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So in latest news, last opposition figure in Russia dies together with any hope for regime change while Russia's war effort is starting to get some traction wit

• timeon 3y ago
  > west is busy either with it's in-fighting or comparing each others superior Also slowly folding. It is not happening only in little countries like Slovakia. US has relevant party that is now openly pro-Putin.
  • jacquesm 3y ago
    You have to wonder about the sanity of people that are in love with power for power's sake.
  • lm28469 3y ago
    > Also slowly folding. It is not happening only in little countries like Slovakia. I assume you don't know much about Slovakia besides the few headlines that pop here and there, right ?
    • timeon 3y ago
      I have mentioned Slovakia because conspiracy theories are mainstream there. Ministry of culture is ruled by one of those medias. I have mentioned Slovakia because I constantly hear about 'US bad Russia Good' there. I mentioned Slovakia because that is my home country. So tell me why would you assume my lack of knowledge?
      • reportgunner 3y ago
        That sounds like a yes to me
        • timeon 3y ago
          Can you elaborate?
          • reportgunner 3y ago
            I would prefer not to on here.
      • lm28469 3y ago
        My wife's from there and I spend quite a lot of time there. Everybody and their uncle became a Slovak politic expert during the last election while half of them didn't even know Czechoslovakia wasn't a thing anymore the day prior. Unless you evolve in very weird circles you probably know that it's infinitely more complex than 'US bad Russia Good' > So tell me why would you assume my lack of knowledge? Hard to tell if you're part of the "Slovakia should be kicked out of EU because they voted bad" crowd that popped up out of nowhere (and disappeared as quickly apparently). It's much less black and white than people make it look like, for example: https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/27331.jpeg https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/27331.jpeg
        • timeon 3y ago
          > Hard to tell if you're part of the "Slovakia should be kicked out of EU because they voted bad" crowd Not sure why you went that far with your assumptions. I just stated that situation in Slovakia changed. It is not black and white - I agree with you. I mentioned Slovakia where it happened and US where it is starting to happen. It is not going to be black and white there either but that should not be excuse to stay passive.
          • lm28469 3y ago
  • joshsyn 3y ago
    [dead]
  • flanked-evergl 3y ago
    > US has relevant party that is now openly pro-Putin What relevant party in the US is openly pro-Putin?
    • The_Colonel 3y ago
      Recently Trump said that if Putin invaded Europe, he (Trump) "would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they wanted to you". It's not full pro-Russia yet, but he's certainly moving in that direction. Unfortunately, Trump is currently the republican party.
      • danielovichdk 3y ago
        Europe has to wake up. We are so lazy and political incompetent that it would easy for anyone to invade us and have us work in gulags. The only people left that fights back are the slaves, the rest of us is uncomfortably unconcerned. Please help us by selecting Trump.
      • logicchains 3y ago
        The full context is he said if those European countries did not meet their NATO defense spending obligations he'd let Putin do what he wants with them.
        • The_Colonel 3y ago
          Not just "let", he explicitly said "encourage".
    • bandyaboot 3y ago
      I’d say it’s more accurate to say the Republican Party is firmly beholden to a man who is at times openly pro-Putin and the rest of the time merely transparently pro-Putin.
      • flanked-evergl 3y ago
        Thanks for clarifying, I'm not an American, and I was not aware Trump is openly pro-Putin. This is quite concerning, do you mind clarifying what openly or transparently pro-Putin policy positions he takes?
• lm28469 3y ago
  > I would have never believed all this just a few years ago, how it will go down. The writing is on the wall for a while now, the only problem is that people talking about it are promptly labeled as not worthy of being listened to
  • lifestyleguru 3y ago
    This is just silly play of ironic smirks. The interests of key players in Europe are secured, some intra-Slavic conflicts have no importance for them.
    • ben_w 3y ago
      Security isn't a thing that can be secured in an absolute sense, only a relative one. For example, while the catastrophic ineptitude of the Russian forces at the start of their invasion has caused me to believe 80% of their nukes don't work any more, even just one nuke detonated as a HAEMP would destroy a continental-sized power grid — and the same visible signs of corruption that gave me the previous 80%, that also means there's a substantial chance at least one of the warheads ended up on the black market.
