Here’s a novel idea. Don’t use these exploitative services.

I don’t know what those sentences mean. You’re such an expert on Russia that you have never heard of defenestration. I bet you haven’t heard of any of these people either.

Remember, your claim is that Russia is hiding the real toll. So you must know it yourself and be able to explain how it is being hidden. When was the last time Russia officially released casualty figures? It hasn’t since the very beginning of the war. And even then they were laughably inaccurate. Instead they have been saying that everything is going according to plan.

Show me your most realistic estimate source. UK, Economist, Ukraine. They all agree on this.

That is a very specific number Yes, because they are the ones who have been found through obituaries and verified. No guesswork involved.

You did not answer my question. You didn’t understand my answer.

This does not address what I said. Yes, it does. You said Russia can easily trade with the outside world. Going through middle-men in not easy, cheap or fast.

What financials yell you the number of tanks Russia is currently producing? The financial reports of Uralvagonzavod. At least it gives and upper bound to the number of tanks they are able to produce.

My comments have mostly been to poke holes in the absurdities and ask you to make your implied knowledge consistent with your claims. You have done nothing of the sort. You have ignored the direct evidence I have provided instead kept stead arguing that you are correct while providing no evidence for it.

The 9% number is quarterly, for the year it will be around 7. Germany’s inflation rate in 2023 was around 6. It was around 4 in the UK for the same year, hitting 9% for a quarter the year prior. The US had rates of 7-9% in 2021-2022. Italy’s was 8 in 2022 and 5ish in 2023.

You are not comparing like for like. You are taking figures from a time period when Russian figures were even worse. Way worse. And comparing them to the best Russia had. While it is true that the official figures for 2023 show inflation lower than the west. I wouldn’t completely trust those figures. Since they are not explained by any external factors.

Ah yes, this is why 1950s America was just one big recession. The reason there wasn’t is because USA was just about the only industrialized nation capable of mass producing things after WW2. And they had massive orders from Europe. Helping them rebuild. I don’t see that happening with Russia. People aren’t exactly demanding Russian industrial products.

Ah, looks like I am wrong…Still not weak, however. The mental gymnastics you have to go through to keep your opinion without providing any evidence on full display here.

Both wages and employment are up, actually. Just a few comments ago you were arguing that wages weren’t rising and now they are. Which is it. Employment is up because there is a worker shortage.

You ignored sections of my last comment that would allow you to partially answer this question yourself. Perhaps instead of replying only to the parts you feel like, you could read the full response and internalize it? I suggest you do the same.

I haven’t made the error if saying a bunch of silly, very specific things that disagree with reality. Ah, looks like I am wrong Which is it?

You have made specific claims that you have never proven or have been proven be factually incorrect. Even when I have repeatedly asked for proof you have not provided it. Instead you have demanded that I do all the heavy lifting. Which I am no longer willing to do.

Good day, sir.

No, they’re all on the same team and their collective is the most powerful thing.

Sure, if you’re not on the same team you get defenestrated. That is a powerful motivator. But it is a powerful motivator for a coup as well.

Hidden? So you know the real number? As you well know all we have are estimates. All realistic estimates put the number over 600000 killed and wounded. Of those 68011 have been confirmed killed by name. That means that there are more killed and wounded than in any Russian war after WW2.

You have a read on the bulk sentiment of, “the people”? How? There is a significant difference between what the Russian media is telling the people and what they see on Telegram and directly from their husbands and relatives. The Russian people are not stupid. They get to see the reality of the war by the sheer number of people not returning. They get to see the reality of the war by the pleas from soldiers for supplies and for justice.

Because it is an easy way to bypass international finance restrictions. LOL. Those middle-men are not cheap.

Oh? How many is it producing vs losing? Russia is producing at most two to three hundred tanks a year. And most of those are refurbished tanks. Based on the financials. And it is losing five to six hundred a year. Based on Ukrainian numbers.

Should I start calling you a troll every time you disagree with me? Is this logical, to you? I call you a troll when you ignore reality and keep repeating Russian talking points. I call you a troll when you demand I justify my position while providing no justification for yours.

Tell me the number. How does it compare to other countries over the last 4 years?

Russian inflation is right now at 9.1% and rising. Inflation hasn’t been below 4% since the beginning the war. At worst it has been at 17,8%. Compared to other economies of similar size it is among the worst in the world. Western countries are nowhere near these figures. Russian interest rates are high at 18%. Most of the growth in the Russian economy has come from the war economy. This is not healthy in the long term and will cause problems when the war ends.

