He seems like a pretty reasonable leftist.

That seems pretty unreasonable to me. Russia already had Crimea. If Ukraine let's them keep it now, what's to deter Russia from popping back into Ukraine every time they want to kill a few thousand people? This last year will have been pointless if that's how it ends. This war needs to end with either Ukraine controlling the Donbas and Crimea or Russia controlling all of Ukraine. It ends this time, forever.

This Lula seems like a bit of a prick from what I've heard so far. Pre-election I thought he was one of the good guys.

Russia would probably ask for more than just Crimea, but a compromise of some kind is the right direction, this is becoming like a WWI where tons of people are being thrown into meat grinders like Bakhmut just for no movement.

Your policy is just kicking the can down the road. If it truly is what Putin says it is (an existential fight not just for Ukraine but against western hegemony) then Ukraine is the battlefield, and Russia must be defeated. No compromises.

Anyway, Russians are dying at a rate of 7-to-1, so Russia has already lost. They are in the process of losing an entire generation. Their economy is and will be even more fucked as a result.

it would be absurd to do any compromise with Putin. Hopefully he is deposed internally. I cant see the Russian youth crazy enough to keep enlisting for this war. There is only so long the propaganda can work especially in this era of internet/vpn/proxies etc.

While it’s hard to get real information on death numbers I’m more inclined to believe the scenario that Russia has more advanced technology and doing more damage per person and Ukraine is throwing more bodies at them to make up for it, it just makes more sense.

I think the West’s alliance against Russia and suppling Ukraine with war tech and intelligence is what is winning them this war thus far. If Ukraine wins this war, certain leaders in the west including, yes, Biden will be remembered fondly in history books. This latter part is making some members of the GOP want to pull their hair out. I don’t know my European current politics super well, but is there anyone in that stratosphere that is paramount to Western unity? Merkel?

Maybe it's enough to have Putin back off now, and in a few years he will not be there anymore.

You live in some bizarre alternate reality, lol

The left wing outlets reporting how much more people Ukraine is killing, is coming from journos trying to show off to their readers how much they stand with Ukraine. Not trustworthy at all. Nor are the Russian fanboy posts I've seen claiming Ukraine has way more more deaths trustworthy at face value, but my take that it's probably closer is looking at it logically - Russia is an army fighting an entire country. They're supposed to have a few million people in their army, and are not in full war conscription mode, it took Putin until last fall just to activate some of the reserves part of their army. They are leaving some of their army at home to defend their massive borders or in case WWIII breaks out, and can afford to try to protect their economy by not taking workers out of it. Otoh, Ukraine is in full war conscription mode, putting guns in the hands of civilians (even conscripting women) - and how can you blame them? Ukraine's outnumbering Russia would also explain why Russia is supposed to have better military and is in stalemate.

Russia doesn't have a better military. As is common with Communist states, nobody wants to be blamed, so the chain of command passes the buck. It's been this way for decades and decades. The guy at the top hears great stuff and acts on false intel, such as "we have the best army in the world, we can invade and capture Ukraine in three days, Mr. Putin". That happened, and the war has been going on now for 14 months.

Russia has an outdated military with low morale and barbaric attritional strategies. This means the military is large but they kill human life as if they're ants. Ukraine is effectively defending against this with their more advanced tech, their more modern strategic warfare, and with help from their partners.

This war won't be truly won for years. Russia may take land, but they will completely wipe out a generation of breeders. Ukraine will win, it will just take a while to see it.

I doubt it considering Russia is just a bigger and higher military spending country, and was usually rated 2nd strongest military before this.

Rated based on what? Information that Russia provides. It's the same as China; they don't tell anyone of their deficiencies.

This invasion has been like a glimpse behind their iron curtain, seeing them for what they truly are. Yet you still seem to want to believe their decades-old propaganda. I guess that's up to you.

Hard to believe a country that used fraudulent means to build a winter sports stadium for the Winter Olympics just a few years ago. I know all countries shouldn’t be fully trusted, but some countries are more dishonest than others and while I am certainly biased, I would say Russia and China are chief amongst those who inflate their numbers.

No, you live in some bizarre alternate reality, where your main information source is liberal western media and your poor education that failed to teach you how to search information, compare and contrast and filter it from propaganda (especially in war times). You should get some critical thinking and then do your homework on the conflict's background, if you want to judge.

The only communists we have here is the aging CPRF that never had any political power since the 90s and 80+ year old babushki who remember Stalin.

You must think that's over a million deaths then, and what, 3 million disabled and wounded? I haven't seen mass funerals, mass grave digging, endless ERs, filled up hospitals, nonstop mobilization or any public outcry in social media. Mediazona and bbc could "confirm" 20,000 deaths, where's the rest? Hidden in mass graves, missing in action, being buried at night outside of big cities at remote cemeteries, burned in mobile crematories, and their relatives being intimidated by KGB? Where do they hide millions of disabled? In special closed cities for disabled in the middle of Siberia? You realize it's not 1938, right? We have Internet, smartphones (with cameras!), social networks, telegram. With that level of casualties there would be rallies on Red Square - not anti-war rallies, but rallies to bomb Ukraine into stone age with nuclear weapons. That's in the same reality where Putin was delaying mobilization and mobilized only 300K because he was "afraid of the public unrest"? In the same reality where Ukraine has nonstop mobilization and endless rows of new graves with flags that they film and upload on youtube and telegram every day (go ask Ukraine for satellite images of their cemeteries before and after). In the same reality where Ukraine lost 10+ million in refugees and migrants that will never come back, and actually lost generations as per recent UN data on demographics.

