Russian propagandists claimed that the strike targeted civilians.

Well then, don’t put civilians in Army trucks then.

Shame it missed

Good to hear because I watched that fiasco, they were trying to provoke a meltdown and failed

Fuck. Even the guardian are whitewashing Mango now ?

Zelensky didn’t “melt down” what sort of bullshit is that ?

I disagree, there is no obvious successor which is deliberate on Putin’s part, so the battle for succession will be at the very least distracting for the military leadership and quite likely to lead to actual conflict. If they’re shooting each other they’re not shooting Ukrainians

Always get payment up front with Maga the Hutt. Could still work “the rare earths are in Donbas, you’ll just need to liberate it first”

All the better because it’s true I believe

But predictable. Putin wants it, Putin gets it. He’s the boss.

Noting that the majority of the munitions stored there are 50+ years old and are as unstable as hell.

That sounds…low.

I assume it’s only confirmed civilians on territory Ukraine retained ? Because Mariupol alone was a significant number.

Canada and Australia have significant Uranium reserves, it doesnt need to come from Russia and Kazakhstan. One of the African nations is also a significant source iirc

Hmm thanks for that, I read some very different messaging over the last year. I’ll try to dig it out

Because they’ve been told by the US they’re not allowed to use their US supplied arms to do so. They’ve been asking for permission for at least a year. Refer also constraints placed on Ukraine

Article forgets to discuss how a removal of sanctions due to withdrawing would help alleviate the economic crisis.

That assumes sanctions would be quickly removed. Given the massive list of war crimes Russia has committed in UA I sincerely doubt many in the West are lifting sanctions before the offenders are punished - something Putin is unlikely to agree to.

It is a catch22 because that gives him limited reasons to withdraw. Russia are very much in “crash through or crash” mode now because they see no way out and still hope the west will withdraw support.

To answeryour question. Withdrawal of sanctions will remove some pressure points - improved revenue by being able directly sell fossil fuels and thus getting a higher price per barrel; ability to buy critical components such as aviation parts and ICs. Most importantly China will be able to buy significant major assets and invest (they’re avoiding overt help to avoid sanctions themselves)

That will take significant time to make a difference though, the decimation of the workforce will still be an issue. Russia will become a Chinese serf regardless of whether they retain Ukrainian land or withdraw completely. Their economy is now in such a bad state their only hope is a rescue by China. One which will be priced at firesale “cents on the dollar” prices

Well I came to say “takes one to know one” but bigger threat than Russia and NK is a big call.

Accurate analysis.

Summary for those who tuned out:

• Putin’s invasion was nothing to do with a NATO and everything to do with controlling former Soviet states and stopping western alignment with them.

A series of facts are provided to support this, the big one being all the military taken away from NATO borders and sent to UA

• All other justifications are obfuscation.

• Given his goal is power and influence, no amount of territory given up will mollify him. He’ll only come back again later. He needs to be convincingly defeated

The rest of the essay covers approaches by Putin to increasing Russia’s power & influence