[RD] War in Ukraine: Other topics

[Verbose]

Oh, so you guys have tired of explaining everything in world politics with "oil", so not it's "military industrial complex" again is it?

Well, figures, the tropes might be switched around, but the underlying received ideas remain the same...

 

[red_elk]

And the firm rumour is that much of the fish that the UK consumes is coming from the Russian fishing fleet.

Of course not. What a nonsense. Absolutely untrue.

 

[Joij21]

Well I told your ancestors back in the early 2000s that invading Iraq/Afghanistan was a bad idea, but they did not listen.

You should always listen to the Belgian, he knows what is best.

The object of any foreign policy is always to have all the foreigners killing eachother in a far away place - doesn't matter if they are Germans, Chinese, Russians or US Americans,

as long they are all foreigners, you will always win the war.

Let's not pretend that international politics is a love afair

Which is precisely why we shouldn't help you. You just said the quiet part out loud, thanks but no thanks.

Whatever your thoughts are on aid, Ukraine is different because it is its own country that is fighting. In Afghanistan and Iraq, we were trying to build institutions from the ground-up. In some respects, direct intervention in Ukraine would be closer to Vietnam or the 1991 Gulf War—and just by those two examples the type of conflict doesn’t dictate whether it will be a success or failure.

It will collapse this winter. No more need to worry anymore.

Hope the Russians remaster the blitz soon that is before certain kinds of fools try something stupid come next summer.

 

[Snowygerry]

Which is precisely why we shouldn't help you. You just said the quiet part out loud, thanks but no thanks.
(...)

Hard to see what you could do tbh.

Anyway, the Russian problem is solving itself, admittedly not without causing a lot of misery for its neighbours in the process.

Russia's Demographic Vanishing Act: A Warning From History | Russia Matters

www.russiamatters.org

This creates a cruel irony: the very communities whose higher fertility rates once promised to stabilize Russia's population are now being decimated by war casualties. As these demographic lifelines are severed, Russia's long-term population prospects darken further. Russia’s population is already in decline, peaking at 149 million in 1994, to about 145 million today, and is likely to decline even more this century to about 120 million, causing the Economist to label it a “nightmare,” one exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Birth rates have plummeted to what may be a 200-year low. Meanwhile, military casualties and emigration have created a demographic hemorrhage that Moscow can no longer spin or minimize: estimates of casualties are upwards of 790,000, according to Russia Matters.

According to demographer Alexei Raksha, the first quarter of 2025 likely saw the lowest number of births since the early 1800s, with February marking the lowest monthly figure in over 200 years. Based on preliminary registry office data, he estimated that 95,000 to 96,000 children were born in March, bringing the total for the first quarter to around 293,000-294,000.

Russia’s Birth Rate Plunges to 200-Year Low - The Moscow Times

Russia’s attempts to boost its flagging birth rate — through policies promoting “traditional values,” tighter abortion restrictions and officials’ encouragement of larger families — appear to be falling short, as the number of births has fallen to its lowest level in centuries.

www.themoscowtimes.com

 

[Gedemon]

It will collapse this winter. No more need to worry anymore.

Hope the Russians remaster the blitz soon that is before certain kinds of fools try something stupid come next summer.

Russia is still many years away from its claimed territorial conquest goal, there is no signs of collapse, and blitz is now impossible.

 

[Kyriakos]

Apart from the rest of Donetsk, are the recent plans naming more territories not yet controlled by Russia as changing hands in a peace treaty? (obv not counting the ones to be returned to Ukraine, in the northern outremer)

If we assume that the bits to the northwest of Luhansk are also to be returned to Ukraine, the overall landmass doesn't seem to be that different than the remaining part of Donetsk. So I am asking if the deal also gives Russia currently not controlled stuff in Kherson and/or Zaporizhia.

 

[Gedemon]

Apart from the rest of Donetsk, are the recent plans naming more territories not yet controlled by Russia as changing hands in a peace treaty?

those plans (that fixes the position on the frontline in the other regions) are not accepted by Russia anyway.

