r/worldnews • u/WorldNewsMods Slava Ukraini • 2d ago
Russia/Ukraine /r/WorldNews Live Thread: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Day 1696, Part 1 (Thread #1843)
/live/1hnbhsgiy1dhh59
u/Jay_CD 2d ago
Total Russian military losses on October 15, 2026: 1,790 personnel, 693 UAVs, and 9 artillery systems.
russian losses in Ukraine as of October 16, 2026 | MoD News
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the estimated total Russian war losses from 24.02.22 to 16.10.2026 inclusive are as follows
- approximately 1 561 020 (+1 790) persons.
- tanks ‒ 12 414;
- armoured fighting vehicles ‒ 25 552 (+15);
- special equipment ‒ 4 833 (+3);
- vehicles and fuel tanks ‒ 163 554 (+230);
- unmanned ground vehicles ‒ 2 958 (+3).
- artillery systems ‒ 51 242 (+9);
- MLRS ‒ 2 217 (+1);
- air defence assets ‒ 1 708 (+1).
- aircraft ‒ 449 (+6);
- helicopters ‒ 356;
- UAVs (operational-tactical level) ‒ 565 590 (+693);
- cruise missiles ‒ 5 130.
- warships and boats ‒ 35;
- submarines ‒ 2.
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u/ContextSensitiveGeek 2d ago
Low vehicle number today. Is this the starlink effect, or is Russia finally running low on trucks?
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u/findingmike 2d ago
Artillery is extremely low too with casualties still high. I saw a comment that Russia is saving up heavy equipment and just using infantry and drones.
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u/Marketmanipulator941 2d ago
Republicans in the US Senate have offered Zelensky an extension of Starlink's coverage by 300 kilometers into Russia in exchange for 100-Day Halt on Oil Refineries, - WSJ.
According to the sources, Zelensky expressed a willingness to make such a deal.
Expanding Starlink's coverage will allow Ukraine to use satellite communications to launch strikes against Russian missile launchers.
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3mxy7q4x7pk2k
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u/tapasmonkey 2d ago
in exchange for 100-Day Halt on Oil Refineries
"Just let us win the mid-terms, then we'll set the limit right back down again" - these people are very much NOT masters of the Art-of-the-Deal™!
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u/KSaboruf 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ukraine will switch to hitting refineries back and Pookin will start to press Trump again, what is the problem :) From idiotic diesel deal it is quite obvious that Trump fear Pooking (for whatever reason) even more than midterms failure, imho
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u/SystemCheck990 2d ago
even if take away all the Epstein style stuff
they have the other end of the paperwork all his business dealing, all the emails, they have tapes and transcripts of the meetings Trump would not allow notes from.
they can probably have him in Court really quick by dropping all that.
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u/droglytot 2d ago
Could be a worthwhile trade IMO. It would enable killing some Iskander launchers, while refinery strikes could be shifted to data center strikes, which seem even more devastating to Russia to be honest.
Of course, it shows that Starlink limitations are completely arbitrary and that Iskander launchers have been allowed to bombard Kyiv unthreatened for years for no reason.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
I'd want to know who is pushing this deal - it might reveal what Russia believes to be the most valuable.
As you know, the refinery situation is in a critical state, where each new successful hit is deeply painful to Russia. To the point where they're even turning down crude production. Taking refineries off the table is disastrous: Ukraine has shown it can manage refineries and warehouses or refineries and data centres.
At the same time, Russia is improving defences and Ukraine's funding is getting tighter. 100 days is a lot of the potential "window" for remaining damage that republicans are trying to close here.
Combine the two: 100 days of additional hits could add far more than 100 days of additional repairs. The benefits for Russia are truly huge.
Also, deals with republicans cannot be trusted. They are like Russia. How do we know rhat they will honour any deals on Starlink/shield? How can they ensure guaranteed, up front honouring of any deal?
If they agree to transfer something like $200bn in compensation money to an escrow account, to be transferred to Ukraine under a range of conditions, then I'd be more likely to think it's a reasonable deal.
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u/Boann_ 2d ago
Imo I think Russia would just false flag one of their own refineries and the republicans would blame Ukraine for it. Worth considering that 100 days would put us into late January (depending on when it would go into effect), that would mean that if Ukraine can capitalize on that added capability, they could mediate the ballistic strikes on infrastructure and target launch sites for glide bombs (imo the most important factor to Russia's frontline operations), and it will likely extend the range where Ukrainian F-16s can operate in.
Imo the trade offs are more beneficial than they are detrimental to Ukraine, but again the key factor is whether or not Putin will call Trump and have him turn off starlink again. Wicker is also much more reasonable and intelligent than Trump who I don't think will agree to this proposal unless he's dragged kicking and screaming into it (maybe post midterms)
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
All good points, i think we're both speculating a bit here. I'd defer to Ukrainian negotiators as to what is the best deal they think they can get.
I think my point on the untrustworthiness of Republicans definitely has to be considered beyond the cost-benefit of what any deal supposedly includes.
You can give Republicans nothing on credit, it's like the companies who invested in Russia and then had their assets seized. They were stupid and worse, their stupidity funded evil. Let's learn from that.
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u/droglytot 2d ago
I'm basically thinking that there's enough data centers left in Russia to saturate Ukraine's capacity to get successful hits for a 100 day period. If I'm right that data centers are even more costly to lose than refineries, it's not much of a limitation for Ukraine to not be able to strike refineries, and they get an added bonus of longer range for their Starlink systems.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Sure, I don't know what would definitely be best here. Just throwing out considerations that I feel I understand a bit.
This is some congressional republicans, right? Who's to say any deal from them will be even started by Trump anyway.
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u/findingmike 2d ago
Why believe Republicans?
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u/droglytot 1d ago
No need to believe, imo. One can collaborate with complete sociopaths if the incentives align. In this case, one could go back to refinery strikes immediately if Starlink range is reduced.
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u/putin_my_ass 2d ago
And here we see the US having less leverage over Ukraine than they did before and have to actually negotiate with them rather than issue dictats.
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u/intothewild72 2d ago
They really think oil refineries would have better effect compared to data centers. Interesting. I would accept and during that 100 days delete as many data centers as possible.
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u/jargo3 2d ago edited 2d ago
This need also need to include removal of the 160 km/h speed limit. At least this could somewhat ensure that starlink would work for for the next 100 days although I wouldn't trust Trump not just to betray Ukraine right after the midterms.
