Or, perhaps we can realize this is either all false or extremely misrepresented to such an extent as to make it false?
The idea they've been retreating for so long? I mean, if you consider a single week a long time, sure, but from April onward they had nothing but victory. They cleared out all of the LPR by the start of July and and were making gains towards Nikolaev throughout August. That's roughly five months of nothing but success.
Their industry has no meaning? An odd claim given they've managed to not only test, produce, and combat use a hypersonic missile before the United States could even get a successful model down pat. How about the fact they've been able to mass produce regular cruise missiles, again a feat the West is not capable of? Or we can talk about how Russia produces more shells in a single year than the United States does in 10; I'm not even joking.
Crowd sourcing equipment?
Would you like to talk about how the National Bank of Ukraine had to open an account to crowd fund the AFU lol? Russia hasn't had to do that. While you're at it, you might want to look at this Ukrainian unit raising funds via writing messages on artillery shells:
Also of research interest for you might be why they aren't going by their unit name, but instead using their official designation. Surely nice people they are, right? Not at all bad people in this unit, no sir.....
Political will, eh? Well first, you might find it useful to go see that volunteer rates have continued and more people than ordered showed up to be mobilized voluntarily;
you might find it useful to review how I showed Husky Khan got duped repeatedly on Twitter to see just how much misinformation surrounding this there was.
You could also review what the actual data says too:
But one thing that hasn’t seemed to change is Russian public opinion. According to the Levada Center, an independent polling agency in Moscow, more than three-quarters of Russians continue to support what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, with just 18% opposed. Putin’s approval rating is similarly high at 83%, a figure that has only risen since the war began. A slightly smaller, but nonetheless consistent, majority of the public believe that the country is headed in the right direction.
In the delusions of some in this thread, sure, but in reality no. Equipment losses? Case in point of this is
Oryx is claiming 234 destroyed planes, Pentagon
came out and said it was actually just 55. Earlier this year
I noted how Oryx was hilariously claiming the Ukrainians had only lost 100 tanks when the Ukrainians themselves came out to admit to 400. When you actually compare data, you find most of those equipment loss claims don't hold up under scrutiny.
But, equipment doesn't tell the full story does it? For that, we need to consider formations, and in that we can safely say, without even needing to looking at the units in Ukraine, Russian retains significant combat power. Let's go through formations of an offensive nature that have not been sent to Ukraine:
- Of the 10 Combined Arms Armies, only three were assigned to Ukraine.
- 5 Army Corps, none of which have been assigned to Ukraine.
- Of the three Tank Armies, only 1st GTA was sent in.
Don't just take my word for it,
here's the Pentagon saying the same thing:
U.S. officials, providing a quiet check to Ukrainian exuberance, said that while Ukrainian troops have performed better in offensive operations than even their American backers had anticipated, those forces will encounter a period of intense fighting in the lead-up to winter as part of what they expect to be a “nonlinear” trajectory for the war.
A senior State Department official, who like other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning, said Thursday that while Ukrainian forces had proven they can reverse advances made by Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion, Russia retained a potent force.
“They have significant equipment and arms and munitions positioned in the occupied territories, not to mention what they have in Russia,” the official said. “And so it is far from over, despite the momentum.”
We've already disproved the first two, the last one is likewise false as well. No one outside the Western Bloc joined the sanctions; in fact, they increased trading with Russia. Hell, let's look inside Europe itself to see the effects of the war:
- Bulgaria and Montenegro both elected Pro-Russian governments
- Hungary is increasingly leaning towards Russia.
- 52% of Slovaks are supportive of Russia, and the party likely to take power is likewise.
- The ex FM of Romania is openly calling for dismemberment of Ukraine, and is currently polling in the lead there.
- There's been Pro Peace/Pro Russia mass protests in Czechia and Germany.
- The coalition likely to take power in Italy has significant Pro Russian elements.
So much for the isolation, eh?
Except they haven't, because neither Turkey nor Hungary have voted to approve their membership.
Maybe it was a bad idea to piss off Hungary, eh?
An odd claim,
given not even the United States stopped trading with Russia:
President Joe Biden promised to inflict pain and deal a crushing blow on Vladimir Putin through trade restrictions on commodities like vodka, diamonds and gasoline in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine six months ago. But hundreds of other types of unsanctioned goods worth billions of dollars, including those found on the ship bound for Baltimore from St. Petersburg, Russia, continue to flow into US ports.
The Associated Press found more than 3,600 shipments of wood, metals, rubber and other goods have arrived at US ports from Russia since it began launching missiles and airstrikes into its neighbor in February. That's a significant drop from the same period in 2021 when about 6,000 shipments arrived, but it still adds up to more than $1 billion worth of commerce a month.
Even the EU is now relaxing in trading too:
A U-turn by the European Union that’s allowing Russian coal to move more freely has led to uncertainty in insurance and shipping markets about whether a key part of the bloc’s oil sanctions could also be watered down.
The EU published new guidance this week saying that the transfer of coal and fertilizer to countries outside the bloc is now allowed, citing energy security concerns. That followed an intervention in August that surprised insurers and shipowners because it had indicated a full prohibition on Russian coal shipments.
As for North Korea, it's weird you claim they don't want anything to do with Russia, give they were one of the countries that has recognized the DPR and LPR lol.