pretzelattack @ 46

i think they are chosen more for checking off diversity fits than ability to communicate with their audience.

Nah, white males have no monopoly on intelligence, wit, and erudition, there is certainly no lack of exceptional female, black, brown, yellow, gay, bi, Muslim, etc etc out there, Zakharova is a woman, right? So, why in the west the sudden historically aberrant predisposition for dysfunctional characters? Succeed or fail avoiding idiocracy seems to have been standard throughout history, assuming survival is the goal, of a state or of humanity itself?
I was I teen but I used to read Doonesbury and I remember Garry Trudeau regularly lambasting Nixon press secretary Ron Ziegler for his word pretzels. But, Ziegler and all those cold war spokespersons were chosen for their intelligence and savvy ability to think on their feet, and distract and obfuscate without making the boss and the administration look like abject idiots. What superior in any place and time lets their subordinates make a fool of them? In the past, even near past, it would be off with their heads.
That was then this is now, word salad, Zippy the Pinhead surreal dialog is the chosen way to communicate in our times. Beats me the end game, but like I said, it’s terrifying.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 20:15 utc | 103

Quote of the Year, by the estimable MZ to an Italian journalist.
Maria Zakharova: “It’s ridiculous to listen to you”.
Spat my coffee out. Still smiling. Love that lady. Go Maria!

Posted by: SCCC | Aug 31 2023 20:20 utc | 105

Any pretence that Ukraine has any semblance of sovereignty belies the fact that this country (cobbled together as it was by the Soviets) has been in zombie mode thoroughly controlled by the US/NATO/EU (in that order) since the Maidan Putsch of February 2014. Its continuously plummeting population since the end of the Soviet Union (when it was a potentially very rich nation) from more than 50 million then to somewhere between 10 and 20 million today speaks volumes to the fact that this country is a failed political entity and the so-called nationalists (in reality anti-national pro-foreign empire collaborator fascists and neo-nazi loons) have done nothing but harm to all of the people of this territory. Its catastrophic haemorrhaging of its able-bodied menfolk will eventually reach breaking point, much like what happened to Paraguay led by the lunatic Lopez during the War of the Triple Alliance from 1864 to 1870, where 90% of the male population over 18 perished!

Posted by: Gaelach | Aug 31 2023 20:25 utc | 107

53 – Months of Kiev’s “counter-offensive” and the needle hardly moving is hard to present as success, however strong the pro-404 bias is in Polish and other NATO media.

Posted by: Waldorf | Aug 31 2023 20:27 utc | 109

Idon’t play pool, so I don’t know the slang for “свояк”, which was translated as “brother in law”. In Russian pool slang it is the ball which is being hit by the stick.
Posted by: Poslan1 | Aug 31 2023 16:52 utc | 12
####
Yeah, I had to look it up. Could also mean this —
brother-in-law: one of two players who hustle a third player in a 3-player game.

Posted by: SCCC | Aug 31 2023 20:30 utc | 111

another holocaust survivor..
Posted by: Ново З | Aug 31 2023 20:09 utc | 53
those numerous Bandera flags on the graves visible there – what are they an expression of? (on the graves!)

Posted by: nc | Aug 31 2023 20:31 utc | 113

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 20:15 utc | 55
i didn’t say anything about their intelligence, or about white males having a monopoly on intelligence (Ziegler was an idiot, btw). i said they are selected now for what minority status they have. nothing in my comment had anything to do with the intelligence of any of them.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 31 2023 20:34 utc | 115

USSR lost 10-15% of the population and still kept going. The West can supply Ukraine to a far greater extent than it did the USSR so in functional terms they can probably afford to lose millions.
Morale is probably going to be the decisive factor.
Posted by: Satepestage | Aug 31 2023 17:13 utc | 16
###
***they*** can probably afford to lose millions. Which “they” did you mean?
There’s no comparison of WWII Soviet losses.
Stalin was in charge of Soviet morale back then.
Fight or be shot.
No draft-avoiding migration.
Soviet citizens were not 21stC liberals hack then.
Zelensky is not Hitler (yet).
Putin is no such blood-sacrificing dictator.
Election popularity would be the mobilisation factor.

