How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?

[dan/california]

15 minutes ago, db_zero said:

Looks like its a race between the Russians who are learning their lessons and Ukranians fighting for their homeland and waiting to receive more anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems from the West.

The Russians could learn from their lessons and be a more efficient fighting force, but if the Ukranians are in possession of the hundreds of stingers, Javelins, Panzerfausts, NLAWS, helmets, body armor and tactical radios being sent from the West then the Russian spearheads as well as the soft logistical tail that supports it will be extremely vulnerable.

IMO-the Russian wad is already shot.

In order to learn any lessons the Russians would have to tell their troops what is actually going on. That seems to be the exact opposite of their SOP. It is a pretty simple contest between the Ukrainian munitions situation, and the Russians attempting blunder through regardless of the body count. On Current form the Russians aren't winning. I am hoping the epic detonation of Moscow's financial markets on Monday might change some of the relatively small group of minds that matter. That and Putin waving around the nuclear button like a Mardi Gras necklace. Most of these people have children and grandchildren after all.

[BeondTheGrave]

2 minutes ago, db_zero said:

If the US and its allies couldn't subdue Iraq with nearly 300,000 troops which arguably were better trained, equipped and more efficient than the 190,000 Russian troops which have performed poorly to date in Ukraine which is roughly the size and more populated that Iraq, then I see little if no way the Russian can pull the rabbit out of the hat.

Yes in the long term I think that is correct. But in the short term the US offensive into Iraq was incredibly successful and toppled Saddam. He never returned to power. My post, many of my recent posts, have been commenting strictly on the 'short war' scenario. The immediate concerns of the intact and still existant Ukrainian government. 

If Kiev falls and the country is occupied I agree with you though. I think in the goose is already cooked, and to be honest I think the US if nobody else will continue to funnel vast supplies of weapons into the country regardless of who controls Kharkov and Kiev.

But thats long term and to be honest not the outcome I desire. Whats best for everyone is if the war ends now in Ukrainian victory. 

[Ts4EVER]

Seems to me right now either Russia will collapse / have a coup or there will be an endless proxy-war stalemate in Ukraine in the foreseeable future.

[Battlefront.com]

2 hours ago, arkhangelsk2021 said:

Let me zip it up by saying that's why I don't exactly lose my morality shirt over Russia v Ukraine. Ukraine has committed a number of acts that in an earlier age would have sufficed as casus belli. Since World War II, international law decided to formalize an immunity for nations against armed attack and I agree, Russia violated that. But it's not the same feeling as a truly blameless guy being kicked.

Holy crap dude.  What country do you live in?  I bet you I could have no problem digging up some stuff to justify invading wherever you live.  And if you are in the US, as am I, let's not forget the only reason we white people are here is because we committed genocide against the natives then kidnapped a whole bunch of black people to do our work without paying them for it.  So do you think there is mitigating reasons for some African nation to bomb your house or someone from the Reservations to kill you?

Let's put this another way.  You once lived in my house, but then you evicted because you couldn't afford to make payments.  More than 30 years later you break in, shoot my wife and say that it's justified because she was in your house and you have a right to defend it from me taking it back.  At your trial you'd say what, exactly?  "Yes, I know it's against the law, but I was wrong and so that woman wasn't blameless".

Sorry, but you've got a logic gear or two missing from your thinking box there.  I'd recommend getting that looked at.

Steve

[Battlefront.com]

3 hours ago, Commanderski said:

That video of the tank driving over the car is only one view. There was another angle of the same incident and it was on the same street as the above mentioned truck incident. 

That truck was ambushed and that tank also came under fire and swerved into the car. It was more than likely unintentional.  Both videos were also reviewed and commented on several hundred posts ago.

Yup.

There are three videos I know of showing that incident, plus several more about the shootout, including the aftermath.  Still photos too.

For sure the media is reacting emotionally to the old guy getting run over by the Strela.  But claiming the driver of the Strela did it deliberately is a judgement call that is almost certainly wrong.  Has anybody been in a buttoned up armored vehicle?  You can't see hardly anything.  Add panic and the need to evade death, well, you see where I'm going with this.

In a way this is like saying an inattentive driver, perhaps texting, deliberately ran over the kid on a bicycle.  No, he didn't.  But is he responsible for his actions?  Yes, he is.

In the case of the Russians in Ukraine, no matter how accidental any of the death and destruction they cause might be, they are participants in an illegal and immoral war of aggression.  There is shared culpability.

