Poll of the Day > We not gonna talk about how Putin just mobilized 300,000 against Ukraine?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/21/world/russia-ukraine-war-putin
You know like, actual important news.

That article is paywalled for me.

They're reservists still using shitty Russian equipment. They'll be slaughtered

So the first time was just practice, only 1% of his power

I see

Ukraine is still better armed, has better training and is continuing to receive resources and supplies from the west. What good is adding another 300,000 on Russias already strained and flailing military going to do? They still fail at logistics and dont have enough food, fuel and ammo to go around.

Also, Winter is coming, and Ukraine is in a much better position to fight a winter war than Russia.

SoreChasm posted...

That article is paywalled for me.

https://archive.ph/i2Uo3

no we are not because i dont care

imCheatingdude posted...

https://archive.ph/i2Uo3

Thanks :D

It's russia, they could mobilize a billion and win via fist fighting, but they won't cuz why bother... war is bad

I lean away from war talk, I've got russian friends and don't want to imagine them being drafted and dying.

shadowsword87 posted...

I lean away from war talk, I've got russian friends and don't want to imagine them being drafted and dying.

same, but they ...well, not 'defected', but they awol'd to estonia and got amnesty

Because they are reserves lol they will do fuck all

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Also this. There seems to be this perception that Putin is some kind of master stroke genius. And he isn't. At all. He got rid of anyone competent and let his cronies gut the military for 20 years for booze money, did nothing to maintain or modernize the military, then said "okay boys and girls, time for war!". They're trying 19th century tactics, using 20th century technology in a 21st century war. Russia is not going to win this.

Lokarin posted...

It's russia, they could mobilize a billion and win via fist fighting, but they won't cuz why bother... war is bad

Russia would require some serious cloning facilities just to accomplish that.

The only way this conflict ends is with Putin falling from power. He (nor Ukraine, it seems) will never give up.

In that sense calling up reservists might be a good thing, because Putin is only going to fall from power once the public is clearly tired of him. (At least tired enough to allow a 'palace coup' to succeed - a full revolution is unlikely) Calling up reservists is going to bring this home to the public more. (And likely not go well, as stated)

The Russian public is in a tough spot, but they aren't innocent here: they've been enabling Putin. It's their responsibility to get rid of him.

lol

russia might have been able to handle a winter war back in WW2, but they can't even handle a summer war, imagine if it was also winter lol

So, this is important news vs what "unimportant" news?

DeathMagnetic80 posted...

So, this is important news vs what "unimportant" news?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/3-poll-of-the-day/80172557

Russia is already winning, these guys are just there to participate in the victory parade

Twiroach posted...

Russia is already winning, these guys are just there to participate in the victory parade

If they were winning they wouldn't need to call in the reserves, that's how reserves work

Twiroach posted...

Russia is already winning, these guys are just there to participate in the victory parade

that's not what calling in reserves means

if you call in reserves, it's because you don't have anyone left.

Garlands_Soul posted...

They're reservists still using shitty Russian equipment. They'll be slaughtered

papercup posted...

Also this. There seems to be this perception that Putin is some kind of master stroke genius. And he isn't. At all. He got rid of anyone competent and let his cronies gut the military for 20 years for booze money, did nothing to maintain or modernize the military, then said "okay boys and girls, time for war!". They're trying 19th century tactics, using 20th century technology in a 21st century war. Russia is not going to win this.

wpot posted...

The only way this conflict ends is with Putin falling from power. He (nor Ukraine, it seems) will never give up.

In that sense calling up reservists might be a good thing, because Putin is only going to fall from power once the public is clearly tired of him. (At least tired enough to allow a 'palace coup' to succeed - a full revolution is unlikely) Calling up reservists is going to bring this home to the public more. (And likely not go well, as stated)

The Russian public is in a tough spot, but they aren't innocent here: they've been enabling Putin. It's their responsibility to get rid of him.

The current fear is the domino effect a weakened Russia will have on global hegemony, with China solidifying and expanding their power base despite their own internal turmoil. Former Soviet Bloc states and regions within Russia itself could see this as an opportunity to push their own domestic agendas that could further destabilize the region.

Putin was never the mastermind, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was; he saw the value of an international united right and his International Democrat Union has done much since he left public office to advance his cause across the globe.

KodyKeir posted...

Former Soviet Bloc states and regions within Russia itself could see this as an opportunity to push their own domestic agendas that could further destabilize the region.

True: Putin used to be somewhat valuable as a relatively stable thug in comparison to other post-Soviet bad options. But as an unstable, war-starting, nuclear-war-threatening thug he has to go: regional destabilization be damned.

KodyKeir posted...

Putin was never the mastermind

Agreed

KodyKeir posted...

former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was

Um...well, that's a stretch. I can agree he added to the trend.

In the big picture what happened is that the world forgot the lessons of WWII and became lazy and less vigilant in guarding against authoritarian/other threats. It was/is unfortunately inevitable as nobody bothers to understand human nature or history; people unfortunately need to learn the hard way once per lifetime or so. It's mostly a matter of how bad it gets...

Twiroach posted...

Russia is already winning, these guys are just there to participate in the victory parade

Huh.
Gonna go to the front lines soon then?

Honestly my question is how has Russia been managing their air and mechanized power.

They can keep throwing people at this all they want, but they were never able to fully mobilize their armed forces the way the US does since the fall of the Soviet Union. I'd honestly be surprised if these reservists have half the equipment and support they will need against what is now a battle hardened opponent. If they're not tipping the scales elsewhere, they're just going there to get butchered.

BlackJackCat posted...

Honestly my question is how has Russia been managing their air and mechanized power.

