As a russian guy, I'm still unconclusive what's the reason behind that. Unlike Palestinian-Israeli conflict, this one seems to happen over nothing. Just one aging man's sick ambitions that brought suffering to many families. I feel shame whenever I contact my ukrainian friends. For that fucking state used my representation to bring so much useless, senseless morbidity onto neighboring nation. It's 2023, why would we even want that? With all fucking problems we have as a humankind, why fighting Ukraine for 9+ years is even on the table? It doesn't make any sense. It's insanity. And I don't feel like I can ever compensate for that before I die. The damage we caused is too much for one's lifetime. It should've never happened.
I feel right to feel these guilt and pain though. I'm actually pleased to expirience them. Having them means there's something left to my humanity, something is still there, shining in my rotten corpse. The nerve response that is lacking in my many countrymen. A bell whose ring tells me I'm still human and I still have empathy. That signal isn't pretty, yet it's welcome in our trying times.
If I'm allowed to, I'd beg you to spend your sympathy towards me on my ukrainian homies. Years ago I had a gaming group that included persons from all ex-USSR. And I haven't heard from ukraininan dudes and gals in a while. Guess, they could've left our VK network altogether since this war happened, and it's right for them to do so because it's shit, but I'm still worried if they are alright, if they got caught in this conflict. If you are a faithful person, please put a candle on my behalf for their safety in your church or mosque of choice. If you aren't, just like me, well, you can listen to a story of Nestor Makhno, that one based ukrainian anarchist who kept the free state there for a while: https://youtu.be/dqD9VZuGBJw?si=sDs4sDYsMDX0fs4p He's an image to respect, and to replicate, and a great piece of our history that kremlin bitches want to erase. Just knowing it, you deny them easy win (:
With all arguments I had not ending up with me behind the bars lol, I guess everyone's tired. Even those psychoes who want to eradicate the whole ukrainian nation are sure that it drags for too long and talking heads are doing it wrong, that's not how the genocide should be done in their opinion 🤷
If there could've been a vote to conservate the current frontline, I guess 95% would be for it. But it's not how it works, because Russia already claimed 4 regions in it's constitution and putin can't walk that back easily (he can, but he won't, because it would ruin the remains of his strongman image), and Ukraine had an expirience of tolerating such thing with Minsky accords, them leading directly to '22 february attack.
I guess at that point no one actively wants to participate in this war anymore, besides maybe some vets joining PMC at their own terms. Even in pro-state (kek) telegram channels, there's too many uninspiring news, confusion and gore. There's also a lot of news of conscription offices being even more agressive in dragging people from universities, workplaces, streets, even gay bars - yes we had plenty in Moscow and S. Petersburg in spite of our homophobic laws. They are desperate to take anyone, to raid any place. Not yet deadly desperate, but it's sure out of their regular amount of effort.
I don't believe these people are ready to protest, even peacefully, but at the very least it occured to them they are better off dodging service than dying under Avdiivka. 2 years in, riiiight. Baby steps 👶 Wifes of servicemen just got declined from having a peaceful congregation about missing their men who ended up on limitless service 'until the end of the war' lol. Make it brew some more time and maybe it'd lead to something more radical. But yeah, many people know about that, and even if they were ignorant enough to sign in, they would now have doubts about joining that circus.
Thing is, Avdiivka is still slowly falling, similar to Bakhmut which the UAF could not retake in the end. And as long as they make creeping progress, russians don't mind disproportionate casualties. Adding in the fact that GOP may cause the US to completely drop support in 2024, I don't see much to be positive about.
Sure, but they are losing so incredibly much. If they keep doing this for another year, they will have exhausted the massive Soviet vehicle stockpiles. For a few km of gains.
They won't. The west has been meming that russia will run out of something or collapse any moment now... for months now. They will simply push the war economy harder and produce low quality but working vehicles when they start running so low.
I've wondered how people ran happily into their doom in WW1/2, and thought nowadays with all the information readily available they'd not fight and die for some grand illusion of some asshole wearing a crown or whatever Putin wears. But I was wrong. I don't understand how they're not on his ass, noose ready. Instead they cheer for him. Of course not all Russians, but enough to let him keep destroying their own future.
That's really hard for me to grasp. If my government would start some shit like that we'd collectively laugh and replace them.
Answer: state propaganda. A well crafted one. For every "but this is obviously true" they present you with 5-10 of "but look, there is also this, so we might never really know, therefore it's most likely not true". Most people are not well educated and trust this shit.