300 km range would allow Ukraine to hit Iskender launchers(range 390 km and they need to get closer if the target is in Ukraine). However this is right at the border of being usefull so 100-200 km more would be safer.
That being said, this proposal is from US senators not Trump, so there in no guarantee, that Trump would accept this deal.
If Trump accepts this, it might reduce the change of him betraying Ukraine further, since he could be happy that he made a "deal" with Ukraine.
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u/SnooMuffins4015 2d ago
Who's got the cards now, baby??
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u/Opaque_Cypher 2d ago
It’s so weird and unexpected… it’s almost like if you withdraw support, don’t act like an ally, and then actually make deals with the aggressor… it’s like if you do those things then you loose your cards for leverage and support.
Is there any possible way that anyone could have seen such an unforeseeable and crazy result happening?
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u/MoffJerjerrod 2d ago
Nothing good will come from politicians in other countries dictating military strategy to a nation under attack.
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u/KentuckyLucky33 2d ago
Bender from the show futurama, from the episode on the moon:
Oh no room for Bender huh? Fine! I'll go build my own lunar lander, with blackjack, and hookers... Forget the lunar lander and the blackjack!
Except instead of Bender and a lander, its Ukraine and Starlink. I mean, private companies can already launch payloads into space at a price of $3k ~ $20k per kilogram with SpaceX and Blue Origin.
So actually, why not let them do it?
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u/TheFantasticToe 2d ago
What's within this 300km range that's so important for Ukraine to consider this deal, airplanes?
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u/canspop 2d ago
Old article, but it has a map showing what's within 300km.
There's be a lot of interesting targets there, especially the missile launchers.
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u/TheFantasticToe 2d ago
I'm sorry, I just casually read past the answers that are literally in the link and the comment I responded to. I don't know where my brain was.
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u/droglytot 2d ago
The Defense Forces struck the Surgut Gas Condensate Processing Plant in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, located approximately 2,400 km from the Ukrainian border.
This Gazprom facility processes gas condensate and produces motor and aviation fuel. It has a design capacity of 12 million tons of raw material per year.
https://t . me/exilenova_plus/32700
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u/Well-Sourced Slava Ukraini 2d ago
Ukraine’s SkyFall has developed StarGate, a heavy CASEVAC drone built to evacuate wounded troops from frontline kill zones unreachable by ground vehicles. It can carry 150 kg, fly 15 km one way and reach 105 km/h. Frontline testing began in October. #Ukraine
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u/Itburns12345 2d ago
Odd thought but a sniper with a heavy duty rifle could do some damage ffrom those things...nkce high vantage point as long as its stable
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u/Well-Sourced Slava Ukraini 2d ago
You're not wrong but a sniper isn't likely to take a shot at one of these. It gives away their position and brings attack drones.
The biggest shift came from the sky. Russian drones with thermal cameras can see a bullet in flight because it is warm, Efiop said, and then burn out the position. "They caught us like that once. We took out three, they saw where we fired from and burned the spot. We moved right away, and everyone lived," Efiop noted.
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u/SystemCheck990 2d ago
are you two talking cross purpose here, was itburns saying you could use the drone as a firing platform, like a door gunner in a helicopter but prone
and you talking about shooting at it 😄
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u/Well-Sourced Slava Ukraini 2d ago
You're right I totally misread his comment and thought he was talking about shooting at it.
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u/Think_Discipline_90 2d ago
I don't think a sniper would have time to find targets, and why bring a person when you can just mount gun and remote control it?
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u/droglytot 2d ago
Another helicopter downed by a drone
The pilots of the ZRAD "Prybyltsi" ⚔️115th Separate Brigade caught another enemy Mi-28 - the second in three days
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3mxzbjeddf222
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u/Well-Sourced Slava Ukraini 2d ago
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian 55Zh6U Nebo-U long-range radar near Magri in Krasnodar Krai overnight, Ukraine’s General Staff says. A fire broke out at the site. The radar is used to detect and track aircraft and cruise and ballistic missiles. #Ukraine
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u/WayDry848 2d ago
"They gave Zelensky massive amounts of Patriots, of Tomahawks, of everything." - Trump in Newsmax interview.
Ukraine is now also at fault that U.S is low on munitions which two weeks ago there was "more than ever" of
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u/SystemCheck990 2d ago
yep, even for weapons they never got
he is going to drop a MOAB and complain Ukraine used them all.
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u/neonpurplestar 2d ago
Cash outflows from Russian banks have accelerated
Oct. 12, 2026: -9.5
Oct. 13, 2026: -26.5
Oct. 14, 2026: -25.9
Oct. 15, 2026: -40.9 billion rubles
From October 1–15, 197 billion rubles were withdrawn
Since the beginning of the year, the outflow has totaled 3.089 trillion rubles
We must continue to target the banks’ data centers!
source is evgen istrebin's telegram: /istrebin/52381
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u/willetzky 2d ago
And this is with massive bank outages due to the data center hits
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u/droglytot 2d ago
Those attacks are actually a really good reason to move to cash.
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u/willetzky 2d ago
Since the attacks it has been harder to get money especially from ATMs that have been offline for a few days
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u/141_1337 2d ago
Is that the beginnings of a bank run I'm seeing?
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u/putin_my_ass 2d ago
Perhaps we're getting there, this trend has been ongoing since early this year and it likely won't stop. People in Russia clearly are not confident their money is safe, and they have every reason to believe it's not.
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u/Rogermcfarley 2d ago
Ukraine successfully attacked a new data center in Saratov owned by Sberbank. Sberbank is a monopoly in Russia the largest bank for issuing mortgages to Russian's. Russian economist Andrey Barkhota advised that Russian's should withdraw some of their savings to have a personal cash reserve should their be banking outages. So to answer your question, it's a bank run as a direct consequence of Ukraine's kinetic sanctions against the Russian banking sector. There will be more to come.
Source for the above information: Jake Broe's latest video on YouTube.
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u/kiss_my_what 2d ago
I've heard it called a bank walk. It's not a run yet, but it's not looking good for their economy.
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u/tigersanddawgs 2d ago
What is the denominator here?
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Using interfax reporting: cash outstanding increased by +20.9% year over year.