 

[Verbose]

those plans (that fixes the position on the frontline in the other regions) are not accepted by Russia anyway.

The "frontline" is also a bit of a misnomer by now – what there is, is an about 20 km wide "kill zone" both sides patrol by drones and other means, and anything that moves inside it can expect to get hunted. Which is a big part of why the "frontline" is so lightly manned.

 

[amadeus]

It will collapse this winter. No more need to worry anymore.

I don’t support direct intervention (American soldiers in combat roles) but nothing about what I said relates to the situation on the ground. Ukraine could be at the gates of Moscow with a 10:1 manpower advantage and my point would still stand.

The in Iraq which you cited, major combat operations took five weeks—it was the administration, rebuilding of the government, and counterinsurgency operations that the bulk of time was spent on.

 

[Lexicus]

Oh, so you guys have tired of explaining everything in world politics with "oil", so not it's "military industrial complex" again is it?

Yeah I mean imagine crucial strategic resources or material interests affecting geopolitics. That's silly; crazy even! The Harry Potter theory of international relations has way more explanatory power

 

[EnglishEdward]

Yeah I mean imagine crucial strategic resources or material interests affecting geopolitics. That's silly; crazy even! The Harry Potter theory of international relations has way more explanatory power

Let me guess: Tom Marvolo Riddle := Vlad Putin

 

[leif erikson]

Moderator Action: Please remain on topic.

 

[r16]

in the dark of the night , an airliner approaches the Dublin Airport . It is not on time ... lt is there before the ETA . And by two minutes , it survives . Because 5 advanced unrecognized military drones appear . The airliner might have collided with them , killing the only heroic leader or whatever ! The murderers have failed again !

do you need further details to identify who is who in this ? Nobody knows from where they came . Nobody knows to where they go . When they failed and nobody knows why the RAF was not escorting that airliner , because murderers and all , the drones went to harass the neutral Irish coast guard . Supposediy for two hours . Like when such things arrive nobody engages them though reportedly Dutch soldiers , always ready to avenge that Boeing 777 from 2014 , opened fire on some airliner , which was luckily out of range . Yeah , drones are all the rage in Europe messing in places where they have no business to be . Some French submarine base scouted , again 5 or so and they got away . According to the blog that distributes Pentagon's lies ... Some French commenter posts multiple times that they were jammed and crashed but it is the sea or something and none was recovered by that time ...

supposedly it is 200 times or so , the Russian drones attacking peaceful Europe . Some Dutch website examines 60 of the cases , can't link any to Russia in a decisive manner . Communist Dutch people , no doubt .

oh , look , here is the one that attacked Moldova ...



thought this was the house it targeted , turns out this is probably the Foreign Ministery . Because apparently this is the Russian ambrassador , to witness the crimes his country has committed . Because so many people are idiots , unable to understand what they read , this is not saying Russia does not commit crimes . Because wise people tell us we are useful idiots if not under the employ of Moscow .



yeah , Russia has attacked Moldova and they are lying that the drone is undamaged so it is a conspiracy and manipulation and all sort of things Russians themselves alone do in the world ... Russians as always .



so , like this is the house or whatever it hit . Its warhead , if fitted is a mere 5 kilograms and nothing Russians do go off anyway . Or maybe it was a straight decoy and Russians pained the Z to taunt Ukranians so that it wouldn't ever be ignored . Not that the prop makers painted it a night before so that the feebly weak minded Europeans would have a reason to assume it was a set up . Like the farmer who was bombed thought it was a toy and took away pieces . Not because it crashed somewhere else and intelligence types got the working bits and left the rest .

