Where are all of Russia's much touted advanced weapons?

[Michael Kenny]

Legality = possession + international recognition.

Correction:
Legality = possession + might
See 'West Bank'.

[wm]

Yes, a powerful entity could force its will on the international community. But that's reality.
An example was Stalin with Roosevelt in tow when they created a fake Polish government for the purpose of accepting their demands.

Russia isn't by far that powerful, and by forcing the conflict with the West, she has exposed herself to major international predators, including China, Iran, Turkey.
America, the EU, and China are part of the world oligarchy, and Russia isn't - and has no chance of becoming.

In international relations isn't useful to pay attention to morals anyway - it's bad for our mental health.

[Michael Kenny]

Russia isn't by far that powerful, and by forcing the conflict with the West,

I must have missed that bit. What conflict with 'The West' did Russia start/force?

Russia isn't by far that powerful, and by forcing the conflict with the West, she has exposed herself to major international predators, including China, Iran, Turkey.

Rubbish. You are naming those nations that do not follow the western play-book in some deluded attempt to make them out to be Russian enemies.

[Cult Icon]

The complete occupation of Ukraine will not be a long term solution. If Ukrainians do not want to be part of Russia, then they'll 1. flee 2. resist. The Ukrainian infrastructure is already in ruins, and Russia simply does not have the money to repair it and elevate Ukraine's living standards to that of Russia. It might have been possible before the war, without the extensive damage, the mass exodus, and the unfavourable international relations.

There isn't a military solution for everything. Military should be a part of the state, not the other way around. What happens if the Russians "win" in their new offensive? Nothing, really. The chance for Ukraine being an integral part of the Russian Federation is close to zero. What happens if Ukraine deflects the Russian attack? Nothing, really. The chance for Ukraine being rebuilt and restored (not to mention its state elevated to Balkans standards at least) is also close to zero. Let's say the Ukrainians push out the Russians from Eastern Ukraine. What happens? Nothing, really; because there is the Crimea then, which again will be a casus belli, although the people who live there probably don't even favour the Ukrainian rule. So when will this war end?

It can practically drag on forever. And during all these years, the EU will be weaker, Russia will be weaker, and Ukraine will be devastated. Thus, again, isn't it time for peace talks?

That this war doesn't make any sense (most wars don't) is obvious, but as the political situation on both sides want to settle things by combat, it will be settled by combat.

On the economic front, the Russian goal is evidently to turn Ukraine into the European Somalia and impose hundreds of billions of costs in international aid. Ukrainian GDP is currently down to around $ 2,000 per capita which makes them an incredibly poor country.

Militarily the only way for Russia to inflict strategic-scale blows on Ukraine (which is like the European North Korea now with an absurdly large army for its population base) is to

1. conduct gigantic, classical WW2 style encirclements and capture masses of them

2. Use firepower attrition combined with very conservative use of troops in positional warfare, use another 9 million or so rounds of heavy artillery/rockets in 2023 and try to bleed Ukrainian human material to death, and causing some kind of military collapse.

3. use nuclear weapons, and cause a second European refugee crisis & succeed in depopulating central/western Ukraine.

They are currently trying to #2. which has a lot of problems. Since the Russians aren't capturing many Ukrainian troops, irrecoverable Ukrainian losses are in the main through killed and crippled. And Ukrainian conscript pool is in the many millions. Even shooting 10 million heavy artillery rounds into them per year would genocide these human material rather slowly.

[wm]

I must have missed that bit. What conflict with 'The West' did Russia start/force?

Putin challenged the existing world order, and its cornerstone that war is the continuation of politics is unacceptable.
For that, he must be punished; otherwise, this kind of behavior could become the norm.

Rubbish. You are naming those nations that do not follow the western play-book in some deluded attempt to make them out to be Russian enemies.

The countries aren't Russian enemies, but they aren't Russian friends either.
This is why driven by realpolitik; they will exploit Russian weakness for their own benefit.

[Michael Kenny]

Putin challenged the existing world order, and its cornerstone that war is the continuation of politics is unacceptable.
For that, he must be punished; otherwise, this kind of behavior could become the norm.

So now its 'Putin challenged the existing World Order'? That is a huge step up from 'conflict with The West'. Why not go for the star prize and say Putin is a threat to the stability of the entire Universe. I bet you could link Putin to D B Cooper if you tried hard enough.

The countries aren't Russian enemies, but they aren't Russian friends either.
This is why driven by realpolitik; they will exploit Russian weakness for their own benefit.

Nope. You are so desperate to portray a 'World v The Ruskies' that you are making things up. China will NEVER abandon Russia because it is simply not in China's interest to be the last man standing in the way of western domination. It is in China's vital interest to have Russia's back.

