I used to naively think that the military's role was to protect their fellow citizens, even at the cost of their own lives- after all, those citizens had entrusted them with their safety. Yet according to Ukrainian media, when the strike hit, soldiers of the 117th Territorial Defense Brigade were safely sheltered, having "forgotten" to warn civilians- if they ever intended to in the first place.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-ca98fa24-29a3-4c74-aa7d-ce38f756270d

The BBC outlines how Russia is handling the abandoned properties in Mariupol after the war and really works hard to cast it as some serious crime by Russia that they aren't voluntarily giving land back to the people they are at war with. Basically any flat or other property that is empty is given a 3 month window in court for an owner to reclaim it, but they have to enter Russia and be given a Russian passport, with this process open to former Ukrainian residents. Only after 3 months can properties be given away, reserved for DPR residents displaced during the fighting. Therefore the BBC holds it as theft that this now Russian occupied land can't be claimed by Ukrainians loyal to Zelenesky who refuse to integrate into Russia but want to lay claim to what is now Russian soil.

I mean they describe in detail how Russia is purposefully leaving a door open for Ukrainians to defect and join Russia and reclaim their property, which won't be taken if the owners are willing to become Russian and claim it. And this is happening contemporanously with British efforts to seize Russian property overseas, steal it and give it to Ukraine- property not taken by warfare or behind a countries borders, just stolen from supposedly open financial markets.

they also give a specific (fake name not verifiable) case of a Ukrainian who was shot during the siege of Mariupol, stayed in the city after it fell as he recovered.... and was given a Russian passport and his property kept in his name. Not stolen, not some bureaucratic farce to dress up theft, but exactly what they say it is, giving Ukrainians the opportunity to reclaim their property by becoming Russians

This post was edited by Goomshill on Apr 17 2025 06:12am

Bald and Bankrupt visits Ukraine again.

This post was edited by Malopox on Apr 17 2025 12:30pm

ROTFL.
Russian honor? Innocent people murdered in Bucha, Katyn and other people would disagree, if they were alive. Prisoners starved. No conventions ever respected.

History? Kyiv is older city than Moscow.

Intellect? Country 4 times smaller is successfully defending, that takes a lot of intellect.

Scientists? Ukrainians massively adapted drones, fitted them with explosives, and turned them into precise flying bombs.
Ukraine started setting up hidden, underground factories producing drones and other small weapons.
Ukraine was the backbone of Soviet aerospace, missile forces, aviation, tanks, and agriculture.
Without Ukraine, the USSR would have been much weaker in technology and industry.

Oil, gas - kinda, but Ukraine has rare minerals and agriculturally rich soil, not bad.

So the only real thing Russians have from this list are poets.

U.S. President Donald Trump will walk away from trying to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be done, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.

What about the Volhynia massacre? Those glorious 2% of nationalists are now in power.

This calls for external help rather than intelligence.
If we consider that Kyiv is not the first capital of Rus’ and compare which city is older, Derbent is older than Kyiv.

By the way, how are aviation, tank production, and astronautics doing in Ukraine after the collapse of the USSR?

Ukraine had a tough time after 1990.
While many other countries joined the west as fast as possible, Ukraine decided not to break all their ties with Russia, so they didnt fully join western world.
At the same time Russia was making mess in Ukraine.
Now Ukraine can go forward, as they cut all the ties with Russia.
The only problem is that they need to somehow survive the war ...

This post was edited by Ironfister on Apr 18 2025 04:37am

Everyone went through hard times, but Ukraine chose to sell off what was left from the USSR instead of developing or maintaining it. It is the only country in the Soviet bloc whose GDP did not grow significantly (7 times for tiny Poland, 4 times for the Russian Federation) from the collapse of the USSR until 2014, not to mention 2022-25.

True that gdp didnt raise, but are there any other countries that tried to trade with both west and Russia, while also being actively destabilized by Russia?
Russia wanted Ukraine to fall, and had plenty of Russian agents from ussr times, who were making mess and corruption in Ukraine. Ukraine mistake was that they should cut all ties with Russia asap.
There really is no other country to compare with that.

This post was edited by Ironfister on Apr 18 2025 07:15am

All the Soviet bloc countries, including Poland.
Or you want me to throw shade that Poles ‘historically ruined’ Russians by inventing vodka?

This post was edited by Norlander on Apr 18 2025 07:56am