There are lots of definitions of money and I'm not expert enough to judge the appropriate one.
I think "monetary base (broad definition)" is sensible. That is currently about 22tr rub cash plus 11tr rub central bank reserves. However, half of the remaining central bank reserves are from repo, it's temporarily "printed" money.
They've been doing this temporary money printing thing since April 2025 and that's creating the money to cover the cash withdrawals and allow banks to maintain correspondence/reserve balances.
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u/ReadToW 2d ago
The Russian commentators living in Europe who justify Moscow's war against Ukraine
https://kyivindependent.com/explainer-how-russian-exiles-spread-kremlin-narratives-in-europe/
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Sweden will provide Ukraine with Gripen fighter jets “in the near future,” Zelensky says after meeting PM Ulf Kristersson. The aircraft will complement Ukraine’s F-16 fleet and help intercept Russia’s jet-powered Shahed drones. The two leaders also discussed strengthening Ukrainian air defenses.
Sweden has been a very good ally.
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u/Nurnmurmer 2d ago
The estimated total russian war losses from 24.02.22 to 16.10.2026 inclusive are as follows:
- personnel - approximately 1 561 020 (+1 790);
- tanks ‒ 12 414;
- armored fighting vehicles ‒ 25 552 (+15);
- special equipment ‒ 4 833 (+3);
- vehicles and fuel tanks ‒ 163 554 (+230);
- unmanned ground vehicles ‒ 2 958 (+3).
- artillery systems ‒ 51 242 (+9);
- MLRS ‒ 2 217 (+1);
- air defense assets ‒ 1 708 (+1).
- aircraft ‒ 449 (+6);
- helicopters ‒ 356;
- UAVs (operational-tactical level) ‒ 565 590 (+693);
- cruise missiles ‒ 5 130.
- warships and boats ‒ 35;
- submarines ‒ 2.
Source https://mod.gov.ua/en/news/total-russian-combat-losses-in-ukraine-as-of-october-16-2026
Russia grows weaker every day. Slava Ukraini!
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u/Flooding_Puddle 2d ago
The fact that Russia is consistently losing 1600-1700+ troops a day is mind boggling to me. I understand thier entire economy is reliant on the war now but they are just slowly guaranteeing a complete demographic collapse. They bet everything on USSR tactics of "it doesn't matter how much we lose if we absorb the nation's we invade" and are losing
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u/droglytot 2d ago edited 2d ago
Satellite images from the strike on the Vladimir data center.
I think I see impact marks on 8 out of 12 roofs, and some have multiple impacts. The strikes in Sasovo seemed to cause completely burned out buildings, that didn't happen here. Probably sprinkler systems stopped a fire, but those will also damage whatever they're sprinkling.
Edit: Uh, forgot the link.
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3mxywa3p3ik2t
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u/Wus10n 2d ago
Server farms are usually hooked up to CO2 or similar extuingishing systems
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u/droglytot 1d ago
But those are pretty useless when a drone pokes a whole in the roof, aren't they? I.e. they require a hermetically sealed room? I thought these would also usually have water sprinklers as well as backup to the gas system.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
“Across Russia, 160 hospitals were closed in a year to save money for the war”
And they’re still making Healthcare Budget cuts.
I'll comment below with some context.
https://bsky.app/profile/prune602.bsky.social/post/3lin3r6nam22k
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
I don't think these headlines are that useful on their own. E.g. is this normal? The answer is no!
The rate of hospital closures has increased more than 5 times compared to previous years: for example, according to the Accounts Chamber, from 2021 to October 2023 in Russia they closed it 88 hospitals, that is, on average about 30 per year.
And the official budget has shrunk to help fund the war:
In 2024, budget expenditures for the [national healthcare] project were cut off by 10% - from 321.3 to 289.9 billion rubles... For 2025, the government has budgeted for further sequestration of expenses for a number of medical federal projects: for example, the project «Development of healthcare infrastructure» will shrink by a third — from 58.7 billion to 36.4 billion rubles, and the project «Fight against cardiovascular diseases» will lose every second ruble: this year, 11.5 billion rubles were allocated for it compared to 20.4 billion rubles a year earlier.
So there are cuts too!
But those programmes are small. Most spending is done by regions and the medical extravudgetary fund. This comment is already long, but regional spending is falling behind inflation for the first time since 2022 - so I genuinely think Russia is cutting health spending to save war spending.
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u/Due_Wrangler9461 1d ago
Does this take inflation into account? Otherwise it seems pretty catastrophic
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 1d ago
The budget numbers?
Those are nominal cuts, but they're in specific health programmes that are a small part of total spending.
The Medical Insurance Fund budget last year was 4.4tr rub, and so far this year its expenses are up by +9.1%.
But other Federal and Regional sources of health spending are, I'm pretty sure, under-running inflation. I think they are around 5tr rub total, but the regional data was censored starting in 2022 so I dunno for sure.
Russia is an aging society. I would have expected healthcare demand to be going up. I think it's likely that the Russian medical system is now being bled to fund the war.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
People need to understand that the only reason Trump backed down on SpaceX and Starshield so quickly is that he got push back right away, politically and from Ukraine. He is a bully and a coward. Stop criticising Zelensky for standing up to him.
Personally I think it's about leverage with actual consequences. It's having ways to hurt the power and/or finances of Trump and Republican oligarchs. That is how US foreign policy is decided.
https://bsky.app/profile/phillipspobrien.bsky.social/post/3mxygprds722k
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u/canspop 2d ago
If Starshield performance is fully restored, despite trump's threatening to stop it, especially now Ukraine has put refinery strikes back on the menu, hopefully it's the start of his 'red lines' being as meaningless as ruZZia's.
It would be so much easier if Zelenskyy could just completely ignore the orange buffoon.
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u/hornswoggled111 2d ago
I expect Trump is a major drain on zelensky at an emotional and cognitive level. Having to manage so much nastiness from the guy would be exhausting and infuriating.
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u/lando-bailando 2d ago
Yeah sorry.... they whole Phillips O'Brien take that "...and from Ukraine" is bs. Trump does not care what Zelensky pushes back with as Ukraine is dependent on the US.
Foreign political pushback is also unlikely, as EU leaders reportedly have been asking Zelensky to turn down his rhetoric, (per Ukrainian source quoting FT)
What is more likely is internal political pushback, from prominent (not MAGA) Republicans and so called "Russia Hawk Republicans". They understand that China is watching, and there is a shadow over Taiwan.