Posted by: SCCC | Aug 31 2023 20:41 utc | 117

https://vz.ru/news/2023/8/31/1228332.html
British “mercenary” killed in Ukraine, according to Vzglyad, citing The Daily Telegraph. Apparently Sam Newey had studied psychology at Birmingham University. It seems he had no military experience.

Posted by: Waldorf | Aug 31 2023 20:49 utc | 119

If government controlled Ukraine had a population of 35 Million in early 2022 – then it would have had let is say 8 million military age men, so about 7 million fit for military service – therefore if we use 10% it will be 700K fatalities and 25% would give us about 1.8 million – absolutely horrific prospect
Posted by: Aslangeo | Aug 31 2023 18:31 utc | 36

It’s horrific, IIRC already in September 2022 general Krivonos, the ex deputy of Ukraine’s security council was talking about “hundreds of thousands of casualties”. It was in conjunction with their Kherson offensive, and thereafter the one in Kharkov area. So in 6 months AFU already had “hundreds of thousands”, I believe we must be quite close to 1 million per the recent unanswered SIM card Data of Ukrainian mobile operators.
The conflict, the active/high intensity phase of it will end in much earlier than one year, or it will escalate with Nato.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 31 2023 20:55 utc | 121

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 20:15 utc | 55
I think it’s a bit of both. Clowns need to be talked to in clownish, though not all of the younger generation are clowns, clowns only speak clownish and demand to see clowns in positions of power, because they then have their clownish worldview confirmed. Finally, the clowns who have created a world where special clowns can become powerful clowns simply by being special, rise faster and higher than the other clowns. The other clowns then take note of this phenomena, listening less to what the special clown is saying, instead focusing far more on the clown itself, regarding any criticism of their clownish ways as an attack on the special nature of the clown, and by extension their clownish world.
Clowns to the left of me, Bidens to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the MAGA with you.

Posted by: Milites | Aug 31 2023 20:56 utc | 123

4 hrs after Karlof1’s post of Zakharova’s witty billiards reference, the bar has now provided 4 possible meanings for her term Brother in Law.
1. The ball which gets hit by the cue stick.
2. A ball used to knock another ball into a pocket.
3. A ball knocked into a pocket by another ball.
4. One player who hustles another player into losing.
Lol. All 4 are appropriate! Probably culturally different slang. Either way, what I think most clever is the fact that she used a snooker/billiards/pool metaphor to refer to any/all the Western allies being “played” by the US.

Posted by: SCCC | Aug 31 2023 21:00 utc | 125

By the way, have you heard what the Blinkens, Borrells, Stoltenbergs have been saying for 1.5 years? They stated that everything should be decided on the battlefield.
Put those chickenhawks on the battlefield and see if they still want it decided there.

Posted by: Fred777 | Aug 31 2023 21:04 utc | 127

Posted by: pretzelattack @ 61
Ziegler was an idiot but nothing special that stood out starkly from normal humanity like what we have now. What I’m saying is why select someone of any stripe who can’t string five words together to construct a proper sentence much less the required paragraphs? There’s more going on than filling PC quotas. They are trying to create an inchoate society not through the usual obfuscation and distraction but something new, by the use of pure nonsense. Sure, every power structure wants an initialized public but we are talking Teletubbies here!
The contempt is incredible, it ridicules people, that and the lack of reaction to being persistently humiliated is what’s terrifying.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 21:26 utc | 129

^ @68 – infantilized not initialized, spellchecker needs to update it’s vocabulary.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 21:34 utc | 131

Posted by: Fred777 | Aug 31 2023 21:04 utc | 67
They meant Battlefield V silly, not the real thing. Bullets and shrapnel there are very inclusive and very equitable; however, they take no account of any diversity, being products of the patriarchy and following colonised physical laws.

Posted by: Milites | Aug 31 2023 21:40 utc | 133

36…64…I.posted yesterday that someone worked out that main cemetaries are currently being expanded for maybe 1.5 m burials…a new national cemetary for military “remembrance “too

Posted by: Jo | Aug 31 2023 21:40 utc | 135

If government controlled Ukraine had a population of 35 Million in early 2022 – then it would have had let is say 8 million military age men, so about 7 million fit for military service – therefore if we use 10% it will be 700K fatalities and 25% would give us about 1.8 million – absolutely horrific prospect
Posted by: Aslangeo | Aug 31 2023 18:31 utc | 36
By early 2022, Ukraine had already lost millions of people who voted with their feet. The people who left were predominantly young adults, pre-middle age, who saw no future for themselves in Ukraine. After the SMO began, Ukraine barred military age males from leaving, but those with money and connections continued to leave. The remaining population does not have a normal age distribution for that part of the world, it skews heavily toward the old. It’s doubtful that Ukraine has anywhere close to 8 million military age men, and most of those of military age, however Ukraine defines it, are either not fit for service or already working in critical jobs. The pool is draining quickly.

