Not true at all. Russia does not have the ability to destroy the planet. A thermonuclear exchange could result in a holocaust event, but the planet would persist regardless of the state of humanity.
Some defense analysts had theorized that Ukraine never had to defeat Russia militarily, but only needed to last long enough for Russia to start eating itself. Potentially, they could be correct.
A violent regime change certainly has nuclear implications, but they are relatively remote. Via Chernobyl, Russia knows that nuclear fallout isn't controllable.
The more immediate crisis could be disruption of all the energy and natural resources that Russia pours into Europe, Central Asia, and other surrounding regions. And, given that those markets link to American trading interests, it's unknown to what degree that will destabilize American markets.
As much as I dislike Putin, Prigozhin is far from an improvement.
I've been trying to think of who, besides Navalny, would have a realistic chance of taking power post-Putin. Then, which of those could potentially streer Russia towards becoming a productive member of a global community allied with Western philosophies of representative government and a free society. Honestly, there is noone and no chance of that.
^ Okay gamma ape, you don’t have to ask twice. This rick will set course for Russia and take over, creating a utopia where the sexy female hairless apes serve the big cats of the world.
Recognize that there is a chance I’ll lose focus due to a distraction by the sexy females and booze that dominate my life. Plus, I just looked up how to get to Russia on Apple Maps and it turns out you can’t drive there. Who knew?
Wagner group recruits convicts for cannon fodder, but like western PMCs they are successful because their mission critical operations are performed by former special forces, and they have a favorable ratio of seasoned former servicemembers. That's how they captured Crimea years ago.
All indications from the Ukraine conflict are that Wagner has been more successful in their missions than Russian soldiers. Wagner is no joke.
We should stay as far away as possible from this. Keep up our support of Ukraine and maybe the distraction in Moscow gives the Ukrainians some advantage, but we should not be picking sides between Putin and the Wagner group.
Last time there was a coup in the Soviet Union Yeltsin and Gorbachev were in power (1991) they put the coup down quickly, but within a few months, the Soviet Union broke apart, my personal opinion is these countries are not naturally together and Putin was tolerated as long as things were going well, now with the Russians bogged down in the Ukraine, and their economy falling apart, the opportunity presents itself to get rid of Putin, my best guess is he survives this but comes out very weakened, and the Red Army will eventually take control and Putin will learn how to fly out of a high floor window.
While Putin's crazy enough to do just about anything if he's desperate, I find it pretty unlikely that he'll try to use nukes - tactical or strategic - on home soil. It's one thing to use them on in a foreign land (even one that he claims is really Russia) against troops that are supported by the West. It's another to use them on Russians in Russia. No better way to get your own military to turn against you, if they even carry out the orders.
A military contractor deciding to renegotiate its contract via threat of a coup is not a nothing burger, particularly in Russia where leaders who are perceived to be weak have a relatively short shelf life.
“I've been trying to think of who, besides Trump, would have a realistic chance of taking power post-Biden.
Then, which of those could potentially steer the USA towards becoming a productive member of a global community allied with Western philosophies of representative government and a free society.
A: The Russian people are uniting against a USA/Ukrainian offensive there, because they know it is a proxy war.
Russia has some leverage and presents the U.S. with only unfavorable choices: escalate, moving toward potential all‐ out war, or retreat, losing the face‐ off.
Russia will use a nuclear weapon and the NATO member countries’s population will pressure their leaders to make some kind of peace deal to avert a catastrophic war that would destroy the world, starting with them.
First, what Prigozhin did was not nothing, not even close. He marched his troops from Rostov to within 100 miles of Moscow, in open defiance of Putin's regime. But if that wasn't humiliating enough, Putin was forced to let him and his troops walk away from it with no consequences. Putin rules through control and fear and this has undoubtedly seriously weakened him.
Second, Russia will never use its nukes, including tactical nukes in Ukraine. The world is not the same place it was 25+ years ago. Most countries, most definitely including Russia, are highly dependent on international trade to support their economies. If Russia went that far, even its most stalwart trading partners, who are normally happy to ignore U.S. sanction, will be forced to turn away under overwhelming international pressure. Without the ability to sell its oil, natural gas and certain other commodities to foreign trading partners, Russia's economy would collapse into something more reminiscent of a third world nation. It's just not going to happen.
I wonder what the deal Prigozhin accepted consists of, and my best guess is both Putin and Prigozhin stay on ground floors of any structure they inhabit for the foreseeable future.