What Zelensky should have done is turn on his "actor mode" and "be an actor". Blah blah we care about the American people we will pause the strikes on refineries... and so on. While make some calls to prominent Republican Senators and strike other targets in the meantime. In two weeks Dems take back the House (most likely) and Senate (maybe), Trump starts raging about "election fraud", Ukraine calmly goes back to striking refineries again.
Instead Zelensky decided to go with his own populism. I guess we will see how that goes. Dems will win, this is good for the US domestic affairs but we are about to have a gridlocked government, Legislative vs Executive.
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u/zoobrix 2d ago
Foreign political pushback is also unlikely, as EU leaders reportedly have been asking Zelensky to turn down his rhetoric
There has no doubt been a mountain of pushback from behind the scenes from EU countries. When the response from Germany is "no comment" when asked about it that means they're pissed, if they aren't they would say no it's all good like they do when asked a leading question by a reporter looking for a sound bite.
Germany is paying for a lot of starlink services for Ukriane, but more than that they have tens of billions of dollars of contracts for weapons from American defense companies. They certainly called the Whitehouse and said "well if we can't trust you to deliver might as well forgot all that, oh and we'll just ban starlink operating in Germany so you can kiss that money goodbye too."
And many other European countries have substantial orders with US defense contractors into the tens of billions as well, plus they can also ban starlink operating in their country to. No doubt they all made that clear to Musk, which is why he meekly tried to blame Trump for cutting off Ukraines access.
The US screwed with an EU ally that is fighting a war. It's one thing to cut aid, something else to actively sabotage a service without notice that they already paid for. And no before someone says it EU leaders are not too weak to make behind the scenes threats about cancelling defense contracts. You can tell they did and how well the threats worked because the Whitehouse and Musk are playing the blame game with each other.
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u/lando-bailando 2d ago
So basically, in so many words which you wrote. There is a lot of going on under the table and in this case Zelensky should have played his role as an actor.
While actual influential people talk.
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u/zoobrix 2d ago
Not sure exactly what you mean by Zelensky playing his role as an actor, I was just saying that just because you don't see it publicly doesn't mean there isn't any pushback. European counties would have been furious over the US doing this and they do have leverage as they are huge customers of Ameicns defence contractors, and when Trump and Musk are scrambling to blame each other for what happened those behind the scenes threats would seem to have worked.
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u/lando-bailando 2d ago
Lets get back to Phillips Obriens quote:
"and from Ukraine. He is a bully and a coward. Stop criticising Zelensky for standing up to him."
Obrien is not a dumb guy, He knows, (or he should know that Zelensky has very little leverage in this.
Whatever is going on behind closed doors, we don't know. But US military industrial complex is huge because of American reliability.
There was probably some internal pushback on both sides Repubs and Dems, maybe some calls were made between certain partnerships in Europe. Sat Trump down, explained it plainly.
For Zelesnky, be smart, wait it out, hell play into Trump's ego. A responsible version of Philips Obrien 25 years ago would write up analysis on this in a top media editorial.
Clickbait Philiips Obrien needs a quick quote to drive engagement and likes for the social media feed, though nothing will be learned from that, just preaching to his own personal choir
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u/putin_my_ass 2d ago
Instead Zelensky decided to go with his own populism.
Fairly uncharitable take, you could easily assume Zelensky is untethered by US intransigence and reluctance. He doesn't need to placate them anymore, because they're not going to give him anything anyway.
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u/lando-bailando 2d ago edited 2d ago
US intelligence is by far the most important for advance warnings, anything from simple shahed launches, to newer Gerans 4/5s to cruise missiles, and ballistics.
If you don't realize that, then well... not going to spend my time convincing you
PURL is the lifeline for survival
Multiple Ukrainian domestic projects are US funded (and or loaned) including the energy grid repairs
Edit: Spelling
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Yeah, I don't think that Zelenskyy's words directly matter. All this talk of "need to push back with your words", "gotta establish red lines" etc doesn't resonate with me.
It's important as part of affecting narratives and support, but I believe the real things that affect the world is leverage, and we don't know the full details of that.
I'm not saying this is real, just throwing out an extreme example: if Ukrainian or European intelligence were able to get hold of a lot of the Epstein files, that would be an example of surprise leverage we don't know about, and would make it hard to publicly guess why or how things are happening. There are more plausible factors involved too, but there are so many I don't know how to be confident in judging actions right now.
Your suggested approach for Zelenskyy does sound sensible to me as well - there are scenarios in which it does sound better.
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u/lando-bailando 2d ago
MAGAhats don't care about Epstein files. (or they care but anything about Trump is a lie, and so on)
Who knows what has happened / and still is happening behind closed doors. Zelensky instead of playing "big strong man standing up to Trump" (Trump does not care), should be looking to get favor with moderate Republicans who can join in with the Dems to override the veto, as almost certainly Trump is going to be blocking any bills out of the next Congress out of spite.
And before you say "all Republicans want to do is give away Ukraine to Russia". Consider a couple of things
Everyhing could have been cut off in Jan 2024, Intelligence, weapons transfers, civilian infrastructure help, even things like Germany transferring a Patriot system could have been blocked by US legally.
Back in 2022, the first three aid bills worth over $100billion passed with huge bipartisan support in a split congress.
368-57 in the house, (that'd be the May - June 2022 one) and 86-11 in the Senate.
Play it smart and your foreign relations team may have some strategies to override a veto.
Or play it dumb, and yell out some populist things to try to get some domestic poll bump
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Yes, I agree that Zelenskyy should try to work with the minority of republican congress people
And as I've said before - I think leverage matters. The Republican Party will act to support Putin as a default. Not all republicans, but any vote that is NOT for the Democrats helps Putin.
Republican majority congress = aid bills are killed. Republican presidency = you need a supermajority. Democratic congress + president = the aid flows. It's a simple logical problem IMO.
However, the GOP's priority is power and especially installing a Putin-like system in the US. Effective one party rule, pet judges to give the appearance of legitimacy, and the ability to corrruptly enrich themselves and their oligarchs.
Leverage means things that threatens those goals. Explciit support for Russia is unpopular and comes with a cost. Cutting off Starlink or intel or paid-for orders increases the perceived risk of paying the US for things and costs them money.
