Posted by: smuks | Feb 21 2024 0:33 utc | 499
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>>>>London is doing all it can to make the rift permanent.
London has been nurturing Russophobia since the Crimean War,1853!
>>>Ideology beats economics.
Disagree. Yes, ideologies and prejudices and historical hatreds certainly run deep in the hearts and minds of many people. But ultimately it is a gvt’s purview to make a country run for its expected standard of living, and that makes economics the ultimate driving force. And besides, didn’t XX Million German nazi sympathisers get over it in just one generation? Yes, there remained the dinosaur pockets, and there will always be political fascists.
But I think that once Ukraine (the nursery for neo-fascism and neo-Nazism in Europe) is completely whopped, EU trade links will be established again. After all, as we see now, Germany NEEDS Russia far more than Russia needs Germany. Lol.
I consider that this present “nazi rash” is overblown OUTSIDE OF Ukraine. Sholz, for example, is hardly a real deal nazi, just a hard right Russophobe and US dick-licker. In a few elections, or generations, the tides may have turned. Look at the kids today, tomorrow’s politicians. Are they likely to follow in 2024’s footsteps? I doubt it.

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Feb 21 2024 4:00 utc | 503

Josepa | Feb 21 2024 1:12 utc | 501
I haven’t heard any figures for a while bud mediazona (Based in the baltics or poland) were thouughraly checking Russian obituaries and so forth. At one time they put out a figure shortly after or before Russia announced its casualties figures and both numbers were reasonably close so I assume the numbers put out by mediazona and the numbers put out by the Rus MoD are honest numbers.
There is another western group trying to asses Ukraine deaths in the same way.
Some time back, well before the great offensive, the numbers I remember were about 37’000 Russia, and about 370,000 Ukrainians.
Add to the Ukraine side the fact many bodies are simply left and declared MIA so the commander can keep collecting the pay and the state does not have to pay compensation to relatives. Recently a video cam out of Ukraine from the frontlines show them throwing the bodies of there own in a pit in a forest and filling in the mass grave with a farm tractor.
Another gauge of Ukraine losses is I think the General at that time saying they needed 20’000 recruits a month, then a Ukraine official saying they needed 30,000 recruits per month. That would give an idea of the number of Ukraine losses per month.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 21 2024 5:18 utc | 505

Just an “of-note”:
The couple; the Boeing P-8A Poseidon of the US navy is circling over the Danube river delta. St. Georges channel mainly, at the same time as Forte 13, in front of Sevastopol. Usually these two are signs of a new drone boat attack on Russian ships. (As has been remarked in many other tweets and posts, including by Russian bloggers)
I reckon that the starting point for attacks is NOT from Odessa or any point east, but from somewhere in the Danube delta. Whether this is on the Ukrainian side of the river or the Romanian one is yet to be discovered. Any deliveries of boat-drones from the UK could easily be sent downriver from higher up the Danube as “cargo” on small river traders.
****
Peter AU1 | Feb 21 2024 5:18 utc | 506
One interesting fact is that the Russians are claiming about 950 prisoners. Which is also a promising newby as several Uke Commanders are the ones that took the initiative to surrender, to save their wounded etc. Zele is reported to want their heads.

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 21 2024 10:01 utc | 507

Regarding ratios of Russian wounded versus Ukrainian wounded, imo eventually the world will be faced with more evidence of just how horribly Ukrainian infantry was used in this war, and that far more of them will have to live with debilitating injuries than their Russian counterparts due to the inferior level of medical care they received, and the inferior conditions within their trenches and dugouts.
For example, the statistics will show x amount of Russian Federation and AFU soldiers suffering wounds to their legs, but the statistics won’t show how well those wounds were treated, and what percentage of each side respectively were able to make more or less full recoveries.
In short, a lot of permanently disabled AFU veterans are worse off than they would have been had their army not been run as if treatment of the wounded was an afterthought, and that speed and painkillers were a substitute for bandages and antibiotics.

Posted by: Babel-17 | Feb 21 2024 17:25 utc | 509

Scholz and Kristersson may soon consign the residents of Schrobenhausen, Linköping, and Karlskoga to a horrible fate. Blessed be the innocent.

Posted by: Matthew | Feb 22 2024 5:06 utc | 511

Oh goody! Medvedev trolling again:
“Russia will have to keep fighting Ukraine until it takes its capital Kiev, since it emanates threat to Russia”, Dmitry Medvedev has said.
Well, that’s if Kiev doesn’t get the fkn hint first and take the wiser path of unconditional military surrender first!
Then he addressed Odessa, urging it to “return home”.
“We in the Russian Federation have long been waiting for Odessa, if only because of its history and what kind of people live there and what language they speak. It is our Russian city,” he claimed.
Oh how I love the way Medvedev taunts Kiev and the West with advance notice of where Russia will not stop until. He’s just put the allies on public notice for 2024. Hmmmm, so will they shit bricks and dig in deeper, or finally negotiate before the next phase and the shit really hits the fan?