Posted by: Mike R | Aug 31 2023 21:45 utc | 137

Pskov was hit again and you know what ? Vladimir Putin will do nothing.

Posted by: Gheakisya | Aug 31 2023 21:49 utc | 139

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 21:26 utc | 68
They can’t react, that’s the problem. Any criticism of the special clowns results in the other clowns tearing apart the non-clown for being anti-special-clownish. Criticism is never legitimate against what the clown says, it’s always deliberately misinterpreted, by other clowns, to be an attack on the special nature of the clown. There are plenty of people articulating criticism of these clowns but they reside on social media whereas before, in less clownish times, you would have heard their voices raised in public.

Posted by: Milites | Aug 31 2023 21:54 utc | 141

Posted by: nc | Aug 31 2023 20:31 utc | 60
those numerous Bandera flags on the graves visible there – what are they an expression of? (on the graves!)
Maybe because of decades of being constantly besieged by Soviet and then Putin hegemony it’s a desperate expression of defiance, desperate enough to misguidedly embrace a Fascist like Bandera just because he opposed Soviets.
That may be similar to how a lot of Latin Americans embraced Nazis as allies as an act of defiance against many decades of US hegemony during World War II.

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Aug 31 2023 21:58 utc | 143

Gheakisya | Aug 31 2023 21:49 utc | 74

Pskov was hit again and you know what ? Vladimir Putin will do nothing.

If that’s true, then the RF will have tracked and identified origin, path etc !
Zo, mein kinder, we can now look forward to the partitioning (under the RTP protocols) of Latvia und Estonia !
Mwahahaha !
P.S. Volodya need do nothing : it’s already been analysed, studied, gamed and planned out !

Posted by: Sarlat La Canède | Aug 31 2023 22:00 utc | 145

Posted by: Gheakisya | Aug 31 2023 21:49 utc | 74
############
You’re being silly. Putin invaded Ukraine. Putin’s decisions have led to the termination of at least a couple hundred thousand Ukrainian lives.
What kind of a person thinks that is “nothing” or that in a fight the other guy won’t throw punches and kicks too?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 31 2023 22:04 utc | 147

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Aug 31 2023 21:58 utc | 76
Wrong, as usual. Perhaps you’re willfully ignorant or just weren’t informed. The US has been funneling anti-Soviet and anti-Russia money into Ukraine for going on 3 decades now. Recall Vicky “Fuck the EU” Nuland’s brag that “we’ve” spent $5Bn on Ukraine in the past 15 years (from today’s date) alone. This means WELL BEFORE 2013/2014. What do you think that money was for and what do you think some of those NGOs were promoting and amplifying? Perhaps you’re also ignorant of the timing concerning the visibly open return to Bandera themed national monuments, Bandera praise in education, streets being named after Bandera, etc. There was no Russian aggression when this started, prior to the Maidan coup and the return of Crimea – with the almost 100% blessing of its citizens – to the RF. It only got worse since.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 31 2023 22:10 utc | 149

If government controlled Ukraine had a population of 35 Million in early 2022 – then it would have had let is say 8 million military age men, so about 7 million fit for military service – therefore if we use 10% it will be 700K fatalities and 25% would give us about 1.8 million – absolutely horrific prospect
Posted by: Aslangeo | Aug 31 2023 18:31 utc | 36
We have dissected Ukrainian demographics in great detail…..
First of all, 35 million is excessive.
Next, it is necessary to deduct the populations of the 4 oblasts and Crimea which joined Russia
Next, it is necessary to deduct the many millions who emigrated elsewhere
Next, it is necessary to remember that ~55% of the population is female
Next, it is necessary to remember that ~ 50 % of the male population is 18-60 and the rest are either younger or older.
I summary there are about 15 million left in the country, 8 million women, 7 million men, 3 million males eligible for combat…Less the 1 million dead… less 1 million currently in uniform… leaving 1 million to operate utilities and logistics less the wounded…
Which is why Zelensky announced drafting employees of the Kiev Metro and other state enterprises..
That is the only pool of able bodied men left..
In support of my numbers…. the Ukies estimate ~200,000 can be mobilized, in the process bleeding the country white..
Of course, how many of those will willingly/unwillingly put on a uniform and man the front lines??
Knowing that Zelensky, etal. have openly stated their intent to fight to the last man… meaning they will be expected to fight to their death(s)..
Grim, isn’t it?
INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 31 2023 22:11 utc | 151