ı will even concede it could be landed at that exact spot by a deep stall or something , so slow that people wouldn't have heard it happening .

but the thing is ı think that's what we call eternit here . That roof material . ı would be scared of stepping on it , even when it was laid by my late father , with generous support stuff to make the thing strong enough to last . While nobody will change his mind , and Russians are expert liars , the ambrassador is kinda right . Where are the cracks ? Especially at the point where propeller hit hard enough to be broken away . Like either it is so poorly made that it should have crashed within the launch site or ISIL members were around with armed Toyota trucks , placing crashed-in-Ukraine drones on rooftops to bring Jihad to places or something .

also noted some comments . Military industrial complex , the bogey of brainrotted Leftists who oppose the right thing . Like Europe is supposed to spend 800 on stuff . Billions of Euros . Which irritated Trump and he has cut everything down and will have a defence budget of one and a half . Trillions of dollars . This year or the next . It is easy money , telling people that they are in danger and proudly spend their money for the cause so that even the operators can wear a different suit for each day .

also Britain deserves it very well to be blocked from selling to the EU . They started it , with the AUKUS programme , kicking the French out of Australia while working for a submarine project and doing nothing except removing the relevant percentage of the Australian defence budget . A emergency so dire that the first delivery will be in 2030 or 40 ... ı think it was in the summer this year when ı read that the British navy thing didn't have a single SSN available to send out to patrol . You know the Democracy is at war with Russia or something ...

 

[Gedemon]

The "frontline" is also a bit of a misnomer by now – what there is, is an about 20 km wide "kill zone" both sides patrol by drones and other means, and anything that moves inside it can expect to get hunted. Which is a big part of why the "frontline" is so lightly manned.

you're right, and so "placing the line" on a 1200km frontline is a question worth 24000km2 of territory.

that's equivalent of 5 years of Russian offensives to put that in perspective.

 

[Verbose]

you're right, and so "placing the line" on a 1200km frontline is a question worth 24000km2 of territory.

that's equivalent of 5 years of Russian offensives to put that in perspective.

Or, engaging in some more of that Artithmetic from Hell that Russia seems to inspire – should it all have to be fought over, extrapolating from the current Russian casualty rate of almost 70 casualties/sq km captured, that could amount to about another 1,5+ millon Russian casualties.

 

[Kyriakos]

The Institute for the Study of War is a very prominent organization, specializing on this subject, so one has to assume they incorporated such concerns into the maps they post explicitly presenting occupied territories - not mere claims of occupied territories.
Even one minute before the maiming peace treaty, I am sure we will have claims that actually reality on the ground is very different.

 

[Verbose]

The Institute for the Study of War is a very prominent organization, specializing on this subject, so one has to assume they incorporated such concerns into the maps they post explicitly presenting occupied territories - not mere claims of occupied territories.
Even one minute before the maiming peace treaty, I am sure we will have claims that actually reality on the ground is very different.

All ground is not equal here.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

It will collapse this winter. No more need to worry anymore.

Hope the Russians remaster the blitz soon that is before certain kinds of fools try something stupid come next summer.

Wishful thinking or useful idiocy, or both.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Russia blocks Roblox game site, and the kids aren’t alright with that​

After the latest restriction on the internet, officials describe receiving “many” letters from children wanting access to the game-creation platform restored.

December 11, 2025 at 5:00 a.m. ESTToday at 5:00 a.m. EST
Before the ban, Roblox attracted nearly 8 million monthly users, a media monitor found — making it Russia's second most popular gaming service. (Photo Illustration by Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters)

By Mary Ilyushina
Russian children have flooded President Vladimir Putin with pleas to restore access to Roblox, a gaming platform that is hugely popular with kids and teenagers and was abruptly blocked across the country this month.

Roblox, the California-based platform that allows users to create and share their own games, stopped working for Russian users on Dec. 3. The state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, later confirmed it had restricted access, accusing the company of hosting “extremist materials” and “LGBT propaganda,” and claiming its moderation allowed content that could “negatively affect the spiritual and moral development of children.”

The move is the latest in Moscow’s broader campaign to tighten control over foreign technology platforms and steer users toward domestic alternatives — an effort internet freedom experts warn would enable greater state surveillance of communications. In the same week as the Roblox restriction, regulators also blocked Apple’s FaceTime, citing its alleged use in coordinating attacks and other crimes, as well as Snapchat.

