I would not trust ISW for intelligence related material. They are great for understanding battlefield tactics and reporting on troop status. We know this to be true because there are independent sources that report the destruction of regiments and we can see the combat footage. A lot of these things MIGHT be true but there's no way to verify them. As said, most of the sources are Ukrainian and I would not trust Ukrainian intel until it's been verified by other agencies.

Russia and China are anything but certainly not allies.

I would say more like a trade partner.
History is there for you to see.
They don't have friendly relationships even during their Communist days.
The reason why they are friendly now is because of USA. That is the only reason why. If the United States is not around , Russia and China will be at each other's throat.

I see it everyday

I think this premise is wrong. Everyone in Ukraine lived under the Russian sphere of influence for all but 8 years of the past few centuries. Now they have the collective will to fight to the death in hopeless circumstances- because that's what they are- because returning to Russian rule is completely unacceptable?
This is what Ukrainian government, today;
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/19/ukraine-news-russia-invasion-updates/7110747001/
offered terms of surrender and safe passage for Mariupol alone, which is clearly and obviously being obliterated
Zelenksy refused it out of hand. After all, he's not in Mariupol. They can get annihilated before Kiev, maybe when Kiev falls he'll find a way out or maybe he'll surrender or maybe he'll just fight to the bitter end too.
Is that in the self-interest of the residents of Mariupol?

I posted a vid showing what's going on in an appropriate thread.

Your reply just confirms what I already knew, you're one of those mentally ill "progressives" that completely lost touch with reality and can't even handle watching something they don't like, SMH

And I'm not Russian, sicko

ok comrade

I wish more folks here would take this into account. I often hear comparisons of Ukraine to countries like Finland, Poland, and the Baltics. As in, why wouldn't Putin try to invade them too, if for example Poland was not in a formal military alliance with the US?

TBH, I don't think most of the left-wingers on here even know Ukraine's history as a geographical region, a civilizational core of the Russian sphere for hundreds of years, a region wrestled over by the PLC, Ottomans, and Russians for the longest time, a region once occupied by Turkic hordes, etc... I'm convinced they only know what they're told to know. As in, Ukraine, as in the people who live in the 2022 borders of the country called Ukraine, including Crimea, are an ancient, well-defined, unified and respected culture and nation state akin to China or France. According to them, there is no distinction between them and Poles, who only really share Slavic identity with Russia and not much else, Finns who share... basically fuck all with Russia, etc.

Do you know any Russian immigrants in America? Yes, life is THAT much better being free from Russia.

Also, do you actually think that Russia's Mariupol offer was legit? If so, for just 7760 fg, I will gear your d2 character with PERFECT gear. No med necessary.

imagine living in a basement fighting for your ability to NOT be part RU.. and listening to some American telling him he's stupid from a couch.