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Feb 22 2024 8:03 utc | 513

con’t Former German General Harald Kujat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U21-RrB8E6Q

@ 26 minutes ….. a 10 year stabilizing Plan?
the critical situation in Ukraine has prompted the United States to develop a new strategy the Ukrainian forces are to go into Strategic Defense for the time being similar to the Russians last year the goal is to hold the territory still under their control from well fortified defensive positions and above all to reduce the high Personnel losses
this is intended to create the conditions for a long-term strengthening and greater endurance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as well as for the economy they call this the four-phase strategy fight build recover and reform they are currently trying to bring this strategy closer to president zelinski and above all to convince him that in 10 years the ukrainian Armed Forces will have significant combat power and a high deterrent Factor
by the end of this year the combat power of the Ukrainian Armed Forces should be significantly greater than it is today however this means that the Ukrainian president would have to give up his goal of recapturing all territories occupied by Russia including Crimea because the front is to be stabilized where it is now this strategy which is planned for 10 years envisages that European allies undertake specific commitments for military and economic support
these commitments are to be defined in binding National documents and agreed upon in a bilateral agreement with Ukraine the 10-year commitment serves as a safeguard against the termination of support for Ukraine announced by trump – it is also intended to prevent a change of government in a European country from leading to a change of course
the United Kingdom has already signed a corresponding agreement with the Ukrainian government
the german federal government is also ready to enter into this 10-year support and assistance Commitment
if all NATO States follow this example it could amount to Nato membership through the back door at least in terms of collective defense under Article Five of the NATO treaty

This far from over …. Russia is one nation with only 144 million population against the West with a combined 1 Billion and the military might of the USA. It is not a pussy cat even if somewhat incompetent at times.

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Feb 22 2024 10:19 utc | 515

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Feb 22 2024 10:19 utc | 516
I couldn’t agree more with your assessment. While the “West” may be on the back-foot for the moment, it’s foolish (for MoA’ers) to think they’re not planning for future aggressions, even, as you noted, the Kiev regime folds tomorrow. Putin is smart enough to know this. This is a long term battle that will probably take decades to shake out, and in trying to preserve its monopoly on power, the West will lash out in ways that are both incredibly dangerous and difficult to predict. I haven’t watched the video you lined above but look forward to doing so today. Thanks.

Posted by: KMRIA | Feb 22 2024 10:43 utc | 517

Disagree. Yes, ideologies and prejudices and historical hatreds certainly run deep in the hearts and minds of many people. But ultimately it is a gvt’s purview to make a country run for its expected standard of living, and that makes economics the ultimate driving force. And besides, didn’t XX Million German nazi sympathisers get over it in just one generation? …
I consider that this present “nazi rash” is overblown OUTSIDE OF Ukraine. Sholz, for example, is hardly a real deal nazi, just a hard right Russophobe …
Jake Blanchard | Feb 21 2024 4:00 utc | 504
Complicated topic.
Firstly – no, German Nazi sympathisers didn’t “get over it in just one generation” – at least not the “true believers” (of which there were many). It’s just that old Nazis died, and a new generation grew up.
But what I meant is something else.
A competing ideology is a long-term political threat, i.e. threat to the ruling elite. So even if it’s economically negative (in the near future), governments will rather try to keep their ideology & narrative intact and isolate “heresies”, rather than open up and cooperate with those “on the other side”.
As for Europe today, Scholz is certainly neither Nazi nor russophobe. In early 2022, he was fresh in office, with zero foreign policy experience (afaik) and an idiot foreign minister, and maybe most importantly, he didn’t have Merkel’s authority in the EU. She was considered the “leader of Europe”, so governments across the EU would’ve acted differently if she’d been hesitant to support Ukraine (as Scholz was).
However, the Nazi threat in Europe (and North America) is, unfortunately, very real today, and it’s absolutely possible that it will destroy the continent (again). More and more people are hurting, economically, and as the saying goes, “the dumbest calves elect their own butchers”.

Posted by: smuks | Feb 22 2024 14:11 utc | 519

Posted by: smuks | Feb 22 2024 14:11 utc | 520
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A fair enough perspective … given that youre German and I’m not :).
You must sense/see/know much more of an underlying remnant nazi sentiment in Germans that is apparent to us non-Germans. But are you talking REAL Hitlerian Nazism, or postmodern footbal-gang NEO-nazism, or just good old fashioned right wing fascistic authoritarian tendencies, or even the concept of populism itself? I appreciate the lines are often blurred. And you certainly have a deeper worry/paranoia of it than any other European I know. I mean, France might well swing Le Pen any day, but the country will hardly go hyper-nazi because of that. It could be a good thing for better Russo-Franco relations. And the Scandi rejection of open immigration (or Faragism in the UK) ain’t nazism either. Where’s your refernce point — 20 people in a street march in Maddison??? https://youtu.be/qTX-zCXIpzI
And you assess Scholz NOT as a Russophobe! Well, he does a brilliant job of acting like one in chorus with the rest! And what explains his blind eye to NS2? So perhaps you’re right — the ***US ideology*** trumps over economics — both home and abroad. Well then, the German people need to fix that and get back to their own good governance on economic principles. I get that ideologies range accros a spectrum and underlie most people’s worldview, but judging by parliamentary representation the world over, nazism is not about to make a big comeback. Not even in Ukro-Canada. Banderism in Ukraine is “our” immediate and most emergent enemy. My inkling is that once Ukraine is well and truly beaten, most Russophobes will return to normal!
You know, on a third reading of your post, I’m now convinced you must see nazis-under-the-beds. Is it that you are a rabbid commie and a fearful believer in a Fourth Reich resurgence?

Posted by: Jake Blanchard | Feb 22 2024 19:30 utc | 521