Steve

[BeondTheGrave]

The Moscow ForEx market went from this:

 

To this:

 

I wonder if it will even open at all today. The longer they delay the bloodletting though, the worse the pent up demand will get. If markets hate one thing, more than change, more than uncertainty, more than disruptions, its fear. When the regulators are afraid, the market stampedes. 

[BeondTheGrave]

Just now, Battlefront.com said:

For sure the media is reacting emotionally to the old guy getting run over by the Strela.  But claiming the driver of the Strela did it deliberately is a judgement call that is almost certainly wrong.  Has anybody been in a buttoned up armored vehicle?  You can't see hardly anything.  Add panic and the need to evade death, well, you see where I'm going with this.

If youre talking about the now infamous video of the Strela-auto accident, I think I was dispute that it was an accident. I think the soldier turned at the last minute into the car. There is a pretty serious lurch as I recall, otherwise the two would have past each other. I had initially been willing to empathize with both people. The older driver had, so the story goes, just passed unknowingly through a UA ambush site. Meanwhile, I've seen enough videos from Syria and Iraq to tell you that I wouldn't want a car coming flat out at me like that. I feel like I've read before that a common last ditch counter to an SVIED attack is to physically ram or crush the vehicle in an attempt to damage the triggering mechanism. Perhaps this is what the driver thought as well.

But hearing that he was in a stolen Ukrainian vehicle in a stolen Ukrainian uniform strangely makes me feel a lot less sympathetic and understanding. 

[Geoff-Ludumpress]

13 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:

Sorry, but you've got a logic gear or two missing from your thinking box there.  I'd recommend getting that looked at.

Is it ok to personally attack users on the forum now? Cos I remember the last time we had a Ukraine war thread.....

Taken from the "Politics Discussion and Black Sea ChrisND" which was locked (Thankfully)

"Examples of unacceptable discussions:...

- Making the discussion personal. This forum is for discussing the game, not other posters. Attack the argument, not the arguer"

[Battlefront.com]

Oh boy!  A blast from the past Russian disinformation troll trying to restart the total crap arguments from when Russia first invaded Ukraine and started this whole mess.  This will be fun!

1 hour ago, Begemot said:

Vet you seem to have forgotten that the US and its European allies helped overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine in 2014. Remember Nuland's phone call, picking the soon to be installed new government of Ukraine?

I remember that Kremlin talking point that arose out of a very normal conversation between new governments who are trying to curry favor with bigger countries.  Russia does this all the time.  Who do you think ran the government before it was overthrown by the people?  Yup, Russian approved goons.

Plus, this fun little nitpick glosses over about a million more important things.

1 hour ago, Begemot said:

How is this supporting the integrity of Ukraine? It isn't, of course. The US breached this agreement, not Russia.

Funny stuff.  So a call between one woman, that has been distorted, is justification for invading and force annexing it's territory and setting up a proxy war that has killed 14,000 people until such time as a full scale war can be started?  That's really something there.

1 hour ago, Begemot said:

This war did not start this week. It has been ongoing since 2014.

Actually, it goes back further than that.  The war itself only started in 2014 because Russia lost its ability to pull Ukraine's strings and Russia doesn't have a good track record when it comes to dealing with rejection.

1 hour ago, Begemot said:

Just ask the people of Donbass what it's like to live under indiscriminate artillery bombardments for eight years. Any sympathy for these people?

Yup, I have a lot of sympathy for them.  Putin put them through hell for the last 8 years to serve his agenda.  I'm gald we can agree on something.

OK, now that you've said your piece and I've said mine, do not post any more of this Kremlin talking point crap here again.  If you do, you're out.  I suffered through enough of this back in 2014/2015 and my tolerance level for mouth pieces for a shameless autocracy is really low right now.

Steve

[John Kettler]

6 hours ago, Haiduk said:

This is formally Rosgvardia unit, but reallly Kadyrov's army. Here these guys today somewhere in the north of Kyiv oblast

 

 

 

 

Haiduk,

This answers an issue someone raised with me earlier, claiming the video of the "V"  special operation unit was of Kadryov's guys, but they're remarkably lively and jovial corpses, I must say! This is my first exposure, too, to the Typhoon-K, the smaller 4-wheel Typhoon. Clearly, somebody's got some money to be able to get those, which look practically brand new.