It is Hilary at the American bankrupt trash of the child sniffing rapist still can’t grasp the people of Europe despise the war criminals.
The #WEF kiddie fiddler oligarch may install vile shit dwarf runts like #Sunak and #Macron but these globalist traitor shit have to hide and use the #Zianon media to hide the American thieving shit.
Quite simply to all Americans we despise your nation, your crooked corporate pigs, your cowardly incompetent military that salute a pervert and human shit that is an American citizen.
So pleas remove your vile #ZiAnon pervert #Epstien child raping oligarch stink from Europe as the stench of dirty satanic depraved deviants is revolting.
Bye bye america you sad serf shite of the #Epstein abuser oligarchy.
#FckUSA the the #PaedoNation

Posted by: Timbo | Aug 31 2023 22:23 utc | 153

Idon’t play pool, so I don’t know the slang for “свояк”, which was translated as “brother in law”. In Russian pool slang it it the ball which is being hit by the stick.
Posted by: Poslan1 | Aug 31 2023 16:52 utc | 12
I guess that’s the ‘cue ball’ ? I don’t know any slang expression for it. The meaning I suppose is that if you are the ‘cue ball’ you’re just totally being used to push others around.

Posted by: arthur brogard | Aug 31 2023 22:23 utc | 155

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 31 2023 16:00 utc | 4
@young 2
Russia could advance in winter if it wants to. The question as always is the political will to accept the casualties that this will involve.
Response: Last winter there were few days in which the ground was frozen due to a very warm winter for Ukraine. The few days in which the ground was frozen, the Russians did well. But, there were not enough of those days for Russia to launch any major offensive.
If frozen ground comes to the zero line this winter, most likely it will come after this year of 2023 is over. Before then, the muds will pretty well stop the advancement of heavy equipment by either side.
Wildcard: Perhaps the Russians have developed a way to traverse the mud with their heavy equipment. If so, then the muds will make no difference for any Russian advancement.

Posted by: young | Aug 31 2023 22:35 utc | 157

The contempt is incredible, it ridicules people, that and the lack of reaction to being persistently humiliated is what’s terrifying.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 21:26 utc | 68
—————————————————————-
Babylon Bee covers it well: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who is black, gay and a woman . . .
BB restores a sense of normalcy for me, ZH does not. Too many arrested development adolescents. I do not know what drugs are required for the MSM zombies to function.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Aug 31 2023 22:37 utc | 159

Wildcard: Perhaps the Russians have developed a way to traverse the mud with their heavy equipment. If so, then the muds will make no difference for any Russian advancement.
Posted by: young | Aug 31 2023 22:35 utc | 83
###########
I feel quite confident that the Russians have the superior arctic equipment and cold weather training to fight in the winter, if those are the orders.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 31 2023 22:38 utc | 161