The ruble is stronger now than before the invasion. Before the invasion the ruble was around hovering around 1 USD to 70 RUB. Right now it around 1 USD to 90 RUB. And you have to take into account that RUB isn’t being freely traded like it was before the invasion. There are also other significant currency control measures in place that prop up RUB. So no, the Russian ruble is not stronger than before the invasion.

Then wages should be rapidly rising. Are wages rapidly rising? They are rising rapidly in the sectors that are dependent on the war economy. Others simply cannot afford to raise them and have to go without staff.

To get a sense of how the real economy is doing you have to look at statistics you haven’t even mentioned. In this comment I’ve now gone through inflation and currency. What next? When are you going to start justifying any of your positions?

That is not a Shahed drone. That is a stock image of a civilian drone.

This war was launched and us maintained with their consent and support. They are the head of the capitalist ruling class in the RF.

They certainly are but they are all subservient to Putin. They stand to lose quite a lot when Russia loses. And when they decide to cut their losses. Putin will lose his head. That’s why he is so paranoid.

So far, the Russian economy has actually improved during the war and profits are high.

Now I know you’re trolling. Nobody sane will look at Russia’s recent financial figures and conclude that Russian economy is going great.

Why would this be a plausible thing to happen in the next few years?

A civil war is a real possibility because of disgruntled soldiers. Who are not getting paid. Don’t get what they are promised in terms of equipment training etc. General mismanagement, corruption and abuse in the Russian army. The number of casualties cannot be hidden any more either. Recruiting more soldiers is getting harder and harder for Russia. Why else would they pay more and more money for recruitment? The people know how fucked up things are for a common soldier. Especially now that Ukraine is in Kursk. Where most of the soldiers were conscripts.

And shoot themselves in the foot? Why? US-led sanctions and financial weapons deployed against Russia have already scared countries into working together to avoid being vulnerable to the US.

Then why are Chinese banks refusing to work with Russia for fear of sanctions? Why Russian banks resorting to crypto currencies and paying middle-men to conduct trade?

Russia has increased its industrial capacity during this war.

It certainly has. Refurbishing old soviet-era tanks from cold storage. Russia is not producing new tanks nearly fast enough compared to what they are losing in Ukraine. And many of the cold storage sites are now empty. It is only a matter of time before Russia runs out of tanks. It is telling that they aren’t delivering the already ordered tanks abroad and are instead importing older tanks.

But Russia is actually doing better than before. They have been forced to invest in the real economy and consequently have, against the plans of their finance capitalist economists, made their economy much more robust.

Again with the trolling about strong Russian economy when the financial figures give quite a different picture.

Russian currency reserves are falling. Next to go will be the gold reserves. Russia only has Chinese yuan and gold left. And China is now demanding payments in gold.

Inflation is really high. Any country that has a higher inflation right now is in the middle of a financial meltdown.

Ruble is weak. And holding on by artificial restrictions.

Due to the war and declining population, both due to brain drain and lack of children, Russia has a severe worker shortage.

These are not the signs of a strong and healthy economy.

He wouldn’t have had to leave even Washington DC to meet a war criminal.

• A palace coup by the oligarchs
• A civil war in Russia
• China and India stop trading with Russia
• Russia runs out of tanks
• Russia runs out of money

Take your pick.

International Criminal Court needs member states to enforce its decisions. So far it has been applied mainly to third world countries. But now that it is being applied to the richer countries, as it should, support is wavering.

We are quite far from a just world. But we are ever so slowly getting there.

The reason we rock out so hard to Queen is the band as a whole. No individual member of the band contributed a disproportionate amount to the band’s success. Although Freddie Mercury and Brian May can be said to have influenced it more. Others were just as necessary for the success they enjoyed and still do.

That was wild. She even had to go to mental facility for a while because of it.

Wait what? In America middle managers can’t unionize? What a load of horse shit. You should get on that.

You shouldn’t have to wait for long…

Another Jan 6, another attempted coup.

Company ownership should be public and easily accessible information to begin with.

But the czarist system has the feature that given enough fuckups, the czar is removed in a palace coup. And given that the oligarchs have been hit quite hard by sanctions and that the “Special” military operation hasn’t exactly gone to plan. It seems only a matter of time before it happens.

The best story I read about the defence of Hostomel was that UAF was handing out weapons to civilians in order to defend the airport.

The UN estimate has always been too large. Its methodology is flawed.

More realistic estimate would be that the population will start to fall sooner. Around 2040-2060.

When choosing a crypto algorithm the answer is almost never “roll your own”.

Don’t forget rampant nationalism and outside meddling mixed in.

And signed.

It seems obvious that Netanyahu does not want peace. This war is the only thing keeping him in power. There is no incentive for him to seek peace.