Regards,

John Kettler

[dan/california]

25 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:

Yup.

There are three videos I know of showing that incident, plus several more about the shootout, including the aftermath.  Still photos too.

For sure the media is reacting emotionally to the old guy getting run over by the Strela.  But claiming the driver of the Strela did it deliberately is a judgement call that is almost certainly wrong.  Has anybody been in a buttoned up armored vehicle?  You can't see hardly anything.  Add panic and the need to evade death, well, you see where I'm going with this.

In a way this is like saying an inattentive driver, perhaps texting, deliberately ran over the kid on a bicycle.  No, he didn't.  But is he responsible for his actions?  Yes, he is.

In the case of the Russians in Ukraine, no matter how accidental any of the death and destruction they cause might be, they are participants in an illegal and immoral war of aggression.  There is shared culpability.

Steve

Purely as a tactical matter running over a car is stupid. You can break a track, get stuck, or even have the gas tank go off. If his platoon commander is A) alive and  b ) sober, neither of which is a given in this sad excuse for an army. he is probably royally pissed off

[John Kettler]

All (especially Haiduk, any other CMers in UKR, Russia; Steve)

Believe I may've found the key to understanding what's really driving Putin ref the Ukraine Invasion, and it's going to blow a lot of minds and likely enrage some, too. The source is X22report.com, an absolutely stunning, long-running OSINT operation focusing on Finance and Politics/Geopolitics, rather than military ops and weaponry, though both come into the discussions as applicable. Six days a week he puts out two segments. Finance runs around 15 minutes and Politics/Geopolitics for around 40.  The amount of research that goes into each episode is staggering, and I'm of the opinion he's got high-level classified sources talking to him, too. Having watched his reports for over a year, I can tell you he's extremely sharp and has a tremendous track record of being right on many fronts, despite frequently going against the pundits and supposed experts alike. His main site has some censoring because apparently pressure has been applied to the site provider, but for a modest sum,  you can subscribe to the uncensored private server edition, which I have, while the main site is free.

Now, why would you care about this in the context of the invasion? What if I told you there were many BW labs in Ukraine, some practically on Russia's border--funded by DoD but controlled by ruthless globalists? Remember Wuhan? Remember the initial work on Gain of Function for what became COVID-19 was funded by DARPA? Remember what Bill Gates has been saying about a second, vastly more deadly virus? What if I told you that, crazy as it sounds, the Ukrainian government (not including Zelensky, who says he's Target 1 and his family Target 2) is rife with neo-Nazis--installed after the 2014 Color Revolution; that Xi Jin Ping didn't contradict Putin on his public statements ref Nazis in Ukraine; that Ukraine isn't so much as organically corrupt as globalist corrupt and pillaged, much like what happened when Arkansas became a CIA fiefdom for money laundering, sterile arms manufacturing and narcotrafficking when Bill Clinton was governor (see former insider Terry Reed's bombshell book COMPROMISED for the Arkansas lowdown); that Ukraine is the linchpin for globalist money laundering and more? When you look at where the BW labs are and where the Russian missile strikes were...For the above and more, go here. 

Regards,

John Kettler

[GAZ NZ]

Ok 

So I heard a bio weapons lab got hit 

I wasn't aware of all this stuff going wuhan

So I'm kinda lost sorry 

[Battlefront.com]

2 minutes ago, GAZ NZ said:

Ok 

So I heard a bio weapons lab got hit 

I wasn't aware of all this stuff going wuhan

So I'm kinda lost sorry 

Can you please not post stuff like this?  Random whatever, no link, not even a full thought about a point to your post.  It isn't helpful to you understanding whatever you're trying to understand, and it certainly doesn't aid in anybody else's understanding.

Steve

[John Kettler]

11 hours ago, CHEqTRO said:

2nd Nagorno Kharabakh War vibes

Ref TB2 strike, looks like the Buk TELAR and the reload transporter--before the strike. My kingdom for BDA imagery! Given the amount of HE-frag and fuel in those missiles, I fully expect at least the other four vehicles and occupants in the image frame have also been wiped out, too.

Regards,

John Kettler
 

[GAZ NZ]

9 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:

Can you please not post stuff like this?  Random whatever, no link, not even a full thought about a point to your post.  It isn't helpful to you understanding whatever you're trying to understand, and it certainly doesn't aid in anybody else's understanding.