Ukraine is ready to accept even more casulties. Where is a historical limit of casulties one socity can accept.
Posted by: simplex | Aug 31 2023 16:16 utc | 7
USSR lost 10-15% of the population and still kept going. The West can supply Ukraine to a far greater extent than it did the USSR so in functional terms they can probably afford to lose millions.
Morale is probably going to be the decisive factor.
Posted by: Satepestage | Aug 31 2023 17:13 utc | 16
Yes. And all this in the context of NO ONE trying to get the simple clear solid facts across to them.
It is ordinary people who are dying and ordinary people who are threatened with apocalypse because of all this. But nowhere, no time, no way does anyone make any real attempt to bring truth and rationality to the people.
Not the people of Kiev. Nor USA nor UK nor Europe – not anywhere.
All the millions of words are all in terms of ‘nations’ and what they might do and are doing and will do etc. And throughout those estimations refer actually to the machinations of small bunches of powerful lunatics in each of those ‘nations’ – not the people at all. Or very rarely and/or in very small measure.
I’d expect the Allies, DPR, LPR, Kherson, Zaporizhia and Russia to mount simple clear propaganda campaigns aimed directly at the people, the masses, saying things as clearly as ‘We don’t want to hurt you, we want you to stop trying to hurt us’. And ‘We are not on your land we are on our own land and we don’t want your land’ and ‘We are not the invaders.. take a look.. you are invading our land’
And so on. One liners. Simple incontrovertible truths. Almost slogans. Memes.
But no. Not even they, the only rational people within the orbit of ‘our world’ ie. the west, bother trying to talk to the people.
Same here. God knows how many thousands and thousands of words I’ve read here by all kinds of total know-it-alls but never, ever see any call for education of the masses on the truth.
But nothing is every going to get better until attention turns to people and the people get to be informed and change their habits and start to expect to be informed and learn how to inform themselves.
How many English do you really think would support Kiev if they knew the true nature of the regime?
How many would support the whole thing if they knew of the American designs behind it all?
And so on…

Posted by: arthur brogard | Aug 31 2023 22:45 utc | 163

Maybe because of decades of being constantly besieged by Soviet and then Putin hegemony it’s a desperate expression of defiance, desperate enough to misguidedly embrace a Fascist like Bandera just because he opposed Soviets.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Aug 31 2023 21:58 utc | 76
Black is white lol. You forget the years of kiev intimidation of “ukrainians” in the east of the country. Some 35% of the total population. Given the growth of nazism in kiev and the western regions of the country, is it any wonder they welcome the russian intervention to liberate them from the torment and intimidation they have lived through. Enough is enough!

Posted by: HERMIUS | Aug 31 2023 22:46 utc | 165

Telegram/

To train Ukrainians to work with tanks “Leopard 1A5” Germans had to call the old people – New York Times
The Leopard 1A5 is so old that German instructors had to rely on soldiers from the Dutch and Danish armies (where the model was used longer) and former German tankers trained back in the 1980s and 1990s.
The last time the German army trained recruits in this system was in 2000.
Some of the instructors were civilians between the ages of 50 and 60. They were called from their daily work.

@Slavyangrad
Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 31 2023 22:54 utc | 167

SCCC | Aug 31 2023 21:00 utc | 66–
Thanks for the recap. IMO, the bottom-line meaning is you’re being manipulated/used in a manner that you’re not in control of: A marionette for example. Another expression is dancing to another’s tune. The foil for almost all European politicos is Hungary PM Orban as he refuses to be bullied.
Meanwhile in Ukraine there’s an ongoing mark time march of the dead and destruction of NATO gear that’s happening at an irreplaceable rate. Drone attacks on Pskov, Crimea or Moscow do nothing to halt the march. If NATO/Biden seek a frozen conflict, the best way to get one is to go over to the defensive and cease the march. Unfortunately for Ukie soldiers however, it appears the march will continue; so, the best thing to do is to drop out for self-preservation as the march is suicidal.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 31 2023 22:58 utc | 169

@88
Chatbot spare truth – how about Penis Pianist – it might roll off your tongue, fit your mouth better..

Posted by: Ново З | Aug 31 2023 23:02 utc | 171

by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 31 2023 22:11 utc | 80
Ukrainian demographics.
…necessary to remember that ~55% of the population is female
And the largest cohort is aged 60-80.
Ukraine is a nation of babuskas.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 31 2023 23:03 utc | 173

Of course, how many of those will willingly/unwillingly put on a uniform and man the front lines??
Knowing that Zelensky, etal. have openly stated their intent to fight to the last man… meaning they will be expected to fight to their death(s)..
Grim, isn’t it?
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 31 2023 22:11 utc | 80
I found an easier metric some time back which seemed to be backed by historical truths.
It is that a nation can mobilise up to 10% of its population. Simple as that. And apparently the largest in history was nearly 10%.
So Kiev could by that measure with a population of say 30 million to pick what might be a reasonable figure would have 3 million available in the extreme.
That’s not men on the front line, of course. No. That’s mobilised and comprises the whole – the hundreds of thousands of cooks and clerks and whatever.
So far I believe they’ve gone through nearly two million or so I heard. Not killed them all of course, the dead are the front line soldiers. But mobilised in the beginning about a million and since expanded to where two million of their population are militarised, ‘under arms’.
Leaving a million yet to go.
A terrible hard business killing a million people. You’d almost think it worthwhile to try talk to the people instead…

