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[MaxTheFox]

That's also why I don't buy this thing I keep seeing from Chomsky and friends, the "US is using Ukrainians as cannon fodder" thing.  What's the alternative? Cause it's not giving up, we all saw the plan for an occupied Ukraine and it's tantamount to genocide.  The systematic eradication of "Ukraine" as anything more than a section of western Russia.  Irrespective of America's involvement (Of course America's primarily happy to see Russia bleed over this, and yes that's not a good motivation) I don't see an alternative, you can't bow to a program like Russia's, it's a non-starter.  But that's Chomsky, he's got some really good ideas and thoughts on things but he's always had a giant blind spot for non-western imperialism.  And other similarly dumb people.

Never liked Chomsky. America should not isolate itself in this current climate, it should stand up to Russia and China. Those who suggest otherwise might as well be Putinists in all but name, because they are playing right into his hands. Now is not the time for pacifism.

[nenjin]

While I get your sentiment, you might want to dial it back a notch for the sake of forum rules.

[MaxTheFox]

While I get your sentiment, you might want to dial it back a notch for the sake of forum rules.

You saw nothing.

[EuchreJack]

This is your weekly reminder that this is the News thread.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the Emotions thread.

I know it's a pain in the @$$ to divide the two, but it's necessary to make sure the News thread remains open. Thankfully, things in the Emotional thread have also remained calm enough not risk even temporary locking.

Also, it looks like everyone remembered before I even posted this, so thanks Junior Reporters.

[brewer bob]

The Institute for the Study of War warns that Putin probably will annex the occupied parts of south and east Ukraine and use the move to threaten Ukraine and allies with a nuclear attack, the Guardian reports:

Russian president Vladimir Putin is likely to annex the occupied parts of southern and eastern Ukraine into Russia “in the coming months”, according to Katherine Lawlor and Mason Clark, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, warning that the move could then be used to threaten Ukraine and its allies with nuclear attack.

After annexation,

“He [Putin] will likely then state, directly or obliquely, that Russian doctrine permitting the use of nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory applies to those newly annexed territories.

Such actions would threaten Ukraine and its partners with nuclear attack if Ukrainian counteroffensives to liberate Russian-occupied territory continue. Putin may believe that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would restore Russian deterrence after his disastrous invasion shattered Russia’s conventional deterrent capabilities.

Putin’s timeline for annexation is likely contingent on the extent to which he understands the degraded state of the Russian military in Ukraine.

The Russian military has not yet achieved Putin’s stated territorial objectives of securing all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and is unlikely to do so.

If Putin understands his military weakness, he will likely rush annexation and introduce the nuclear deterrent quickly in an attempt to retain control of the Ukrainian territory that Russia currently occupies.

If Putin believes that Russian forces are capable of additional advances, he will likely delay the annexation in hopes of covering more territory with it.

In that case, his poor leadership and Ukrainian counteroffensives could drive the Russian military toward a state of collapse.

Putin could also attempt to maintain Russian attacks while mobilizing additional forces. He might delay announcing annexation for far longer in this case, waiting until reinforcements could arrive to gain more territory to annex.”

Ukraine and its allies therefore “likely have a narrow window of opportunity to support a Ukrainian counteroffensive into occupied Ukrainian territory before the Kremlin annexes that territory,” Lawlor and Clark write.

Edit: The full ISW article can be found here.

[EuchreJack]

That article has some real insights once you get into the guts of it.  The small quote doesn't do it justice.

[Sirus]

If Russia used nukes every time someone said they'd use nukes during this conflict, Asia would be a radioactive crater by now. People are a little too quick to drop the n word I think.

[EuchreJack]

If Russia used nukes every time someone said they'd use nukes during this conflict, Asia would be a radioactive crater by now. People are a little too quick to drop the n word I think.

By which you mean Russia being to quick to drop the n work, I assume.
That is not news.

[King Zultan]

I had no internet for a few days, so has Russia lost anymore generals since I was last here?

[martinuzz]

In an interview with the British Sky News, the highest chief of the Ukrainian intelligence services, Kirilo Boedanov, predicts that the war with Russia will be over before the end of the year and will end with a complete defeat for Russia.

According to Boedanov, the battle is going so well, that Ukraine will regain all lost territory, including Crimea, before the end of the year.
"Russian military power is a myth. It is not powerful. The Russian army is nothing more than a horde of people with weapons", he said.

He also said that in Russia, a coup is already in progress against Putin. "Eventually, the leadership of the Russian Federation will change. The process has already started, is heading towards regime change, and cannot be stopped".

He also claims that Putin is severely ill, and is in a bad shape both mentally as well as physically.

[brewer bob]

I had no internet for a few days, so has Russia lost anymore generals since I was last here?

I think there might've been at least one reported in some news within the last two weeks, but I might remember wrong (and can't find the news with a quick search).

[KittyTac]

Putin's nuke threats are saber rattling, nothing more.

[Il Palazzo]

You can't know that. Which is the whole point.

[EuchreJack]

Unless someone has a news story on Putin's nuclear threats, could you move that discussion to the Emotional thread?
Or any other thread, I don't care.

[Starver]

Couldn't find a linkable story, to cover the same ground in written words, but the reports are of course basically "Finland is making a mistake trying to join NATO, because nobody is threatening it (...says Putin, threateningly)".

Not in direct reply to the need for confirmation of Nuclear ambitions, that, but as an adjunct that I only barely held back from commenting on yesterday in its own right, so tipped slightly more over into being a postable commentary (I apparently think).