Steve

I'm responding to John's post above 

I have no idea what he's on about

There was lot of info in media about a plant exploding 

US has stated

US official: Russian invasion of Ukraine risks release of dangerous pathogens - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Link is below scroll to highlight

https://thebulletin.org/2022/02/us-official-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-risks-release-of-dangerous-pathogens/

Edited February 28, 2022 by GAZ NZ

[hm_stanley]

20 minutes ago, John Kettler said:

All (especially Haiduk, any other CMers in UKR, Russia; Steve)

Believe I may've found the key to understanding what's really driving Putin ref the Ukraine Invasion, and it's going to blow a lot of minds and likely enrage some, too. The source is X22report.com, an absolutely stunning, long-running OSINT operation focusing on Finance and Politics/Geopolitics, rather than military ops and weaponry, though both come into the discussions as applicable. Six days a week he puts out two segments. Finance runs around 15 minutes and Politics/Geopolitics for around 40.  The amount of research that goes into each episode is staggering, and I'm of the opinion he's got high-level classified sources talking to him, too. Having watched his reports for over a year, I can tell you he's extremely sharp and has a tremendous track record of being right on many fronts, despite frequently going against the pundits and supposed experts alike. His main site has some censoring because apparently pressure has been applied to the site provider, but for a modest sum,  you can subscribe to the uncensored private server edition, which I have, while the main site is free.

Now, why would you care about this in the context of the invasion? What if I told you there were many BW labs in Ukraine, some practically on Russia's border--funded by DoD but controlled by ruthless globalists? Remember Wuhan? Remember the initial work on Gain of Function for what became COVID-19 was funded by DARPA? Remember what Bill Gates has been saying about a second, vastly more deadly virus? What if I told you that, crazy as it sounds, the Ukrainian government (not including Zelensky, who says he's Target 1 and his family Target 2) is rife with neo-Nazis--installed after the 2014 Color Revolution; that Xi Jin Ping didn't contradict Putin on his public statements ref Nazis in Ukraine; that Ukraine isn't so much as organically corrupt as globalist corrupt and pillaged, much like what happened when Arkansas became a CIA fiefdom for money laundering, sterile arms manufacturing and narcotrafficking when Bill Clinton was governor (see former insider Terry Reed's bombshell book COMPROMISED for the Arkansas lowdown); that Ukraine is the linchpin for globalist money laundering and more? When you look at where the BW labs are and where the Russian missile strikes were...For the above and more, go here. 

Regards,

John Kettler

 

[Begemot]

Quote

OK, now that you've said your piece and I've said mine, do not post any more of this Kremlin talking point crap here again.  If you do, you're out.  I suffered through enough of this back in 2014/2015 and my tolerance level for mouth pieces for a shameless autocracy is really low right now.

Steve,

I speak the truth and you don't like it. Too bad.

I have a stepson and his wife sheltering in a basement in Sumy at this moment. My wife has friends who are in similar jeopardy. I am very much aware of what has happened in Ukraine since 2014. I have a very personal interest.

But I also have a commitment to the truth and I will call it like I see it. I have seen too many pictures and videos of the death and misery that has been unleashed on Ukraine these last 8 years and you support the killers in Kiev. So go ahead and do your worst. You damn Putin as a tyrant but you are only a small one yourself.

 

[Zveroboy1]

21 minutes ago, John Kettler said:

 His main site has some censoring because apparently pressure has been applied to the site provider, but for a modest sum,  you can subscribe to the uncensored private server edition, which I have, while the main site is free.

Please tell me you didn't actually pay to get access to this nonsense?

[John Kettler]

10 hours ago, dan/california said:

"Poland’s Border Guard said on Sunday that some 22,000 people have crossed from Polish territory into Ukraine since Thursday." How many of those people were Polish special forces on "leave"?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/ukraine-appeals-for-foreign-volunteers-to-join-fight-against-russia

 

Wow--rushing into a country at war! Wonder how many active duty SO types from pro-Ukraine nations are vacationing in Ukraine already or planning to vacation soon, with or without official sanction to "play" there? Will the West have enough SO left should another crisis arise? Am only half joking here.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Battlefront.com]

2 hours ago, Zveroboy1 said:

I am a bit reluctant to post this because really this is mostly idle amateur conjecture but while everybody seems to be focused on the capital and Kharkiv there are some interesting developments elsewhere. The wiki map while probably only a rough approximation at best looks a lot more realistic than the pro Russian maps that are circulating.