Posted by: arthur brogard | Aug 31 2023 23:04 utc | 175

Grim, isn’t it?
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 31 2023 22:11 utc | 80
Talking of 1.000.000 dead+ and everybody says it’s impossible, yet….
evidence 1. Institute of sociology of Kiev said 2/3 of surveyed had median 3 dead people from close friends/family. Another 2/3 had median 5 wounded (for a global 80% with dead and/or wounded) if close friends/family are around 60, and half are male and a third of military age then 10 military age where 3 were killed and 5 wounded. For a population of 36M , 6 million military men. For 2/3 only, 4, 1.200.000 dead 2.000.000 wounded
Evidence 2. In WWI both GB and Germany had between 20 and 25 killed for every amputee (even modern US had 15 at late Iraqui/Afghanistan times with much better body armor, evacuation and field hospitals. 20.000 to 50.000 amputees could mean 1,250.000 dead
And someone mentioned a huge cemitery…
Btw 1.2 M is before this counteroffensive …
Thoughts?

Posted by: Newbie | Aug 31 2023 23:15 utc | 177

So Kiev could by that measure with a population of say 30 million to pick what might be a reasonable figure would have 3 million available in the extreme.
That’s not men on the front line, of course. No. That’s mobilised and comprises the whole – the hundreds of thousands of cooks and clerks and whatever.
So far I believe they’ve gone through nearly two million or so I heard. Not killed them all of course, the dead are the front line soldiers. But mobilised in the beginning about a million and since expanded to where two million of their population are militarised, ‘under arms’.
Leaving a million yet to go.
A terrible hard business killing a million people. You’d almost think it worthwhile to try talk to the people instead…
Posted by: arthur brogard | Aug 31 2023 23:04 utc | 93
Apparently, you are resistant to the numerous calculations, made, some of which I posted, which
show… that the current population under the control of the Zelensky regime is ~15 million…
Half the number you fixate upon…
Basically, the Ukies are at the end of the mobilizable pool….
They have told the world this…. why else cannibalize the manpower of their essential utilities??
Which specifically means….
Should anything break…. water supply, district heating (extensively used in their cities), electricity supply (elevators, trains, water pumping, internet, hospitals, etal)
There will be no one to fix it!!…
Ie: the whole house of cards will collapse!
INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 31 2023 23:16 utc | 179

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 31 2023 23:16 utc | 97
Sorry, but do you have some link to the news about mobilizing Kiev metro personnel.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 31 2023 23:22 utc | 181

Sorry, but do you have some link to the news about mobilizing Kiev metro personnel.
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 31 2023 23:22 utc | 98
If I recall correctly was a mobilization of subway staff from a northern city currently under siege
But if they already lost 1.5M Kia and have almost as much of irrecuperably wounded… they are running short, should have only the lucky ones from Kiev to draw upon now. Maybe another 700k?

Posted by: Newbie | Aug 31 2023 23:29 utc | 183

Watched Weeb Union update and Military summary.
One thing they both agree on is AFU has definitely shifted toward Verbove. Ukraine is now trying to accumulate critical mass of armored and supply vehicles in the field north-east of Robotyne, in order to attempt assault on the defensive line running through Verbove.
If AFU manage to break through the Verbove line, they will yet be encountered a minefield further south, and another defense line beyond that. RU has not contested AFU in NW part of Verbove, additionally RU controls the field west of Robotyne still, and north of Verbove. Meanwhile RU has reshuffled all their forces around Robotyne and Verbove to readjust to the changes on the front.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 31 2023 23:33 utc | 185