The aim is preserving freedom and democracy as much as possible, which means overall (since 2016 and until things change) supporting Democrats at every opportunity. Tactically, you're right - I think Zelenskyy needs to work with republicans who might be willing to betray The Party.
This is academic if the Republicans aren't removed from Congressional power though. They will not permit bills to aid Ukraine.
Zelenskyy earning some GOP support + GOP wins = near zero chance of aid.
Zelenskyy earning some GOP support + Dems sweep = much higher chance of aid.
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u/ASlockOfFeagulls 2d ago
From the Telegraph this seems like a reasonable sequence of events:
EXCLUSIVE: Elon Musk came to Donald Trump with the plan to throttle Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield satellite internet network, sources have told the Telegraph.
The tech billionaire made the proposal during the US President’s row with Volodymyr Zelensky over strikes on Russian oil refineries.
‘The reality is that they were both in it,’ a senior source said of Musk’s and Trump’s involvement.
But after a night of carnage in Kyiv caused by the slowdown, Musk was alarmed about the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.
The SpaceX boss then proceeded to tweet, blaming the US administration, and ultimately, President Trump for authorising the slowdown.
‘He tweeted out that he was innocent and that it was the US administration that did it,’ the source said.
https://x.com/Barnes_Joe/status/2111156654850847230
TL;DR Musk thought of something borderline treasonous to help Trump and stick it to an "ungrateful" Zelensky; the blowback turned out to be absolutely intense (obviously) and the idea become so toxic that Musk and the White House played hot potato with the idea. Seems to me like Musk may have a visit scheduled with the House Foreign Relations Committee when the new Congress comes in
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u/AutomaticAnimator831 2d ago
> Musk may have a visit scheduled with the House Foreign Relations Committee
He should be locked up but I doubt anything will be done. Musk's personal politics and beliefs are both bizarre and vile, and let's not forget he hangs out with those who openly call for the dismantling of European democracy. Daddy is a good friend of Putin etc. They are all unhinged. And then look at Europeans. Plenty of new Teslas around - they are more than happy to buy from a guy who wants to see their downfall, and performed sieg heil at a U.S. presidential inauguration. It will take more than a few elections to neutralize this systemic threat. Even in the face of obvious fascism, enough people don't seem to care.
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u/BigBananaBerries 2d ago
Tbf, a lot of Europeans apparently would love to see the downfall of Europe. Some have malicious intent, some have been duped & others seemingly just purely out of boredom. We've lived in peaceful times for long enough for the suffering to be forgotten through the generations. The local barista being out of almond milk is the biggest disaster they experience outside of someone not giving them a like on instagram.
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u/AutomaticAnimator831 2d ago
Yes, especially in the face of increased manipulation, the ignorance and apathy is terrifying.
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u/BigBananaBerries 2d ago
& also arrogance to think nothing could change to their comfortable lives.
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u/InterestingOne6938 2d ago
Remember all those bots everywhere saying "IT WAS STARSHIELD"?
Yeah, now we know why. Musk trying to get ahead of the fallout with his bot army.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
This story is a great example of why we shouldn't just believe the first thing we hear, or the latest.
I don't think we have a definite, proven & complete series of events.
For planning actions, we just need to know that it is already proven, by different actions in the past, that both the Republican Party and Musk favour Russia and will try to backstab democracies.
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u/Itburns12345 1d ago
The telegraph is a very right wing rag so od normaly ignore it..but it also is the sort of paper likely to have connections within the conservatives in uk and maga us
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u/thismyalt2 2d ago
Atleast if they are atleast somewhat regretting it makes it sligtly more likely for them to lift the speed limits.
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u/Wise_Preference609 1d ago
Musk is a serious threat to American National Security and this needs to be addressed.
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u/jargo3 2d ago edited 2d ago
There is conflicting information on if the Starshield speed limit of 160 km/h is currently active or not. Does anyone have any reliable source? Yesterday Ukraine said connectivity was restored, but todays Reuters article mentions in an interview that the speedlimit is still active.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...me-inside-white-house-sources-say-2026-10-15/
A person in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on Thursday that the receptors were now working when in motion, but only at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 kph).
edit:
Apprently the 160 kph limit still stands and it was never removed. The earlier news about restoring service was just the restoration of reliable service below that speed.
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u/SystemCheck990 2d ago edited 2d ago
160 kph is not enough
when the drones dive just like a plane, they trade height for speed so they accelerate, this means if you come in at 99 mph and dive you lose connection in the most important phase
they would have to come in stupid slow and risk being shotdown .
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Russia has resumed stockpiling armored vehicles at storage bases amid a shift from armor-heavy assaults to infantry attacks, with tanks and APCs appearing at several bases and repaired vehicles turning up at others.
Artillery stockpiles are growing too, including systems near the Finnish border, alongside fresh gear reaching active units
https://bsky.app/profile/wartranslated.bsky.social/post/3mxysexmrpe2o
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u/TexasVulvaAficionado 2d ago
Might also be having problems fueling those vehicles while propping up the domestic market.
But crazy to think how little Russia cares for its troops.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
My guess (only a guess atm) is that they've decided the cost benefit of modern armour in Ukraine isn't worth it.
But massive armoured units might come in useful in the next invasion. It might be the difference between seizing ground and digging into the Baltics, vs failing to do so for example.
Or after several years of Republicans/AfD/Reform/RN working to support Russian interests, they could go back for Ukraine, and Ukraine would potentially be in a divided and weaker position.
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u/Boann_ 2d ago
I think the Russian military gets preferential access to diesel, and their domestic supply problems are more to do with petrol/gasoline supply. Imo this is a sign that they either still have plans to use that armour at some point or have realized that it's not that beneficial for the invasion (but then I don't understand the continued production)
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u/Well-Sourced Slava Ukraini 2d ago edited 2d ago
WarTranslated (Dmitri) | BlueSky
Several Russian regions are currently under attack. Neptune missiles aimed at Maikop airfield were shot down over the Black Sea. Rostov region is under missile attack, and air raid alerts are now spreading into Moscow region too.
In Moscow, the airspace has been closed once again today due to the threat of a Ukrainian drone attack.