As we speak millions of Chinese balloons are being prepped for an assault on western airspace. Once The USAAF have blasted ever innocent commercial balloon and weather drone from its skies it can start dealing with the flocks of Chinese drone seagulls.
Spielberg tried to warn us. ET was actually shorthand for 'Eastern Threat' and Q will soon be revealing other details......Space Lasers...............Dominion voting machines......massive Dumps...............Hunter's Laptop......

[wm]

China has abandoned Russia already. The West is twenty-two times wealthier than Russia.
For that reason the Chinese won't die for Crimea.
The road to China's greatness is through economic (even if hostile) cooperation with the West, not with technologically backward Russia.
Balloons notwithstanding, every day, hundreds of ships with Chinese goods arrive in Europe and America. And a river of money goes the other way.

Conflict with The West and challenging world order is the same thing. The West doesn't oppose Putin because the Ukrainians are cute; it opposes him because Putin and his ilk threaten its long-term well-being.

[Cult Icon]

China has abandoned Russia already.

China and Russia continue to do business with each other, including business that supports Russia's war in Ukraine.

My main curiosity is not this false belief but from what propaganda it originates.

[Michael Kenny]

For that reason the Chinese won't die for Crimea.

You have let the cat out of the bag with your 'Crimea' reference. Clearly you (and all the other crazy cold war warriors in the thread) are looking for excuses to widen the conflict. You are all crazy and I suggest you all take a bus to Ukraine and volunteer to fight the Russians yourself before you try and drag others in to act out your fantasy.

[Cult Icon]

"China Aids Russia’s War in Ukraine, Trade Data Shows
Despite sanctions, Moscow equips its jet fighters, submarines and soldiers with help of Chinese companies"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-aids ... 1675466360

"The customs records show Chinese state-owned defense companies shipping navigation equipment, jamming technology and jet-fighter parts to sanctioned Russian government-owned defense companies.

Those are but a handful of tens of thousands of shipments of dual-use goods—products that have both commercial and military applications—that Russia imported following its invasion last year"

"The customs records include examples of exports of parts for the type of weapons used by Russian forces in Ukraine.

China’s state-owned defense company Poly Technologies on Aug. 31, 2022, shipped navigation equipment to Russia’s state-owned military export firm JSC Rosoboronexport for M-17 military transport helicopters. Earlier that month, Chinese electronics firm Fujian Nanan Baofeng Electronic Co. supplied to Rosoboronexport—through an Uzbek state-owned defense firm—a telescoping antenna for the RB-531BE military vehicle, which is used for communications jamming. On Oct. 24, Chinese state-owned aircraft firm AVIC International Holding Corp. shipped to AO Kret, a subsidiary of sanctioned government-owned defense giant Rostec, $1.2 million worth of parts for Su-35 jet fighters. "

"Other foreign-government suppliers found in the customs data include China Taly Aviation Technologies Corp., a procurement unit of China’s Air Force Equipment Department. The Chinese aviation company didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Among that firm’s shipments were parts sent on Oct. 4 to Russia’s sanctioned state-owned missile-manufacturer Almaz Antey for use on the 96L6E mobile radar unit. Russia uses the radar to detect enemy jet fighter, missiles and drones as part of its S-400 antiaircraft missile system being used in Ukraine, according to arms analysts. The Russian firm didn’t respond to requests for comment."

"The data also shows shipments of Chinese DJI quadcopters to Russia after the sanctions and export controls were imposed. Military analysts say the drones are being used by the Russian forces to locate and surveil Ukrainian forces, then target them with artillery.

Some of these drones are delivered directly by a Chinese retailer to Russian distributors, according to customs records, but other DJI quadcopters transit through the United Arab Emirates."

[Michael Kenny]

China has abandoned Russia already.

No they have not. Anyone who thinks that is true is either deaf dumb and blind or bat-shit crazy.

[LineDoggie]

Correction:
Legality = possession + might
See 'West Bank'.

See Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Ceuta, Melilla, Kaliningrad, Puerto Rico....

[LineDoggie]

An example was Stalin with Roosevelt in tow when they created a fake Polish government for the purpose of accepting their demands.

Of course there was zero FDR could do to stop Stalin from adding Poland to his ''zoo'', then. USA certainly could not declare war on the USSR since we already were fighting the Germans, Italians and Japanese.

that's reality

[wm]

China and Russia continue to do business with each other, including business that supports Russia's war in Ukraine.

Of course, why shouldn't they?
It's realpolitik 101 - no friends or foes, only interests.
It makes the West desire cooperation with China more.

[wm]

Of course there was zero FDR could do to stop Stalin from adding Poland to his ''zoo'', then. USA certainly could not declare war on the USSR since we already were fighting the Germans, Italians and Japanese.

that's reality

Nobody says anything about ww3 with Stalin.
FDR could have refused to support Stalinist Russia; he could have disengaged from the war with Germany, especially in 1942 - leaving Stalin alone with Hitler.
Or at least not collaborate with Stalin in the rape of East European countries.