• DPUGT2
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        3 years ago

        Is it ever true that an “invader gains nothing”? Or are you just (strangely) saying that there is more to lose than to gain?

        Everyone on reddit is ranting about how it will be another Afghanistan… but what if it were merely another Chechnya? If Putin believes it to be that, he might well decide to invade/annex.

        • uthredii
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          3 years ago

          Ukraine will have strong western support so it won’t be as easy as Chechnya. Although Putin might decide to annex anyway.

          • DPUGT2
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            3 years ago

            “Strong” support? What’s that mean? Sure, the bullies are beating up the nerd, but the nerd will win because you intend to cheer him on from the sidelines?

            Should have kept their nukes. Now they’re fucked.

        • pingvenoOP
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          3 years ago

          Chechnya

          Is Chechnya a comparison you want to make? Russia fought two wars over it before successfully subduing them. To this day, there are still suspicions that there were false flag attacks where Russia killed its own citizens to bolster support for the war and bring Putin into the presidency.

          • DPUGT2
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            3 years ago

            Russia fought two wars over it before successfully subduing them.

            Which, if there was some magical factor in the universe that made them always win the second war, we could expect them to lose the first, right? Except there is no such magical factor.

            The first loss is explainable and quite irrelevant.

            To this day, there are still suspicions that there were false flag attacks where Russia killed its own citizens to bolster support for the war

            So? Even if true, that doesn’t alter my point at all.

            The point is (for those who need pictures drawn in crayon for them) Russia has reasons to expect that it might prevail in such a war, in a permanent way, with what their culture and regime considers to be acceptable losses.

            The pretense for that war, the ethics of it, its justifiability, these things are all besides the point.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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          3 years ago

          You’re an American, so why don’t you tell me what you gained from the quagmire in Afghanistan?

          People of Donetsks and Luhansk are ethnically Russian and they want independence. Weird how westerners only care about people’s right to self determination when it suits them. The leaders of these republics explicitly asked Russia for help after Ukraine failed to abide by Minsk agreements that require Ukraine to give Donbas autonomy.

          Stop trying to invent reality.

      • pingvenoOP
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        3 years ago

        Russia’s economy never recovered from being slapped with sanctions following the theft of Crimea. You can see that both in a dip in their nominal GDP and in a dip in the Big Mac index. As that page explains, a lower index value implies that McDonald’s is pricing their burgers lower to match what local people can pay. The ruble fell against the dollar, so the price of a Big Mac relative to a US dollar fell.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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          3 years ago

          That’s utter nonsense as the article I linked above very clearly shows. If anything, the sanctions forced Russia to start developing its domestic industry making its economy far more robust than it was previously. Russia now also has an open alliance with China meaning that anything Russia can’t produce domestically can be sourced from China. Meanwhile, BRI is creating a huge economic bloc in Eurasia that Russia is an active member of.

          I’m also not sure whom you’re claiming Crimea was stolen from given that people of Crimea are ethnically Russian and have overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining Russia after the 2014 coup. Once again, you don’t appear to care about people’s right for self determination in the slightest. It doesn’t matter to you what people who actually live in Crimea want, all you care about NATO’s geopolitical goals. Really telling on yourself there bud.

          • pingvenoOP
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            3 years ago

            That’s utter nonsense as the article I linked above very clearly shows.

            The article shows Russia’s currency sliding in value. It dipped sharply following the annexation of Crimea, began a recovery, and then dipped sharply with the pandemic. So yes, the sanctions absolutely hurt their economy.

            If anything, the sanctions forced Russia to start developing its domestic industry making its economy far more robust than it was previously.

            This is true, the sanctions did have that effect, at least regarding making it resilient to sanctions. This is an effect we’ve seen in other economies under a heavy sanctions regime (Cuba, Iran) where they’ve developed a more internally resilient economy at the cost of overall efficiency. All that said, there are plenty of levers that the West has left to pull. If Russian oligarchs start having their London real estate confiscated, you can bet words will be had with President Putin.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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              3 years ago

              The article shows Russia’s currency sliding in value. It dipped sharply following the annexation of Crimea, began a recovery, and then dipped sharply with the pandemic. So yes, the sanctions absolutely hurt their economy.

              Wait till you find out what happened to the rest of the economies in the world after the pandemic. Sanctions created a temporary inconvenience for Russia, but the long term effect is clearly positive since re-industrialization and self reliance will serve Russia much better going forward.

              l that said, there are plenty of levers that the West has left to pull. If Russian oligarchs start having their London real estate confiscated, you can bet words will be had with President Putin.

              You’re once again showing your lack of understanding of the subject you’re discussing. London confiscating the wealth of Russian oligarchs directly helps Putin since it forces the oligarchs to keep wealth in Russia where it’s subject to Russian laws. What the west would be doing is helping Russia ensure that the wealth isn’t being siphoned out.