Despite the polls, experts believe that the War in Ukraine continues to be highly unpopular in Russia, with low morale among Russian soldiers. Russia continues to deals with deserting, and non compliance, by their own soldiers, while throwing thousands off untrained

Russia faces 'economic oblivion' as Western sanctions continue to eat away at GDP, new study says

A new study looked into the severe hit being absorbed by Russian GDP amid wartime sanctions from the West.

Businesses are leaving Russia in droves, and foreign companies that have left previously accounted for 40% of GDP, the authors wrote.

"There is no path out of economic oblivion for Russia as long as the allied countries remain unified in maintaining and increasing sanctions pressure."

Well, if this is true, then that is quite an accomplishment of pure incompetence by Russia, who are doing half the work of helping Ukraine win the war. Their whole military force must be run by a bunch of idiots.

Russia has suffered an estimated 75,000 casualties in Ukraine invasion, U.S. officials say

LONDON — More than 75,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured since the Kremlin launched its brutal war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to U.S. intelligence.

Speaking to CNN, Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin said the estimate was revealed during a classified briefing with officials from the Biden administration. “We were briefed that over 75,000 Russians have either been killed or wounded [in Ukraine], which is huge. ... Over 80% of their land forces are bogged down, and they’re tired,” she said.

That roughly correlates to the number of casualties estimated by CIA Director William Burns on July 20. “I think the latest estimates from the U.S. intelligence community would be, you know, something in the vicinity of 15,000 killed and maybe three times that wounded, so a quite significant set of losses,” Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum.

I wonder which will come first? Russia becoming broke, or running out of soldiers, because of their stupid decision to invade a sovereign county that was of no threat to them.

Russia, Belarus military bases rocked by fire, explosions days after Crimea air base sees destructive blasts

Military bases in Russia and Belarus were rocked by an outbreak in fires and explosions Thursday, just days after a Russian airbase in Crimea saw explosions that wiped out nine warplanes.

Russian forces complain of low-quality equipment in new video

Russia has suffered an estimated 75000 casualties in Ukraine invasion us officials say

I think this says it all: Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine

The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty — if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

At this point, who is he trying to kid.

Putin brags that Russian weapons are 'years, perhaps even decades' ahead of rivals as his army pulls old Soviet-era tanks out of deep storage due to losses in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged about his country's advanced weapons on Monday.

He said during a speech that they are "years, perhaps even decades" ahead of foreign rivals.

But on the battlefield in Ukraine, Russia has been forced to use outdated Soviet-era armor due to heavy losses.

Meanwhile...

Ukraine says it can hit 'almost all' Russian supply lines in occupied south

You can convince a great many people with lies. That won't make it true.

Doesn't matter if you a next generation stealth jet that can go mach 25, if it's not supplied, maintained and has the infrastructure and logistics to keep it going, it's just a waste of resources.

This Russian 'special operation' has been a long, dirty and ugly slog. The Russians thinking they'll have this wrapped up this year are kidding themselves.

"Russia is facing the mass migration abroad of large numbers of its Jewish population, with at least one in eight leaving the country since its war with Ukraine began."

What's Putin gonna do? Accuse them of being closet Nazis? It would seem 'denazification' is having quite the opposite effect back home...

Got to hand it to the Ukrainians for destroying targets well behind enemy lines. The psychological effect it must be having on the Russian military and the people must be something.

After killing 10's of thousands of innocent civilians in Ukraine, for a war that was started because of the narcissism of President Putin who dreams of a past Russian empire, Russia is trying to generate outrage to bolster their sagging support for their war with a car bomb that killed the daughter of one of Putin's' closest allies.

'Kyiv will shudder': Russians outraged after deadly Moscow car bombing kills daughter of Putin ally. Live updates.

Meanwhile...

Ukraine holds victory 'parade' of captured Russian tanks to mock Putin who 'dreamt of capturing Kyiv in 3 days'

While the USA and west in general DO benefit from getting to use Ukrain to debilitate Russia, Russia isn't using Ukraine as a proxy to wage war with the west, Russia is straight up trying to take Ukraine itself. Russia is the entity causing and enforcing this conflict, Russia has given the west a morally high point from which to take advantage of the situation. The west is benefitting from the war, as a way of debilitating Russia, but that is good. Russia asked for it. It is the expected and deserved outcome. I celebrate all supply of weapons and equipment to Ukraine thus far.

Any reasons? For invading a sovereign country, violating international law, committing genocide, kidnapping hundreds of thousands of people and terrorizing its own nation?

It’s not any different from the time the USSR tried to invade Finland if we’re being honest with ourselves

The Finns had Simo Häyhä, though.

On the internet, it’s usually contrarianism.

US plans to send billions more in military aid to help Ukraine.

Biden announces $3 billion Ukraine military aid package on its Independence Day

Putin is desperate for more victims.... I mean more patriotic Russians to join the Russian military ranks on their own volition to be sent to the killing fields for his narcissistic needs.

Putin Orders Russia to Recruit 137,000 More Troops as War Drags

For weeks Russia forces have shelled around a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, creating a lot international concern over it, with the most recent shelling leading it to temporarily loose power

Ukrainian nuclear plant temporarily cut off from power grid

And Russia says that their massive fucks up, billions in military equipment loses, and high causality numbers, were all intentional...