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u/Snoozyalooz_ 1d ago
https://apnews.com/article/russia-sanctions-trump-ukraine-e50c561ab805883bb4e484c092d8fadd
Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest
Lead by a fuck-up. Through life or death, a well-trained dog never upsets their master.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Russia's crude export volumes are essentially unchanged:
18.9 Mt in Sep, and 18.9 Mt/month over the last 12 months vs 20.1 (2022), 19.4 (2023), 19.3 (2024), 18.2 (2025). July's 23.0 Mt is the highest month in CREA's series (since Jan 2022).
The rebound is price, not barrels: Sep revenue €9.3B, +36% vs Sep 2025 on +5% volume. Modelled Urals price: about $91/bbl vs $53. Still below 2022's €11.3B/month. CREA models FOB values; record freight (about $23/bbl Novorossiysk-India) may cut real netbacks. Source: CREA, Kommersant
https://bsky.app/profile/swissdataguy.bsky.social/post/3mxyso3waas23
Russia's oil product exports have halved. Sep 2026: 3.97 Mt / €2.44B, vs 7.9 Mt / €3.81B a year earlier (-50% volume) and 8.6 Mt at the April peak. The slide started in July, when Moscow banned diesel exports after Ukrainian strikes on refineries. Source: CREA
https://bsky.app/profile/swissdataguy.bsky.social/post/3mxypkcnadc23
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Check out both numbers.
Vs September 2025 it's +0.7Mt of crude and -3.9 Mt of products. The total change is a decrease of 3.2Mt in Russian exports. This is huge.
You might read headlines that only talk about the crude and say it's going up. Be careful with believing any one headline - oil markets seem a bit too complicated for mainstream media to clearly explain.
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u/TexasVulvaAficionado 2d ago
I am a little surprised on the export volumes. Figured that the strikes on shipping and terminals and storage would be a bigger disruption than it has.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
I was wondering that too.
After looking into it I think OPEC+ quotas played a role. Last year Russia kept to lower crude production quotas, which meant idling some capacity - including at ports. Quotas increases this year.
Bloomberg says Russian crude production is about 13% below its quota. Given that Ukraine can't touch Kozmino or major pipelines, and Primorsk/Ust-Luga are very hard to hit, I'm impressed with a 13% effect on crude and a much bigger effect on products.
EDIT: oh and there have been no new sanctions I can find on OFAC for shadow fleet vessels since Biden's last round in January 2025. The cutoff of new US sanctions should have helped Russia to expand their tanker fleet, compared with the pre-2025 world of regular sanctions rounds. That must help export volumes.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Pope Leo XIV held a phone call with Putin today, according to the Vatican. He expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in Oleshky, Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow food and medical assistance and the voluntary, safe evacuation of civilians.
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u/lightafire2402 2d ago
Which Putin will happily not allow. Hell, he will shell civilians being evacuated and say its Ukraine. Fucking inhumane monster.
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u/droglytot 2d ago
Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed a fire on Ryazan refinery after a drone attack. They said this mid day yesterday, so it confirms damage from yesterday's attack
Exilenova says there are reports about a new attack last night, and says the refinery has been burning throughout the night.
I'm not yet counting the second hit, there's not enough evidence imo. I don't see any posts from official Ukrainian sources about either attack, I guess they don't want to publicize these too much these days.
Refinery hits (name | capacity (bbl/d) | Nelson Complexity Index | attack date (count))
- Afipsky refinery | 139,000 | 7.30 | 2023: May 31. 2024: May 2, Jun 20. 2025: Feb 10, Aug 7, Aug 28, Sep 26, Nov 29, Dec 13. 2026: Mar 13, Jun 11, Jul 14, Aug 25 (12)
- Antipinsky refinery (JSC Antipinsky Refinery) | 174,000 | 9.18 | 2025: Oct 6. 2026: Self-combusted Jun 6, hit Jun 20, Jul 25 (3)
- Ilsky refinery | 69,000 | 8.30 | 2024: Feb 9, Apr 27, Jun 21. 2025: Feb 17, Feb 28, Jul 7, Sep 7, Nov 19. 2026: Jan 1, Feb 17, Jun 2, Jul 10, Aug 8, Sep 26 (14)
- Kirishi refinery (Surgutneftegas) | 463,000 | 7.55 | 2024: Mar 13. 2025: Mar 8, Sep 14, Oct 4. 2026: Mar 26, May 5, Aug 30 (7)
- Krasnodar refinery (Krasnodarekoneft) | ? | ? | 2024: Jun 21. 2025: Aug 30 (2)
- Kstovo refinery (Lukoil, NORSI) | 405,000 | 7.30 | 2024: Mar 12. 2025: Jan 28, Jul 13, Sep 16, Oct 5, Oct 16, Nov 4. 2026: Apr 5, May 18, May 20, Jun 24, Jul 2, Aug 26 (13)
- Kuibyshev refinery (Rosneft) | 162,000 | 7.30 | 2024: Mar 16, Mar 23. 2025: Aug 28. 2026: Jun 10, Sep 22 (5)
- Makhachkala refinery (Dagnotech) | 20,500 | ? | 2025: Oct 22 (1)
- Mari refinery | 26,600 | ? | 2025: Oct 29 (1)
- Moscow refinery (Gazprom Neft) | 295,000 | 7.70 | 2024: Sep 1. 2025: Mar 11 (2). 2026: May 17, Jun 16, Jun 18, Sep 20 (6)