They can keep throwing people at this all they want, but they were never able to fully mobilize their armed forces the way the US does since the fall of the Soviet Union. I'd honestly be surprised if these reservists have half the equipment and support they will need against what is now a battle hardened opponent. If they're not tipping the scales elsewhere, they're just going there to get butchered.

They have been forced to import munitions from North Korea so their domestic production could focus on more technical creations and repairs. A lot of equipment is straight up being abandoned and captured including their most sophisticated MBT's with their advanced communications equipment.

russia really just be arming ukraine

wpot posted...

regional destabilization be damned.

Why is that an issue? Does Russia really need to be this ginormous nation? And if it were to fall apart and cause problems in those regions, do we not have UN structures and other organizations in place to try and deal with that?

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

And if it were to fall apart and cause problems in those regions, do we not have UN structures and other organizations in place to try and deal with that?

I was making the point that Putin is worse than local destabilization, so I generally agree. That said, it's never good to have an unstable nuclear-armed country (breaking up or otherwise) and the UN is of limited effectiveness in most ways.

wpot posted...

and the UN is of limited effectiveness in most ways.

In part because of the veto rights in the security council. Russia ceasing to exist, while not the best solution, is still a partial solution.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

In part because of the veto rights in the security council. Russia ceasing to exist, while not the best solution, is still a partial solution.

That's not realistic, though. None of the current scenarios are going to result in Russia falling THAT far apart: they could lose some minor border territories in their worst case scenario ('worst' at least as far as territory is concerned) but they're still going to be Russia and still be on the security council like it or not.

In the big picture, however, we agree: Putin needs to go even if it results in a mess as things are getting figured out over there.

wpot posted...

Pronounced "Whup-pot". Say it. Use it.

Your name backwards is "TopW". I think I'll use that tbh

How did the Ukraine counter offensive go?

BigOlePappy posted...

How did the Ukraine counter offensive go?

Going well so far, retook an area the size of Vermont last week.

Apparently the mobilization decree has a classified paragraph that states the real number isn't 300k. the real number is 1 million.

It doesn't matter. They don't have the ability to mobilize 300k. They definitely don't have the ability to mobilize 1 million. Wave after wave of unarmed, unarmored civilians is not going to turn the tide in Russia's favor.

Yeah I've got a friend online who confirmed he's being called to the front lines, I honestly wish there was something I could do to help him and his wife out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVv3ofeBnME

Russians need to get off their asses and start rioting, or theyre going to be dead in Ukraine. Iran is rioting like hell right now.

Ferarri619 posted...

Your name backwards is "TopW". I think I'll use that tbh

That's the spirit. :)

Apparently 100% of energy, metal and mineral employees are required to report for service in Russia. Yeah, thatll show em Russia, cripple your energy sector.

papercup posted...

Apparently 100% of energy, metal and mineral employees are required to report for service in Russia. Yeah, thatll show em Russia, cripple your energy sector.

Well they're not selling to Europe anymore so they were already crippled

papercup posted...

Russians need to get off their asses and start rioting, or theyre going to be dead in Ukraine. Iran is rioting like hell right now.

The majority of Russia lives in a country where the only news media is the Russian equivalent of Fox. Think of how bad the US electorate is and realize Russia is worse.

They can't fathom what the war is actually like until it directly affects them.

Putin should be dripfeeding conscription instead of trying to get so many at a single time. It's going to breed further unrest and overwhelm Russian logistics.

Twiroach posted...

The majority of Russia lives in a country where the only news media is the Russian equivalent of Fox. Think of how bad the US electorate is and realize Russia is worse.

They can't fathom what the war is actually like until it directly affects them.

Putin should be dripfeeding conscription instead of trying to get so many at a single time. It's going to breed further unrest and overwhelm Russian logistics.

What they should really do is cut their losses and give up on it. They are out here throwing hail Mary's like they're down 28 in the 4th.

Muscles posted...

What they should really do is cut their losses and give up on it. They are out here throwing hail Mary's like they're down 28 in the 4th.

Most of the "they" don't know what is happening. This is happening exclusively due to the dictator Putin and he doesn't give a fuck about the life of anyone but himself.

He doesn't need to care about their lives to know it would be bad to send them all to their death and leave Russia weaker than they otherwise would be if they just cut their losses now

The more people they send off to a losing war the worse it'll get for him

Muscles posted...

He doesn't need to care about their lives to know it would be bad to send them all to their death and leave Russia weaker than they otherwise would be if they just cut their losses now

The more people they send off to a losing war the worse it'll get for him

He doesn't care. This is like trying argue with Hitler over opening a second front. Dictators don't care.

BlackScythe0 posted...

He doesn't care. This is like trying argue with Hitler over opening a second front. Dictators don't care.

Why do they never learn? You'd think at some point a dictator would come along that actually has some brains and understands history just a little bit

Muscles posted...

Why do they never learn?

They tend to have a great disdain for the intelligence of anyone else (including historians) and eventually everyone just tells them what they want to hear so they don't have any info to base decisions off from in the first place. They also tend not to care about their country anywhere near as much as their enduring glory, so they try to do things they think are 'great' regardless of the costs. Power is intoxicating.

That said, the original dictators (Caesar and especially Augustus) seemed to be rather inspired. An inspired dictatorship (thoughtful person with the power to act) can be a good thing...for a while. Unfortunately, the transfers of power are often terrible and there's almost never a way to ensure anyone good follows them up...if you're (highly) lucky and get someone decent in the first place, which is rare.

I see a lot of Russians are fleeing.
It's kind of irritating. Stand the fuck up and fight back against your oppressive government. Form some militias or something. Putin's already short on troops, that's why he's doing this. So literally what army is going to fight you and make you go?
Refuse to go. Vote to break away from Russia.
Stop letting Moscow and St. Petersburg sit pretty and unaffected while the other regions get enslaved into death sentences.