Yes, this is important.  Several military analysts have been banging on this drum for a few days now.  Rightly so, but I still think Kiev is the most important part of this whole war.  Russia needs to take it in order to put in its fake Ukrainian government.  It also knows that as long as Kiev is a symbol of hope, there's going to be problems.  But it is true that there's big problems for Ukraine brewing further south.

The fighting out of Crimea has been pretty well covered at the tactical and operational level.  Russian plans were to move north out of Crimea and split into two groups with the immediate aim of taking Odessa to the west and Mariupol to the east.  This would cut Ukraine off from both the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.  If they get this territory they will (their thinking goes) be able to hold onto it forever because of the concept of whomever has troops on the soil has the final say what happens to it.  This is why Serbia tried to take the Croatian coast, in particular Dubrovnik, even though there was 0.0 historical claim to it.  Strategic land grab, pure and simple.  But I digress

The breakout happened rather swiftly and with minimal resistance.  Why this was possible after 8 years of thinking Russia could burst out of it at any time is something to dig into later on when the dust settles.  It should have been much harder for Russia to break than what happened.  The attack stalled going east at Kherson, where the bridge changed hands a couple of times.  All energy seems to be directed westward now.

 

The idea is to flood behind the existing frontline with the Russian proxy states and together with forces within DLPR crush the Ukrainian forces.  Mariupol is to be taken by storm or, perhaps, siege.

Attacks out of Donbas have failed to do much except for a little bit in the Luhansk sector.  Russian forces seem to have done pretty well advancing northward from the Azov coast, but it seems to be losing steam.  Perhaps because of the long logistics tail and the need to invest heavily into taking Mariupol.

The threat from this force, theoretically, extends to Kiev by marching north up the Dnipr River.  But this might not be so easy.  The logistics tail will be VERY long and VERY exposed to artillery and air attacks.  This is steppes terrain we're talking about, which is ideal country to engage supply columns.  Since Russia has already experienced significant supply problems over vastly shorter distances and suffered a lot of losses in the process, it is questionable how far the force can go before it can't effectively fight any more.

The orignal plan almost certainly was to link up with forces coming down through Kharkiv.  This would take the Ukrainians along the Donbas line in the rear from two directions and split the difference for logistics.  It would also allow switching between southern and northern routes in the event one of them became too dangerous.  Of course the original plan also had Russia winning this war by now, so there is that

My assessment of the southern threat is pretty much inline with the analysts I've read except that I don't think there's much it can do beyond take Mariupol and seriously threaten the Donbas lines.  I do not see it going further north.

Steve

[John Kettler]

10 hours ago, Haiduk said:

Abandoned Russian Tunguska near Kharkiv

A veritable bonanza given the UA's AD situation! And if you guys don't want it, I guarantee we here in the States do. Contact your friendly DIA liaison officer for further details.

Regards,

John Kettler

[arkhangelsk2021]

2 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

What country do you live in?

In fact, right now, I happen to live in a country that the United States happen to be very "philic" with. That country has gotten away with launching a full blown surprise attack with multiple armies on American troops executing a UN mandate and suffered no more than some sanctions, breaking the precedent that a surprise attack on American forces is awarded with nukes. That country has attacked four countries yet has received surprisingly little condemnation globally. That country was even accused of genocide (by Western authorities) ... yet overall surprisingly little happened to it.

In my jurisdiction, I have seen the penalties for a peaceful gathering increase to over nine months, even a year, when a few years back it would have been community service. We are now under risk for saying the "wrong things", so I hope you can forgive me for not answering Aragorn's question re Taiwan. Don't worry too much about Ukraine, though, the country's position is sufficiently ambivalent that both sides are safe. In comparison, Russia is almost starting to look decent in human rights. 15 days administrative offense is not a lot compared to 10 years criminal sentence.

Quote

 "Yes, I know it's against the law, but I was wrong and so that woman wasn't blameless".

Except this analogy does not represent it. Suppose we had a bad marriage so after some time, I agree we can divorce. I even send you some aid beyond whatever is legally mandated and give you some business as a forwarder (which is an indirect way of giving you even more aid). You react by being as unfriendly to me as possible and even embezzling the stuff I've entrusted you to forward, causing me to lose reputation with my customers. Do you think the judge might at least be inclined to consider the circumstances if one day I lost my temper and hit you?

