Grifman
21710
More Russian barbarity:
They deported more than 10% of Ukraine’s pre-war population.
Tortilla
21711
The war on xmas is always domestic fearmongering. All good Americans know that filthy foreigners don’t do it right, but the alarmism doesn’t set in until there’s a danger that the one true (white) American way is under threat from subversive liberal sources. Next think you know, we will be asking Santa about pronouns!
jpinard
21713
I’m so afraid of what they’re actually doing with those children.
That’s an excellent sentence, congratulations!
I did read that even more sensitive areas had been damaged.
KevinC
21715
What the fuck. I can’t even wrap my head around that.
KevinC
21716
According to the latest from Oryx, we have confirmation that Russia has lost 1,590 tanks (931 destroyed, 535 captured), 67 aircraft (63 destroyed, 4 damaged), and 1 dick (fell off).
Grifman
21717
This is pretty crazy if true:
Strollen
21718
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff talks about peace talks in this illuminating Economist article. It was free link for me, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff on how to end war in Ukraine | The Economist.
His main point is that peace talks are near the end of the peace process not the beginning. Now, I think he is unrealistic about many of the points. For instance, I doubt Russia is going to pay for the ecological damage. Now in a just world, they should, but I doubt even Putin’s replacement would agree to pay tens of billions for destroying the flora and fauna of Ukraine, and removing all the mines.
On the other hand, he is right, before talks begin Russia’s troops need to be out of Ukrainian, and agreement needs be reached on how to prevent future Russian aggression e.g. Ukraine joins NATO.
abrandt
21719
I heard those sensitive areas were not expected to make it.
And just to answer @alekseivolchok’s original question; no, there are no gentlemen here, we just hadn’t got round to the subject yet.
The “Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act” was proposed months ago, and seemed to get bipartisan support, then stalled somewhere in the legislative process.
But I read today that it was incorporated by amendment into the big omnibus bill, so the US government will be able to re-use assets seized from sanctioned individuals for reconstruction aid to Ukraine. Which is a great result.
JD
21722
:/
(This is a gaming forum, after all.)
That’s pretty much Russia acknowledging a loss, isn’t it?
Strollen
21724
Pretty much, the only question is will Russia do that before they get pushed out or only afterward?
jsnell
21725
Why believe a number where the sole source is the Russian government? It is just not very plausible given the population of the occupied areas. (And for what it’s worth, the linked UA government page on the child removals says 13k documented cases. That’s of course barbaric, but it is not 720k.)
Grifman
21727
There are numerous unconfirmed reports that Ukrainian troops have broken through in the north and are entering Kremina. This would unhinge Russian positions further south, putting Russian troops there in a difficult supply position. Still waiting further confirmation.
Would be a big advance. They’ve been trying to dislodge Svatove for a couple of months
