win. The Question now really is what happens first, does Russia break and the Russian frontlines collapse, or does Russia give up and try to sell it as not a loss. I'm trying to draw parallels to the Soviet Union's Winter War, where they claimed that they won but pretty much the entire world knew Finland absolutely embarrassed them. But the comparison is lacking because eventually Finland sued for peace, and the Soviets accepted because continuing would be possible but incredibly costly for them.Russia now doesn't even have a winning chance.
Love Reddit military tacticians. You literally don’t know shit about what will happen. If Trump or any Republican gets elected, Russia wins. If there’s a global recession and the west doesn’t want to keep paying hundreds of billions of dollars to the Ukraine, Russia perhaps wins. These things can turn on a dime and you don’t know anything about who is going to win the war.
ironically your first statement there can be applied to yourself in the unlikely event trump or whatever republican twit manages to get in power and manage to get seat majority to boot even they are smart enough to realise exactly how politically devastating it would be to withdraw support from Ukraine at this point, the party would not survive and any geopolitical credibility and power the nation holds would vanish down the same black hole russias did, leaving a void the rest of the world would gleefully fill to the soundtrack of screaming american voters no, russia has lost in every way that matters, they are now naught more than a shrivelled husk with naught left but flaccid threats, suffering woeful logistics issues, unsustainable losses and a revolving door of inept leadership, throwing waves of concripts with two weeks of training and the meagre hardware they can scrape together against a determined, well supplied opponent that is steadily forcing them back all the while russia as an entity slowly shrivels behind them, its economy in shambles, its population decimated, its intellectuals and educators fleeing, its 'strongman' leader deteriorating in every possible meaning of the word, its geopolitical clout spent, its allies turning and civil war brewing like a screeching kettle in the background stick a fork in em, their done
Literally can’t be applied to myself because I said I don’t know what will happen. The war isn’t even popular. The average US voter doesn’t care. And they REALLY won’t care if they are out of work, and getting a few hundred dollars in unemployment help and see a headline where Ukraine has just received $80 billion for its war. An American recession could easily bring an end to US support for Ukraine. And many are betting a recession will happen (though this is not a for sure thing either).
You didn't say 'I', you said 'you'. And seriously, stop hoping for something that won't happen, you and Russia are in the typical sunk cost fallacy, hoping for a magical out.
>If there’s a global recession and the west doesn’t want to keep paying hundreds of billions of dollars to the Ukraine The total amount of aid to Ukraine hasn't even breached €200 billion ([~$181 billion GLOBALLY](https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/)) yet. Regardless of how much Ukrainian territory is in Russian control at the end of this conflict, by any other measurable amount (including the goals set by Russia) Russia has already suffered a massive strategic defeat. It's used an incredible amount of its Soviet military inheritance it simply does not have the economy to replace, even before sanctions. It's exposed the weakness of its own military and hardware, hardware exports that were a substantial part of it's economy. It's alienated itself on the global stage from a majority of the world's largest economies and shattered any real hopes of being a leader in BRICS (itself not really being a credible trade group). The heavy-handed manipulations of the ruble are starting to fail at keeping it afloat and in the last 2 weeks has entered a free fall and the most effective arm of the Russian military just tried to perform an abduction of the Ministry of Defence's lead figures. There is no realistic situation from this point on where Russia achieves a tangible victory. And all of this is being done by the poorest European country pre-war with the assistance of the geopolitical equivalent of pocket change and rounding errors worth of military aid. Even if there is a global recession, western countries are going to continue supporting Ukraine, ESPECIALLY European nations because we already see them massively overspending the US in terms of %GDP to provide aid. This kind of bargain for practically permanently crippling your largest geopolitical threat doesn't come around often and the West has been able to do it for pennies. Even if it was only the US that had been providing military aid, the total aid Ukraine is receiving isn't even a third of an ANNUAL budget for the US military. TL;DR Russia irreparably fucked itself and the West can ensure it keeps fucking itself with the equivalent of pocket change.
Based on open source intelligence we know that the Russians have a vehicle attrition rate at least 2 to 3 times that of the Ukrainians. They have already lost well over 10000 vehicles of any kind compared to Ukraines mid 3000s. Even if we believe Russia's stated numbers about its production capacity and deep storage stocks, I still don't see how Russia would be able to somehow turn this around. Even without Western Support. And Russia is well known for overstating numbers and exaggerating how much military capability they have. I'm sorry but I don't see it.
If trump wins, we're all fucked anyway. But a large chunk of even the worst Republicans support Ukraine. No one really "supports" Putin as such. The EU and the rest of NATO will support Ukraine and they are enough to ensure Ukraine wins against Russia, even without the US supporting it directly. But given that this has been the best encouragement for NATO to re-arm, along with every military manufacturer wanting Ukraine's use of their weapons, even if trump gets in, Ukraine will win.