Here's what happened. Wagber Group has long been accusing the Ministry of Defense of bungling the war in Ukraine. Very vocally, very publicly. The MoD became angry enough that they attacked Wagner Group camps in retaliation and to make them shut up. It backfired when Wagner Group turned around to attack the MoD. Prigozhin was clear that his fight was with MoD, not Putin. Putin didn't know this when he accused Prigozhin of betrayal.
Prigozhin was warmly welcomed in Rostov-on-Don, and expected to walk straight into Moscow. One of his armored columns being torn up by attack helicopters was a real reality check for him.
The cease fire was made when Putin realized Prigozhin wasn't rebelling against him, and Prigozhin realized it could be a Pyrrhic victory. To save face for Putin, Prigozhin goes into exile, maybe ceases to be the public face of Wagner Group. Wagner Group returns to the services of the Russian Federation, but changes are made in the leadership at MoD.
Not a watershed moment, unless the new leadership begins managing the war in Ukraine significantly better or significantly worse than it is currently being executed.
The war was “needed” so that a handful of arms manufacturers and dealers could have a blast making money hand over fist and the USA gets some world attention showing how strong the American Military Industry Complex is."
I'm really confused as to why this thread is on this site. There wasn't even the slightest angle of hot russian or ukrainian strippers weaved in anywhere!
29 comments
Sun-Tzu - “The Art of War”
A violent regime change certainly has nuclear implications, but they are relatively remote. Via Chernobyl, Russia knows that nuclear fallout isn't controllable.
The more immediate crisis could be disruption of all the energy and natural resources that Russia pours into Europe, Central Asia, and other surrounding regions. And, given that those markets link to American trading interests, it's unknown to what degree that will destabilize American markets.
As much as I dislike Putin, Prigozhin is far from an improvement.
At least, unlike the oligarchs, they were dumb enough to get caught at least once.....
Okay gamma ape, you don’t have to ask twice. This rick will set course for Russia and take over, creating a utopia where the sexy female hairless apes serve the big cats of the world.
Recognize that there is a chance I’ll lose focus due to a distraction by the sexy females and booze that dominate my life. Plus, I just looked up how to get to Russia on Apple Maps and it turns out you can’t drive there. Who knew?
But trust me, the ricks got this. ROAR!!!
All indications from the Ukraine conflict are that Wagner has been more successful in their missions than Russian soldiers.
Wagner is no joke.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrain…
It's still not a good look for Russia, and makes Putin look vulnerable.
This isn't a Tom Clancy novel.
“I've been trying to think of who, besides Trump, would have a realistic chance of taking power post-Biden.
Then, which of those could potentially steer the USA towards becoming a productive member of a global community allied with Western philosophies of representative government and a free society.
Honestly, there is noone and no chance of that.”
I will play along and answer your question
Q: What’s happening in Russia?
A: The Russian people are uniting against a USA/Ukrainian offensive there, because they know it is a proxy war.
Russia has some leverage and presents the U.S. with only unfavorable choices: escalate, moving toward potential all‐ out war, or retreat, losing the face‐ off.
Russia will use a nuclear weapon and the NATO member countries’s population will pressure their leaders to make some kind of peace deal to avert a catastrophic war that would destroy the world, starting with them.
First, what Prigozhin did was not nothing, not even close. He marched his troops from Rostov to within 100 miles of Moscow, in open defiance of Putin's regime. But if that wasn't humiliating enough, Putin was forced to let him and his troops walk away from it with no consequences. Putin rules through control and fear and this has undoubtedly seriously weakened him.
Second, Russia will never use its nukes, including tactical nukes in Ukraine. The world is not the same place it was 25+ years ago. Most countries, most definitely including Russia, are highly dependent on international trade to support their economies. If Russia went that far, even its most stalwart trading partners, who are normally happy to ignore U.S. sanction, will be forced to turn away under overwhelming international pressure. Without the ability to sell its oil, natural gas and certain other commodities to foreign trading partners, Russia's economy would collapse into something more reminiscent of a third world nation. It's just not going to happen.
Prigozhin was warmly welcomed in Rostov-on-Don, and expected to walk straight into Moscow. One of his armored columns being torn up by attack helicopters was a real reality check for him.
The cease fire was made when Putin realized Prigozhin wasn't rebelling against him, and Prigozhin realized it could be a Pyrrhic victory. To save face for Putin, Prigozhin goes into exile, maybe ceases to be the public face of Wagner Group. Wagner Group returns to the services of the Russian Federation, but changes are made in the leadership at MoD.
Not a watershed moment, unless the new leadership begins managing the war in Ukraine significantly better or significantly worse than it is currently being executed.
The war was “needed” so that a handful of arms manufacturers and dealers could have a blast making money hand over fist and the USA gets some world attention showing how strong the American Military Industry Complex is."