You clearly have no idea what's going on in Russia. Russian army's troubles are being discussed openly in our media and our society since the first weeks - poor initial planning, problems with communication, long chain of command, not enough UAVs, precision guided ammunition, night vision devices, ammunition, armor, online systems, especially during Kharkov and Kherson retreats and then during mobilization. A lot of journalists, activists, experts, volunteers, telegram channels criticized the authorities, demanding to stop lying to us, to stop calling fuckups and incompetence "gestures of goodwill", throw out parquet and parade generals who don't know what they're doing. And they mostly listened - because we're all in this together until the end.

No one really planned for long war, for this kind of war, for this much direct involvement from the West at the price of current economic and future relationships, for this much information war. We've tragically underestimated Ukraine's army, understudied Ukraine's society, unprepared for Ukraine's regime frenzied willingness to burn down their own country in an all-out war (it really doesn't make any sense not to surrender). We've seen a lot of things we never thought possible - from US, Europe, especially Germany and Finland. We're done with the West for generations, or until EU collapses (sure, Russia's image in the West is destroyed, but the West's image in Russia is destroyed too - you can look on the globe to know who needs whom more). Relations with the US is destroyed forever - it's irreparable.

Most thought the army would steamroll Ukraine into the ground and our economy would go down the drain, turned out we didn't know enough about our army and we knew nothing about our economy. The army stumbled, but the economy stood up, shockingly. Most problems are already known, highly publicized and being solved in the process (Lancet and Geran drones, Vikhr and LMUR missiles, Krasnopol, Kitolov and Gran precision-guided ammunition didn't exist or were just prototypes or tests a year ago, we've seen first JDAMs used recently, there's over 200 Lancet killcams online since last Fall, and there's thousands of them produced, military production runs 24/7 in 4 shifts). Like each time in our history we were not prepared for the current war, but will have to learn on the way.

Left on the battlefield, dude. Russia, like all communist/authoritarian countries, don't care for their people. They die on the battlefield and they are buried on the battlefield.

And FYI, I get my information from a variety of sources. Independent researchers and organisations, and on both sides of the aisle. What I don't do is listen to Russian and Chinese propaganda because it's all false narratives. You clearly enjoy that fiction, though.

Algren if you don’t get your news from Putin’s wet milky tit, then it might as well be fake news.

Yeah, lol.

The Ukraine's "spring counteroffensive" is taking ages to get going, but I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to see them take back Crimea, and the first tactical warhead being launched in response. We don't have long left as a species.

And Russia has just made the false flag incident in order to escalate. Time for a tactical nuke? or maybe a full mobilisation?

Yeah, hard to believe this was Ukraine’s doing. Certainly when Russia specializes in state media controlled narratives.

If Ukraine was behind this "drone attack", then it just highlights how pathetic Russia's defences are. Like, absolutely pathetic like you would expect from a country as small and insignificant as, say, the Marshall Islands. So it must have been done by Russia. And now they're trying to blame the US

An embarrassing week for Russia. The drone attack is obviously in prime slot but the head of Wagner insulting the Russian Defence Minister isn't far behind either. He demanded ammunition, which they've now said they will supply, but it appears Wagner is still pulling out. So there appears to be a power struggle there or something. Not looking good for Russia.

And it's on the eve of Ukraine's couter-offensive, too.

But this Russian-controlled evacuation of the nearby settlements of the Zaporizhzhia power plant is worrying. Why are they doing this? Human life isn't their concern, so there must be an ulterior motive.

Apparently 65 million left China in the first quarter of 2023. With such a capital outflow and brain drain, how long before China issues a blanket exit ban? It's worrying all the information I'm seeing come out of China. Factories close every day, youth unemployment is at 20%, there's 12 million new graduates per year that can't find work so are being forced to work as delivery drivers or go to the countryside (under government sponsored schemes). It's looking bleak, like back in the Great Leap Forward famine days of Mao.

And I feel so sorry for the Chinese people. While I was there, sure, they grated on my nerves. But they do not deserve this. Being led by such a terrible, awful government. One that doesn't care if half the population suddenly combust as long as they remain in control of the other half. It's absolutely abhorrent the policies that the mafia "government" have come up with.

I think I know the reason for the [false flag] drone attack; it's the Victory Day parade in Russia. I think it's as simple as that. The parade was as bare-bones as you could get. Quite a pathetic display for a country that touts itself as a military superpower. All of their tanks and military vehicles are in use or destroyed. They even have to bring back into service tanks from 1945, and I'm not talking about for use in the parade. They're going to Ukraine. Putin has ruined Russia. But I suppose he still has nukes so he still feels all powerful. Eventually he will be left with only weapons of mass destruction. It's all leading to that.

Fingers crossed on a coup d'état.

I am proud of the UK for sending a 250km missile system to Ukraine as well as depleted uranium ammunition. Russia is, OF COURSE, claiming this is some red line despite having used 5,000km range missiles in Ukraine since the start. They are claiming it's an escalation yadda yadda yadda. Well, Russia, that's what you get when you kill innocent civilians on purpose. Hopefully this is the piece of the jigsaw that embarrasses Russia and helps Ukraine claim back Crimea. Let's see how it unfolds.