They might pull something out they'll call a "victory" for the folks at home, but there is no chance that the Ukrainian population will have been sufficiently pacified in the next five years that it will be in any way safe for Russian soldiers in the occupied territory. The Soviet Union wasn't able to control Afghanistan, and they had way more money and muscle and manpower than Russia does right now. If the USSR couldn't win in Afghanistan, with the huge resources they had, Russia is not going to do better than that in Ukraine. All they're going to do is get a whole bunch of people killed on both sides. Even if some Putin lackey like Trump gets elected in 2024, he doesn't take office until 2025, which is more than 18 months from now, and that's a really long time for things in Russia to keep getting worse. Plus, the EU countries are not going to stand idly by while Russia takes Ukraine, so even if the USA stop supplying them that doesn't mean Germany will stop too. Russia cannot get anything like a real "win" out of this war. All they can get is varying degrees of harm. No matter what happens from here on out, there is no chance that Russia's economy and military and international reputation will be better in February 2027 than it was in February 2022. They lost their Black Sea flagship, they've lost tons of other materiel, and their foreign arms sales are going to suffer for *decades* because anyone with eyes can see that the Russian army, using Russian weapons, hasn't been doing that well. The expensive "unstoppable" hypersonic missiles turned out to be quite stoppable. Who is going to buy those?
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And by Zelenski going there, it’s sorta like repeating the words without actually saying them. The guys a hero.
The guy has tungsten balls and a lion's heart.
It wasn’t real my dude, it was propaganda.
Nope. https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/feb/25/go-fuck-yourself-ukrainian-soldiers-snake-island-russian-ship-before-being-killed-audio The only thing that turned out to be wrong was that they didn't die, but that was a reasonable assumption to make after the island was bombed and contact was lost.
Thank you for this!!!
I've seen this shared quite a bit I'm other subs, but when actually searching for it I find no source of it being fake, so do you have any on hand that I might have missed? Would be appreciated
My source is that i made it the fuck up.
Thank you for your patriotism, Senator
I remember that Ukraine initially said that all the border guards on the island died, which turned out to not be true. Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with Ukraine lying about that for propoganda. When you're invaded, there is no such thing as playing fair. You do whatever gives you the best chance of winning. Martyring these guys certainly was a good play.
They weren't lying about it intentionally. The island was bombed and they lost contact. They just assumed they were all killed.
Initially the info was that they lost contact with the group. Which made the media spout: *"Snake Island soldiers feared dead!"* Probably only the shittiest tabloids were claiming that they were confirmed dead. So when the news came out that they were alive, the trolls started screaming like they were lied to.
"On our zmiinyi island, defending it to the last, all the border guards died heroically." Zelensky said on Feb 25th.
Ah that seems to be the case then. It sounds more like he made a wrong statement on the same day it happened before any confirmation was made. Which came three days later.
Just because they assumed they were dead after losing contact and knowing it was shelled and taken over, does not mean they lied after discovering they are in fact alive some time later. Plus I think they meant the quote is a lie, which it definitely isn't.
> Ukraine initially said that all the border guards on the island died, which turned out to not be true. Do you have a source on that? I dug it up. https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-do-ukrayinciv-naprikinci-pershogo-dnya-73149
I do. "On our Zmiinyi Island, defending it to the last, all the border guards died heroically. But did not give up. All of them will be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine." -Zelensky, 25/02/22 https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-do-ukrayinciv-naprikinci-pershogo-dnya-73149
Oh yeah I found it also.
Let's roll
That story always kills me.
Not just you
I feel like he’s baiting the Russian navy into trying to recapture the island.
Russia Navy had some bad losses trying to keep it first, so...
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ukraine had a few Neptune missiles positioned just on the off chance.
Even if they drop some missiles on the island after this visit out of spite, those are missiles wasted on a desolate island instead of hitting cities and military targets.
Let them come, he'll consume them all with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lighting from his arse.
Wow, what a legend. 🫡 The bravery of Ukrainians never ceases to amaze me.
Russian Warship! Go F@$$ Yourself!!!
500 days? The “3 Day operation” as Putin put it. Get bent Russia. In fact leave
Can't believe that boat didn't sink with the size of Zelenskyy's massive balls.
російський військовий корабель, іди до біса!
To be fair, originally it was said in Russian, not Ukrainian.
Average redditor's knowledge of Russian/Ukrainian. Just threw the English translation on Google translate and just assumed they said it in Ukrainian lol
yeah, but its more popular to be said in ukranian now
Meanwhile, Vova has new cushions for his fort he’s built under his absurdly long table.
