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A territory must at least sustain itself in the long run. Russia does not have the economy to fund Ukraine. So they can’t just level it: they have the means but
by rich_sasha 5y ago
A territory must at least sustain itself in the long run. Russia does not have the economy to fund Ukraine. So they can’t just level it: they have the means but not the ability to hold it afterwards.
Russia certainly has the means to win all the battles, they might just then find they cannot keep the spoils.
- pelasaco 5y agoNot saying that you are wrong, but on Crimea Russia was able to improve the infrastructure in comparison with Ukraine
- rich_sasha 5y agoIn Crimea, it’s true that the local population was more willing to cooperate. A large fraction were ethnic Russians. In Ukraine, it seems there are more volunteers to fight than weapons.
- rocqua 5y agoDo they want to keep Ukraine? I would guess they plan to change the government and install a puppet. Perhaps with annexing a small bit.
- rich_sasha 5y agoThe puppet government will need support from military/Russia police, control of cities, transport links and so on. Look how quickly the US-backed Afghan government fell when US troops retreated. Another sad possibility is that Russia just wants to cause as much death, havoc and destruction, then retreat. But that seems a lot less like an achievement.
- rocqua 5y agoIf they wanted to just cause death, Kiev would be a whole lot flatter by now. It looks like the war crimes and murdered civilians are not part of the plan for now.