Previously, authorities moved to restrict WhatsApp, the country’s most popular messaging app, while promoting a Russian-built alternative known as Max, modeled in part on China’s WeChat through its integration with government services and intended to replace foreign apps across daily life, from schools to government agencies. For now, WhatsApp calls are unavailable, and officials have signaled the app could be fully banned in the coming months. While many Russians have complained about losing access to messaging and calling services, the Roblox ban, affecting a platform that boasted nearly 8 million monthly users and ranked as the country’s second most popular gaming service according to Mediascope, a Russian monitoring agency, has sparked an especially intense backlash among young users.

Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that the Kremlin has received “many” letters from children on the matter ahead of the end-of-year presidential press marathon and call-in show on Dec. 19.

Yekaterina Mizulina, head of the Kremlin-aligned Safe Internet League, claimed that since the ban “every second child” aged 8 to 16 had written to her saying they wanted to leave Russia. In screenshots she shared, children begged for access to be restored. “My brother is six and he really loves Roblox. I feel so much pain seeing his sad face,” one message read. “I hope everything works out and the platform will be unbanned. I hope for a New Year’s miracle.” Other messages said children who want to become software developers use Roblox to learn basic game and app development.

Roblox is popular the world over, but has faced some criticism for exposing children to sexual content, grooming, extremist material, and financial exploitation, leading some countries to ban or restrict the platform over child-safety concerns. Critics argue its design and moderation failures make it too easy for predators to contact minors and push children into excessive spending through gambling-like mechanics such as loot boxes.

Roblox is blocked in several countries, including China, Turkey and Iraq. Western governments have moved to restrict access to the app by very young users or pushed the platform to introduce safeguards. In Australia, Roblox rolled out an age verification feature through facial recognition, which is meant to make the app comply with the country’s new ban on any social media access for children under 16.

This feature will become mandatory in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in December with a wider rollout early next year, and is intended to also prevent adults from impersonating teenagers and infiltrating children’s online communities. However, some critics suggested that with the rapid development of AI image generation it will be possible to circumvent the restriction.

In the United States, the platform has been linked to dozens of grooming and abuse cases, with at least 30 arrests since 2018 and lawsuits following incidents of sexual exploitation and attempted abduction. State attorneys along with private law firms have launched investigations and dozens of lawsuits accusing the company of failing to implement basic safeguards while continuing to profit from young users. In Russia, Roskomnadzor also highlighted the problem with sexual harassment of children within Roblox, saying in a statement that “children get tricked into sending intimate photos and they are forced into depraved acts and violence — after all, Roblox is popular with pedophiles who meet minors directly in the game’s chats and then move on to real life.”

Mizulina, despite her reputation for advocating tighter internet controls, criticized the ban, arguing that it fails to address the broader problem of predatory behavior on major online platforms. “Kids will simply move on to other resources or use work-arounds. How many kids have downloaded a three-letter app in the last few days since the game was banned?” she wrote in a Telegram blog post, referring to virtual private networks, or VPNs, which allow internet users to get around bans and have been largely restricted in Russia. “As some parents of schoolchildren write, the widespread circumvention of blocking measures also fosters a generally dismissive attitude toward government decisions. From a young age, children are instilled with the understanding that there is another option,” she said.

A Roblox spokesperson said in a statement about the Russian ban that the company “respects the local laws and regulations in the countries” and “believes Roblox provides a positive space for learning, creation and meaningful connection for everyone.”

 

[Gedemon]

On the other side...

Interpreter In Tears During Boy’s Vinnytsya Testimony In EU Parliament

In the discussion after a screening of documentaries about Ukrainian children, a translator burst into tears while interpreting the speech of 11-year-old Roman Oleksiv from Lviv. The boy survived a Russian missile strike in Ukraine's city of Vinnytsya. The July 2022 strike killed Oleksiv's mother.

www.rferl.org