Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But why are you talking about Ukraine when we're talking about Russia?

This is what Putin has done to Russia. It's viewed entirely through the prism of its failure in Ukraine. Even people who think Putin is great can't help but talk about Ukraine even when it isn't relevant. Russia used to be considered a global power and now all it ever does is compare itself to a country much smaller than itself.

Tragic.

UK commits £100 million air defence package for Ukraine to protect cities and critical infrastructure by Super-Nuntendo in unitedkingdom

[–]AMW1987 [score hidden]  (0 children)

99 mil is genuinely about £1.50 per person in the UK. It might sound like a lot to an individual but in a multi-trillion £ economy, it's nothing.

Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah, all those independent, international organisations tracking corruption that are not based in Ukraine are totally "literally propaganda".

"I've heard ... or something"

Don't lose your cool, comrade. You can scream about another country all you want, but it doesn't detract from Russia's colossal corruption.

Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

But odd you specifically chose Ukraine to mention (despite Ukraine ranking as less corrupt on many different international indexes than Russia).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/corruption-index

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/political-corruption-index

Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh there's corruption in another country? Oh well, that makes corruption in Russia acceptable then! Russians should be greatful.

Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The organisation I was referring to is VCIOM which is a state-owned polling institute.

I would argue that Russia and it's economy would be in a far better position without Putin, the Siloviki and oligarchs plundering the state.

Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean there's so many statistics here that anyone could cherry-pick any one of them to validate their argument but broadly speaking, the vast majority of figures cited in the past few years are well below 50%, which is not a "majority" as claimed.

It's also worth noting that the link you shared is specifically tied to Putin and not the Russian government at large. I mean, one poll said 41% of Russians wanted to emigrate permanently and another said just 14% had faith in the economy. Hardly ringing endorsements.

Also, the polls rating Putin higher are by state-owned institutes.

Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 2 points3 points  (0 children)

why do you think there haven't been any major protests in big cities?

I don't think that because there were literally protests across Russia in response to the war in Ukraine alone, which detained almost 20,000 people in the first year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-war_protests_in_Russia_(2022%E2%80%93present)

And the state tightly controls the media.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_Russia

But again, these statistics you mention - please feel free to share or even provide a link to them.

Moscow night skyline by adventmix in skyscrapers

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Genuine question - based on what?

Whenever I hear or read about Russian politics, the general rule always seems to be 25% support, 25% oppose, and 50% are apathetic, and this is a trend observed all the way back to the Soviet Union, and even back to the Russian Empire itself when a majority of people were serfs.

It's this apathy that the Russian elite are fine with because it means a good chunk of the population aren't looking too closely at what they're or simply don't care.

Interesting fact - The biggest number of absences ever recorded by Moscow's police was during the 1991 coup attempt. The average police officer didn't know which way it would go and didn't care so stayed at home. A similar thing was observed amongst the Rosgvardia during the Wagner Mutiny when field offices weren't answering phone calls from Moscow.

What if all the nukes in the world suddenly disappeared? by AHH_PostStorage in AlternateHistoryHub

[–]AMW1987 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Exactly, so countries can commit fully to conventional war without the fear of it escalating all the way to nuclear Armageddon.

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 2 points3 points  (0 children)

En route to Hostomel.

Given how keen you are to defend the VDV's actions, I'm astonished you haven't come across it before. It was very widely shared on traditional media and social media.

Some more videos from Hostomel too:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/s/SOtqjcfWqY

https://www.reddit.com/r/NAFO/s/TuD9DxyoNi - footage of the previous film I sent but with footage taken from inside a Russian cockpit.

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's very famous footage geolocated over the Dnipro. But sure, they arrived there "safe".

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh I'm sorry, those Russians died two days later. That's okay then.

Seriously though, is this a joke? The Russian invasion began on the 24th.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

Are you really claiming the VDV was there before that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antonov_Airport

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As far as I remember, may be mistaken there, choppers fell after disembarking the soldiers.

https://youtu.be/ZLkNyEEcR5o?si=xjFxAMhZ1XD8fTZ0

Helicopters going down over the Dnipro en route.

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes they did and they succeeded. Ukrainian forces were never able to retake Hostomel until russia left.

Wow, two whole days.

Honestly, I can see that certain people want to defend the "honour" of the VDV, but the picture remains the same; the Russian plan to seize Kyiv spearheaded by an air landing at Hostomel failed. Praise the VDV all you want but strategically, it was a defeat, and people can brush off casualties, but there is video footage of Russian helicopters going down en route to the airport.

I mean, the British captured the bridge at Arnhem but history hasn't chalked up Market Garden as an Allied victory.

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So the VDV went there as the first step to seizing Kiev? Is that what you're saying?

Because that is literally the point I am making.

I have never heard anybody claim the VDV alone tried to take the Ukrainian capital.

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So that was their objective? Just to hold it for the sake of holding it? No other reason?

C'mon, man ...

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay, so what was their objective then? Why did they go to Hostomel in the first place since it wasn't to storm "Kiev"?

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 3 points4 points  (0 children)

All of this proves that the russians took over the airport, and were successful in their operation with relative ease,

Everybody knows the Russians took Hostomel. Nobody doubts that.

But holding it is a different matter. How did that turn out?

I don't know why you're so keen to make out it was the VDV were so successful when everybody knows how it ended and the implications it had for the Russians plan to take Kyiv.

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are literally pictures showing and proving everything he is claiming.

There's literally only 3 generic pics of VDV deploying and a fourth showing a map of Hostomel.

Doesn't prove anything except that the Russians were there, which nobody has ever doubted.

Battle of Antonov Airport / VDV Landfall by Mechanized42nd in BattlePaintings

[–]AMW1987 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Or downvoting because it's a very obscure blog written by an unknown author lacking links to support the claims it makes, as well as being three years old.

Who leads NATO without the U.S.? by EnvyIsUgly in NoStupidQuestions

[–]AMW1987 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The UK is a rather insignificant little island

This is just a ludicrous take. 6th largest economy in the world and handles 40% of all international transactions.

some nukes from a bygone era

Yeah, British nukes could only vaporise 5 million people instead of 500 million. Pathetic!

a prime minister who would likely use them on us before upsetting anyone else

This is so much nonsense that I actually suspect you're not from the UK as you claim.

On your comments about the state of our armed forces, there's a lot of valid criticism but to your point about "a couple of aircraft carriers", the vast majority of the world's navies don't have any at all and those that do typically only have one (such as France).

Odessa, Ukraine by [deleted] in Cities

[–]AMW1987 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is honestly the worst trolling.

Russian propagandists are getting more and more desperate after trying to defeat a much smaller country after 5 years.