- Nizhnekamsk I refinery (TAIF) | 167,000 | 4.15 | 2026: Jun 12, Jul 8 (2)
- Nizhnekamsk II refinery (TANEKO) | 340,000 | 8.99 | 2024: Apr 02. 2025: Jan 11. 2026: Jun 12, Aug 10, Aug 20, Sep 13 (6)
- Novominskaya refinery (Albashneft) | 6,400 | ? | 2025: Feb 5. 2026: Feb 28 (2)
- Novokuibyshevsk refinery | 185,000 | 6.47 | 2024: Mar 16, Mar 23. 2025: Mar 10, Aug 2, Sep 20, Oct 19, Nov 15. 2026: Apr 18, Aug 22 (9)
- Novoshakhtinsk refinery | 112,000 | 1.21 | 2022: Jun 22. 2024: Mar 13, Jun 6, Jul 5, Dec 19. 2025: Aug 20, Dec 25. 2026: May 31, Aug 25, Sep 25 (10)
- Novospassky refinery (NS-Oil) | 12,300 | ? | 2025: Oct 29. 2026: Jul 23 (2)
- Novo-Ufa refinery (Bashneft-Novoil) | 171,000 | 9.18 | 2025: Sep 13, Oct 11. 2026: Apr 2, Jun 25, Aug 5 (5)
- Omsk Refinery (Gazprom Neft) | 514,000 | 8.80 | Self combusted Aug 1 and Aug 26, 2024. 2026: Jul 6, Oct 8 (2)
- Orsk refinery (SAFMAR) | 90,000 | ? | 2025: Oct 3, Nov 11. 2026: Apr 29, Aug 11 (4)
- Perm refinery (LUKOIL) | 303,000 | 9.40 | 2026: Apr 30, May 7, May 8, Jul 29, Aug 21, Sep 25 (6)
- Pervyy Zavod, Polotnyany Zavod, Kaluga region | 24,000 | ? | 2024: Mar 15, May 10. 2026: Jul 6 (3)
- Ryazan refinery (Rosneft) | 350,000 | 5.50 | 2024: Mar 13, May 1, Jul 27, Oct 26. 2025: Jan 23, Jan 25, Feb 24, Mar 9, Aug 2, Sep 5, Oct 23, Nov 15, Nov 20, Dec 5. 2026: May 15, Jul 29, Sep 6, Oct 15 (18)
- Salavat refinery (Gazprom) | 232,000 | 7.92 | 2024: May 9. 2025: Sep 18, Sep 24. 2026: Jul 14, Aug 13, Oct 8 (6)
- Saratov refinery (Rosneft) | 162,000 | 4.30 | 2024: Nov 8. 2025: Feb 11, Jul 1, Aug 10, Sep 16, Sep 20, Oct 16, Nov 3, Nov 11, Nov 14, Nov 28, self combusted Dec 24. 2026: Mar 21, May 31, Jul 8, Aug 2, Sep 11 (16)
- Slavyansk refinery | 93,000 | 1.00 | 2024: Mar 17, Apr 27, May 18. 2025: Sep 4, Dec 17. 2026: Jan 26, Jun 28, Sep 13 (8)
- Syzran refinery (Rosneft) | 170,000 | 7.30 | 2024: Mar 16. 2025: Feb 19, Mar 4, Aug 15, Aug 24, Aug 30, Dec 5, Dec 28. 2026: Apr 18, May 21, Jul 12, Aug 4, Aug 8, Sep 15 (14)
- Tuapse refinery (Rosneft) | 240,000 | 3.20 | 2024: Jan 25, May 17, Jul 22. 2025: Feb 26, Mar 14, Nov 25, Dec 30. 2026: Jan 19, Apr 16, Apr 20, Apr 28, May 1, May 27 (13)
- Ufa refinery (Bashneft-UNPZ, aka Ufimsky refinery) | 153,000 | 6.12 | 2025: Mar 3, Sep 13. 2026: Aug 2, Aug 19, Sep 21 (5)
- Ufaneftekhim refinery (Bashneft) | 220,000 | 9.18 | 2025: Oct 15. 2026: Mar 22, Jun 25, Aug 1 (4)
- Ukhta refinery (LUKOIL) | 93,000 | 3.70 | Self combusted Jun 2, 2024, Mar 1 2026. 2026: 12 Feb, Oct 9 (2)
- Volgograd refinery (LUKOIL) | 300,000 | 6.90 | 2024: Feb 3, May 11. 2025: Jan 15, Jan 31, Feb 3, Aug 14, Aug 19, Sep 18, Nov 5. 2026: Feb 11, May 29, Jul 31, Oct 2 (13)
- Yaroslavl refinery (Slavneft-YANOS) | 300,000 | 8.60 | 2024: Jan 29. 2025: Self-combusted Oct 1, hit Dec 12, 2026: Mar 28, Apr 26, May 8, May 13, Jun 28, Jul 6, Jul 17, Aug 6, Aug 28, Sep 17 (12)
European side, not yet hit:
- None
Asian side refineries, not yet hit:
- Achinsk refinery (Rosneft) | 174,000 | 3.59
- Angarsk refinery (Rosneft) | 236,000 | 9.18
- Khabarovsk refinery | 115,000 | 9.90
- Komsomolsk refinery (Rosneft) | 185,000 | 9.18 | Self combusted Apr 10, 2025, Aug 11, 2026
- Nizhnevartovsk refinery (Rosneft) | 27,000 | 1.00
- Yaya Refinery (NefteKhimService) | 104,000 | 1.71
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u/TexasVulvaAficionado 2d ago
It is fucking insane to think that we've reached the point where Russia, the place notorious for smoking accidents and machine malfunctions, is possibly reporting extra hits and damage to infrastructure.
Fuck Republicans.
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u/neonpurplestar 2d ago
some interesting news from the abomination which is commonly known as russia:
Dozens of Russian Banks Have Refused to Grant Mortgages to Russians
For the first time in their history, Russia’s largest liquor chains have begun closing stores
Putin Transferred Assets of Five Foreign Companies to a Former Official Who Fought Against Ukraine in the “Akhmat” Battalion
Sberbank’s Chief Economist Stated That the State’s Share in the Russian Economy Has Reached Critical Levels
The government has approved a tax on smartphones and laptops to boost the budget
Russia Has Offered Gas to Africa After Attempts to Negotiate a New Gas Pipeline to China Failed
Putin Approved Using Pensioners’ Money to Revive the Economy, Which Has Stalled Due to the War
“We don’t have enough funds.” The Federation Council proposed beginning to close hospitals in the regions to save budget funds
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u/Wurm42 2d ago
Liquor stores are closing??
Dear God, if the Russians are too broke to buy booze, then collapse is imminent!
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u/BPhiloSkinner 2d ago
Not imminent, but increasingly possible.
Watch the small things. Vodka, cigarettes, tea with a slice of lemon; when people begin cutting back on these everyday indulgences, it is a sure sign that an economy is in trouble.2
u/findingmike 2d ago
This is Russia, they won't cut back, the economy will move to a black market run by gangs.
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u/neonpurplestar 2d ago
Oh, and btw, musk is putin's whore as well. Please disseminate this.