Posted by: arthur brogard | Aug 31 2023 22:45 utc | 86
>>>God knows how many thousands and thousands of words I’ve read here by all kinds of total know-it-alls but never, ever see any call for education of the masses on the truth.
But nothing is ever going to get better until attention turns to people and the people get to be informed and change their habits and start to expect to be informed and learn how to inform themselves.<<< ###### Well, here's my call for what you desire to see. Off you go Arthur, on a plane to Kiev, Washington, London, Moscow, Berlin, Paris, Sydney, to open your own alternative-voice newspaper to change the collective worldview arising from millenia of geopolitical topor. Or in whatever village, town, city you live, go stand on a street corner with your sandwich board of SMO news, proselytising a better truth. But you're a dreamer if you think the plebs are ever gunna take over the elites through the exercise of collective wisdom. Lol. Besides, in a small and covert way, MoA is actually one fringe mechanism of teaching people alternative facts. Spread its existence. That's a help to your mission. I understand what you're saying, but you're up against global MSM and human apathy. Just inform yourself, tell some friends, relax, go to the beach, die happy. I get your common lament -- "people need to wake up to help the world change". It's a way of blaming other humans' ignorance for the state of the world you know you can't actually control or change. Could you, for example, ever convert, say, your elderly mother from a deep Russophobia? Doubtful. Hence, the bottom line is that we cannot change any other but only ourselves. Thus, neither it is our responsibility to "save" others or even whinge about them. Sounds a bit like virtue signalling to me ... "I can see the truth but those others can't". There's also A LOT of that here on MoA!!!

Posted by: SCCC | Aug 31 2023 23:33 utc | 187

Recent article on Grayzone…
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/08/29/niger-coup-victoria-nuland-africa-tour/

Posted by: Alex Vadim | Aug 31 2023 23:46 utc | 189

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 31 2023 23:33 utc | 100
Also, noteworthy mention that RU has used the fields North-West of Rabotyne to direct indirect fire on the AFU forces accumulating on the eastern field the entire time AFU attacked Robotyne and to the east of it.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 31 2023 23:53 utc | 191

The conflict, the active/high intensity phase of it will end in much earlier than one year, or it will escalate with Nato.
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 31 2023 20:55 utc | 64
——————————————————-
Agreed, not enough Ukie warm bodies nor new gear.
Unknown is what the Biden-neocon team will need to prop them up in an election year. Things are not looking good, and so far, no one in NATO wants to send their own children to war.
Putin has been incredibly careful in not provoking them to have an excuse. With that, lamp posts for Z et. al. I would like to see Icky Vicky, Blinken and Sullivan swing. They have earned it the hard way.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Aug 31 2023 23:54 utc | 193

Some videos for today.
Russian border guards and FSB collected a large stash of Western weapons after capturing five Banderites in Bryasnk oblast:
https://rutube.ru/video/03a4de14d6574cb9c36335e977ff8bd4/
Russia’s airborne forces artillery eliminates enemy units on approaches to Artemovsk:
https://odysee.com/@SputnikInternational:c/7675262222354:8
Russian T-72 fires on enemy position near Kupyansk:
https://rutube.ru/video/9df2d80eea56f1893d38f76ec8601387/
Russian T-80 in action on the southern DPR front:
https://rutube.ru/video/5b3291037e4fdce49fe7c492dcc364b1/
Russian Buk-M3 system providing air defense:
https://rutube.ru/video/18bb8c6c4ca7beac8bb31aa590addfd5/

Posted by: Nate | Sep 1 2023 0:06 utc | 195

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 31 2023 22:10 utc | 79
I think you’ll find a lot of that $5 billion took a circuitous route back to Europe and the States, where it greased wheels, paid kickbacks, financed campaigns on both sides of the isle before the majority ended up in Swiss bank accounts. Ukraine was one large money laundering scheme for the uniparty, hence the attempt by both Democrats and Republicans to remove Trump when he started sniffing around.

Posted by: Milites | Sep 1 2023 0:09 utc | 197

And the largest cohort is aged 60-80.
Ukraine is a nation of babuskas.
Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 31 2023 23:03 utc | 92
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That statistic just cracks me up … imagining a nation of scarffed grannies.
It also suggests a future politics for Bankova — (hopefully) meaning Zelensky voted out on his arse by Russo-Ukrainian sympathisers angry at his Russophobic war despite promises of peace.
This I know: VVP dearly loves and respects babushkas. They are the mothers of his soldiers. He doesn’t want to hurt or alienate them, even over the UKR borders. I imagine one of them clubbing Zelensky to death with a bunch of radishes! They might yet hold the future of Ukraine in their hands!

Posted by: SCCC | Sep 1 2023 0:10 utc | 199