  

4 hours ago, Vet 0369 said:

You seem to have forgotten the fact that Russi, with the USA, signed a treaty, or an agreement (I forget which, that if Ukraine gave up it’s nukes, Russia and the USA would respect it’s territorial integrity. Russia violated that in 2014 by supporting the separatists. 

It's a memorandum. it's not legally binding, and if anything, the Americans were the one that put a hole in it first by making a distinction between "government" and "people" and justifying it in terms of "human rights". Like a war, sanctions might be targeted at the government, but it's the people that suffer.

Quote

Belarus: Budapest Memorandum

Media Statement by the U.S. Embassy in Minsk
April 12, 2013
Repeated assertions by the government of Belarus that U.S. sanctions violate the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances are unfounded.  Although the Memorandum is not legally binding, we take these political commitments seriously and do not believe any U.S. sanctions, whether imposed because of human rights or non-proliferation concerns, are inconsistent with our commitments to Belarus under the Memorandum or undermine them. Rather, sanctions are aimed at securing the human rights of Belarusians and combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other illicit activities, not at gaining any advantage for the United States.

But let's discuss the essence of the situation. Suppose I make the promise not to hit you. Normally, you'd expect that promise to hold. How much should you expect that promise to be impenetrable if you stole my stuff or you start breaking laws yourself?

Edited February 28, 2022 by arkhangelsk2021
Add a few more details

[Battlefront.com]

More evidence that Russia is going to compensate for poor performance with its destructive capacity.  Specifically, cluster munitions:

 

Ukraine also reports of Iskander missiles being used to soften up Zhytomyr ahead of stalled out advances from the Crimean forces:

So far today's fighting (Day 5) includes more attacks attempting to enter Kiev.  These have thus far failed to gain ground and Ukraine is reporting inflicting serious casualties on the attackers.

https://www.facebook.com/UkrainianLandForces/posts/293209082911090

Steve

[Battlefront.com]

21 minutes ago, arkhangelsk2021 said:

In fact, right now, I happen to live in a country that the United States happen to be very "philic" with. That country has gotten away with launching a full blown surprise attack with multiple armies on American troops executing a UN mandate and suffered no more than some sanctions, breaking the precedent that a surprise attack on American forces is awarded with nukes. That country has attacked four countries yet has received surprisingly little condemnation globally. That country was even accused of genocide (by Western authorities) ... yet overall surprisingly little happened to it.

Well, let me guess Saudi Arabia?  Yeah, that's a complicated one.  Still doesn't challenge my point though.

21 minutes ago, arkhangelsk2021 said:

Except this analogy does not represent it. Suppose we had a bad marriage so after some time, I agree we can divorce. I even send you some aid beyond whatever is legally mandated and give you some business as a forwarder (which is an indirect way of giving you even more aid). You react by being as unfriendly to me as possible and even embezzling the stuff I've entrusted you to forward, causing me to lose reputation with my customers. Do you think the judge might at least be inclined to consider the circumstances if one day I lost my temper and hit you?

Except this characterization has absolutely nothing to do with what happened with Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

If you want to continue your flawed analogy, it is more like you divorced and then psychologically abused your ex-wife into doing all kinds of things to benefit you instead of her.  Then, when she had the audacity to express an interest in NOT doing what you wanted, you manipulated her with bribes, blackmail, and threats to keep her compliant (2003-2010).  Hell, you even poisoned and disfigured her just to make a point about what you're capable of.  That kept her quiet for awhile, but then she started expressing interest in another man in 2013.  AND THAT YOU COULD NOT ALLOW!  So you increased the threats and the violence towards her.  In 2014 she had enough and said enough is enough, so you hit her hard and for 8 more years continually tormented her.  In the process you took things that did not belong to you and made her life a living hell.  Then, without warning, you tried to kill her (2022).

Blaming the victim (Ukraine) for a lifetime of abuse by Russia's ruling elite (going back well into past centuries), is not going to win you any arguments with me.  The simple truth is Ukraine is a recognized nation with all the rights that entails.  It chose to not be Russia's tool for enrichment any more and Russia decided to destroy it when it determined it could not control it.  There is no legal or moral justification for Russia's war.  None.

Hopefully you found this somewhat instructive because you don't seem to know much about the history of the Soviet Union or Russia's behavior since Putin took over.  You certainly don't appear to know much about what Ukraine has been through at the hands of Putin, not to mention the other nations paralyzed or terrorized by Putin's policies.

Steve