Russia’s New Excuse for War Failures: We’re Doing It ‘on Purpose’

Russia’s Defense Ministry has a new excuse for why it is faltering in the war in Ukraine: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed—without providing evidence—that Russian forces are being careful to avoid civilian casualties, which he says is slowing down their progress.

“Every effort is being done to prevent civilian casualties. It certainly slows down the advance,” Shoigu told a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Wednesday, according to TASS. “But we are doing it on purpose.”

This seems pretty logical: Analysis-Putin bets winter gas chokehold will yield Ukraine peace - on his terms

LONDON (Reuters) - Cold winters helped Moscow defeat Napoleon and Hitler. President Vladimir Putin is now betting that sky-rocketing energy prices and possible shortages this winter will persuade Europe to strong arm Ukraine into a truce -- on Russia's terms.

That, say two Russian sources familiar with Kremlin thinking, is the only path to peace that Moscow sees, given Kyiv says it will not negotiate until Russia leaves all of Ukraine.

"We have time, we can wait," said one source close to the Russian authorities, who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

"It's going to be a difficult winter for Europeans. We could see protests, unrest. Some European leaders might think twice about continuing to support Ukraine and think it's time for a deal."

A second source close to the Kremlin said Moscow thought it could already detect faltering European unity and expected that process to accelerate amid winter hardship.

This may have been another miscalculation on the part of Putin.

Putin, who wants to control Russian speaking territories, and wants to blackmail European countries to that end by cutting them off from Russian natural gas to get them to do what he wants in the region, may have shot himself in the foot as distrust in Russia grows over it and European countries prepare for it by stockpiling it before winter and look for other ways to be less reliant on Russian natural gas. Basically, Putin is killing off certain foreign markets for Russian natural gas, and will be poorer for it.

At this point, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Russia will win the war in Ukraine, given the massive casualties they have suffered, and facing dwindling military equipment. They have become so desperate for military equipment that they are now trying to get North Korea to supply them with older missiles and artillery.

On a more recent, and humiliating, note, Russia has admitted that Ukraine forces have pretty much crumpled their defenses in Eastern Ukraine, which could prove to be a new turning point in the 6 month war.

Ukraine is kicking ass right now.

Looks like Putin is feeling a lot of critism over the disastrous Russian retreat in north eastern Ukraine.

As Russians Retreat, Putin Is Criticized by Hawks Who Trumpeted His War

Moscow Officials Urge Putin to GTFO: ‘Everything Went Wrong’

And now these terrorist bastards - being unable to win on the battlefield - launched a series of missile strikes on Ukrainian power plants. Most people in the north-eastern Ukraine are without power now.

I think most people are more worried that there could be a nuclear meltdown if Russia continues to damage it with their constant shelling around it.

I currently mean power plants other than the nuclear one in Zaporizhzhia, the non-nuclear ones that are located in Kharkiv Oblast, that supply the surrounding oblasts with electricity. A revenge of the cowards for Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Pretty soon Ukraine will have as much military equipment as Russia itself, maybe more by the end.

Russian troops fleeing after their lines were shattered left behind so much ammo and weaponry Ukraine struggled to handle it all

Ukraine has pushed a massive counteroffensive in the country's northeast and southern regions.

The advancement has forced Russian soldiers to flee their positions, some even in civilian clothes.

Some Ukrainian troops say they've been overwhelmed by how much ammo and weaponry was left behind.

Russian soldiers are dropping their rifles and fleeing in disguise to escape Ukraine's counteroffensive, reports say

Ukrainian forces recaptured swaths of territory from Russian control in the Kharkiv region.

Russian soldiers tried to flee in any way they could, The Washington Post and Financial Times said.

Some Russian soldiers stole bicycles, while others disguised themselves as locals, the reports said.

yeah, while we shouldn't take reports at face value, this counter-offensive seems to have been wildly successful

good for ukraine, hopefully they can have this much success movong forward, too

Blood is in the water and the sharks around Russia's borders are circling. It's getting existential for Armenia at this point.

Neil Hauer on Twitter: "❗️Military units of Azerbaijan have opened fire with artillery and drones on Armenia. This takes place on the internationally recognized territory of Armenia itself, outside of disputed Karabakh. A major escalation by Baku." / Twitter

Presented without comment

Ursula von der Leyen on Twitter: "The EU is turning to trustworthy energy suppliers. Azerbaijan is one of them. With today's agreement, we commit to expanding the Southern Gas Corridor, to double gas supplies from Azerbaijan to the EU. This is good news for our supplies of gas this winter and beyond. https://t.co/j1sVcv10z6" / Twitter

And? If you have something to say, then say it. Don't fart out two Twitter posts and expect people to mind read your right-wing implication of a conspiracy that favors Russia.

With all of the Russian embarrassments/defections and the geopolitical isolation taking its toll, I wonder when Russia will begin to sue for peace? Putin seems to be quite stubborn about continuing on, but the military leadership has got to think that cutting their losses might be for the best. (Although like Putin, they don't seem like they want to give up easily)