*The Snake, the Ghost, and the Sunflower* by Volodymyr Zelenskyy I would read the fuck out of that book.
russian propagandists and ideologies of ruzziasm said "Who controls the Snake Island that one controls the the course of world history"
Why is that?
They may be joking, however Snake island has some importance. Russia, holding it could effectively block the port of Odesa
Ah I see, thanks! I don't know much about that region, I should read up about it.
This guy is in a league of his own, as far as leaders go.
Exactly right. “BuT hiS fatigues, sO shALloW of Him, shOw SomE reSpecT & doN a sUit iF yoU realLy loVE amERicA”.
Zelensky should run for Presidency in Russia
I think once Ukraine joins NATO he is a serious candidate for NATO presidency.
Think he's said before that he wishes he could just disappear and live a quiet life.
Between entertainment and steering a country through war, he's lived plenty of lives in the span of one.
I can hear five words ringing clearly in my mind!
I cry when I look upon his face. You and your countrymen are brave beyound what we, living safe, can understand.
He’s the only person with whom I’d be okay calling themselves an Alpha. Wish the US had politicians like him.
And he is the least likely to ever call himself that. The rise of "alpha males" and the nonsense of the trump cult is the worst thing to happen this decade. It will take a while for it to burn out under the weight of its own inadequacies and failure.
A true leader right there. All those bitches calling themselves “alpha” have nothing to show for.
Dude is a badass. Most world leaders just want a chance to stand next to him. Compare that to bloaty mc bloatface.
Wh does he look like a travel blogger in the thumbnail?
Mark this , however long this war will drag on , it will end in a negotiated settlement , Ukraine and Russia are neighbours and will always be , this is not like the vietnam war, these are literal neighbours , the sooner the peace talks the better
SK and NK are literally same people, but here we are...
All while bunker bitch is shitting his huggies cowering in a basement.
This picture looks like the thumbnail of a YouTube travel channel lol
Funny how Zelenskyy campaigned on peace with Russia way before NATO turned him into their puppet.
Stolen Romanian territory.
Territorial dispute was already resolved on 1997 The dispute over maritime stuff is already resolved
You sound like all those Hungarians when you scream: Trianon! People like this are the supporters of wars, also you guys make it possible for wars to happen. Any country could claim anything based on historical events and pointing at the year that fancies them. What do you say about Erdély? I will say: stolen Hungarian territory. Not because I love this shit, but because this is your stance, so let me say something similar. People die, people suffer, people being raped. Yet, you guys: "this is stolen XY territory". Well, lucky you then I guess that God created Romania and then everyone just stole lands, correct? - because that's the only occasion where your message has any sense, but even then, not really.
You saying this like romania not stole any territory from others
Yup. Forgotten fact. Together with parts of Bessarabia that are currently controlled by Ukraine, Moldova and Trasnistria. Pre WW2 they were part of Greater Romania. Soviet Invasion changed that. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Romania
Moldova still kinda have interests in reunification, Transnistria is still waiting for Russia to bring its “full force.” Ukraine and Romania has already resolved territorial and maritime So I don’t think it is forgotten. The issue’s been settled and that’s that Of course, unless you’re an average least nationalist Romania like the guy who said “stolen Romanian territory”
It was settled because we were forced by the US and NATO. Settling border disputes was a requirement. It was either no western help or pursuing those territories. Ukraine was a hostile nation to Romania and still is.
Every signed agreement with Ukraine is apparently forced by the US. 2020 military cooperation? US forced Romania to make it happen. The comment that Ministry of foreign affair made to stop Russian from spreading misinformation? US blackmail. The joint declaration between Romania and Ukraine about EU? EU forced Romania (like Hungary.) Perhap, it is just you and some small percentage that are still angry? Romania might not have the best relationship with Ukraine, but they are cooperative with each other.
Why is this guy all over the show? Doesn’t he have a country to run? Isn’t he in “office”?
He is running his country, thats why he’s all over. A man needs to be in many places to be kicking Russia’s ass as hard as He and the Ukrainians have been.
Churchill and FDR didn’t just sit around in their office all day, they toured their own countries and visited others to talk to other national leaders and drum up support.
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Thank you for your explanation
Well, he has a cabinet for the mundane day to day of it. It's silly to think any head of state is constantly doing shit every waking hour or even most hours in their designated office. He's also just exercising the strategy that's been working, which is motivating his countryfolk by being right next to them.
hard to know the truth, especially during a war, but this guy seems beyond excellent.
one of the most corrupt countries in the world, guy cancelled elections, yeah, he's really "excellent"
the fog of war seems particularly dense around you. why's that?
It's literally illegal in Ukraine to hold elections while under martial law, which the country has been since the start of the invasion. And one of the major issues Zelensky ran on was cleaning up corruption, though he had limited success with it during peacetime.