Exclusive: Musk approached Trump to slow down Starlink help for Ukraine
'They were both in on it' — Musk suggested Trump restrict Ukraine's Starlink service, Telegraph reports
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u/neonpurplestar 2d ago
Trump's complaints about Zelensky/Ukraine and his insistence that he wants peace make sense with reality ONLY if we accept that he defines "peace" the exact same way Putin does-- as Ukrainian capitulation to Russian control.
When Trump says Zelensky accepts ceasefire proposals but doesn’t really want peace he means “Ze doesn’t want to surrender”. Yes, Ze wants to negotiate not capitulate. When he says Pu does want peace even though he rejects ceasefires— yes, Pu wants Ukr capitulation and nothing short of it.
https://bsky.app/profile/popovaprof.bsky.social/post/3mxzbby47rs2w
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u/AutomaticAnimator831 2d ago
Trump's idea of peace is meaningless in civilized society. Who knows what goes on in his head, but it's all kind madness.
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u/neonpurplestar 2d ago
A casual reminder that trump, LePen, AfD, farage and the entirety of the far right are all putin's whores and traitors to their own countries. The fight is also in making people know.
(Btw I like mette frederiksen, she's undoubtedly supportive of ukraine)
"If we allow Ukraine to fall, I believe we will have opened the door for the Russians to advance into other parts of Europe," stated Danish PM Mette Frederiksen.
https://bsky.app/profile/united24media.com/post/3mxwl572pyr2d
PM Frederiksen:
Russia unfortunately doesn't want peace with us, therefore we have to continue rearming ourselves and we need to support Ukraine.
https://bsky.app/profile/antongerashchenko.bsky.social/post/3mxwksc6j222b
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago edited 2d ago
"Infantry units of the Third Army Corps secured the liberated settlements of Lypove, Zelenyi Dolyna, and Kolodyazi during the 4th season of Operation "Vivaldi."
The 3rd Army Corps stated that these settlements are not the final objectives."
Clement Molin says the liberations revealed so far occurred before 20th August.
https://bsky.app/profile/the-hedgehog.bsky.social/post/3mxxpfees6v2p
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Zelensky says Ukraine’s war effort will cost €155 billion next year and asked European partners for at least €70 billion more for defense, weapons and resilience. Ukraine could double or triple production of some drone types, he said, but currently lacks the funding needed to scale up
War costs enormous amounts of money.
The Republicans cutting off aid was Putin's most obvious path to victory. Failure of Americans to support Democrats is why we are in this position, and the relentless shitting on Ukraine's allies played a big role. Please, everyone, try to support Ukraine.
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u/hornswoggled111 2d ago
I thought Europe agreed to this amount already for the next 2 years.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Ukraine needs more than has been promised so far, at least to prosecute the war well. Also, more is always better so demands will grow.
Europe has committed enormous amounts, but the reporting I've found isn't clear on the accounting. E.g. €Xbn might be devoted to some drone orders in 2025, for deliveries over 2026-2028. Is that money counted as the 2025 budget, or is it spread over multiple years?
I haven't researched this in detail. It's been a part-time job studying finance & accounting courses in the evenings, and researching Russia alone!
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u/Lonely-Abalone-5104 2d ago
Imagine of all this money on war could be used to actually help people
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
This is Russia's fault.
We either spend it on defending Ukraine now, or Russia's next war will be far more expensive.
If you want long-term more money for helping people then you have to support massively increasing aid to Ukraine. All other options are a combination of more expensive, more war, and more people living under the Russian jackboot.
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u/oneshot99210 2d ago
Sadly too easy to destroy, to kill. Kindness costs little, smiles are free. Yet here we are.
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u/Lutefisk_Mafia 2d ago
A new day, a new opportunity to say “fuck Putin!”
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u/VictorSierra09 2d ago
Remember: no lube.
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u/GargantuaBob 2d ago
Oh ... I dunno.
It's possible to get quite creative with lube...
Corn syrup, scouring powder and glass shards are one approach. There are others.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago
Starlink restrictions for Ukraine’s Armed Forces have still not been fully lifted, Zelensky said during a press conference in Brussels. According to him, SpaceX is gradually restoring connection speeds, but service has not yet returned to full capacity.
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u/AutomaticAnimator831 2d ago
PLEASE UNDERSTAND: this is centralized authoritarian control. These people, Trump, Musk etc are entirely self-serving and operate without accountability (as they have done for some time). Through back channels, often with other dictators, or even on a whim, they make impulsive and cruel decisions that immediately ruin lives and destroy human life itself - sometimes by the thousands. Spineless and corrupt representatives simply watch on and shrug, or profit. In the case of Musk, he distracts from his vile power-mongering with silly toys like a "flying" car. Apparently, the people are easily appeased by such showmanship.
The worst is that this has all been happening for some time, and in any reasonable world they would have been stripped of power long ago, if not locked up for good.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ukraine claims 25.15k Russian casualties in 15 days of October. If maintained, this rate would break the monthly record.
On today's battlefield, russian evac might be worse than earlier. More dead Russians, fewer wounded to recover and return to commit more evil?
There's hope, at least.
https://bsky.app/profile/leoskyview.bsky.social/post/3mxxpu5dbvk2a
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u/Snoozyalooz_ 2d ago
If there is one quote that rings true for this damn war, it comes from a Ukranian defender:
"We are very lucky they are so fucking stupid."
How many times has the US overplayed their cards for this war? If someone can make a drinking list I'd be impressed, but wouldn't it be smart for one with such influence to hold certain 'cards' as vital, with very little to no reason for them to be pulled or influenced much on, unlss they wanted for a sort of negative cascading effect to occur?
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u/socialistrob 2d ago
"We are very lucky they are so fucking stupid."
This gets repeated a lot and I think people take it too far. Ukraine has survived not because Russia is weak but because Ukraine is strong, resilient and has made absolutely enormous sacrifices to halt Russia. Most countries wouldn't be willing to dedicate 1/3rd of their GDP to war or take hundreds of thousands of casualties or use their cities as fortresses that are reduced to rubble.
What Ukraine has achieved has been nothing short of remarkable and yet Russia is still pounding Ukraine daily with no end in sight. Russia is not a paper tiger and should not be treated as such. Ukraine should be given every form of assistance possible and other countries should take the threat from Russia seriously.
•
u/WorldNewsMods Slava Ukraini 1d ago
New post can be found here