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  • sekai 3y ago
    > The writing is on the wall for a while now, the only problem is that people talking about it are promptly labeled as not worthy of being listened Exactly, did people forget Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014? Let's not be naive here.
    • disgruntledphd2 3y ago
      Yup, this was the time to arm Ukraine. (or even in 2008 with Georgia).
      • Aerroon 3y ago
• chaostheory 3y ago
  Not sure I remember the source, but even Navalny was not against Russia’s war to get its buffer zones back. Of course, if Navalny was able to magically overthrow Putin, it’d be harder for a democratic regime to fight an offensive war because no one wants to personally participate in a war.
  • deely3 3y ago
    Not sure about downvotes, but Navalny was definitely against bringing back Crimea to Ukraine. In his own words: "Crimea is not a pastry to pass from hands to hands". After it becomes clear that "3 day" invasion of Ukraine is unsuccessful he changed his mind. But only after it, not before.
    • 5e92cb50239222b 3y ago
      The last one is pure fantasy. He made a statement on the first day of the war and was strongly against it from the start. https://zona.media/online/2022/02/24/pokrov4 https://zona.media/online/2022/02/24/pokrov4
      • deely3 3y ago
        And where this statement in this article? Are you lying? He against the war sure, but show me where he mentioned returning Crimea to Ukraine.
        • hrns 3y ago
          Yeah, he openly said that he accepts the Crimea annexation - which is a part of Putins strategy of reviving the Russian empire. https://visitukraine.today/blog/3375/navalny-is-dead-what-was-the-russian-oppositionist-remembered-for-and-why-was-he-never-a-friend-of-ukraine https://visitukraine.today/blog/3375/navalny-is-dead-what-wa...
          • Ray20 3y ago
            Putin has exactly one strategy: to remain in power. The revival of the empire has absolutely nothing to do with this. The annexation of Crimea was needed not to revive the empire, but to discredit the idea of revolution in Ukraine that happend in 2014. The war in Ukraine - is the price for the revolution that Putin forced Ukraine to pay, because if the revolution does not have a price, the revolution will happen in Russia
• wouldbecouldbe 3y ago
  Russia really is not to be feared. The Ukraine war is a tragedy and I hope it ends soon. But they have no economical & military power to really do any harm the Europe & the US. Putin makes a lot of noise but really can't even win a few km's in Ukraine. But the real threat is further east. China is slowly building it's empire, and it's a scary one. Taking over parts of Africa. Migrating it's people. Integrating it's tech worldwide. Making the world dependent while building it's own full independence.
  • vaylian 3y ago
    > But they have no economical & military power to really do any harm the Europe & the US. Putin makes a lot of noise but really can't even win a few km's in Ukraine. Let's see how the situation in Avdiivka develops in the next few weeks. Ukraine is reinforcing the area, but it doesn't look good. We've seen plenty of blunders by the russian army. But you should not underestimate your enemy.
    • KingOfCoders 3y ago
      Avdiivka will fall next week. Putin (and the Russian (leaderhsip) culture in general, see Stalin) is this: What are a 100M (of our) people dead if we own Ukraine/Baltics/East Poland/Georgia/... for the next hundreds of years? Stalin had the same blunders, thats priced in, the Red Army had meat wave attacks in WW2 and lost millions, but achived all it's war goals (Poland, Baltics, Eastern Europe including half of Germany - only the US achieved all it's war goals too, everyone else lost, sadly Poland had the biggest loss).
      • lm28469 3y ago
        > What are a 100M (of our) people dead if we own Ukraine/Baltics/East Poland/Georgia/... for the next hundreds of years? The fertility rate more than halved since then, they're not playing with the same cards anymore
        • Moldoteck 3y ago
• miroljub 3y ago
  Why does this surprise you? Russia just can't afford another Lenin during the war. Or another Yeltsin. The last thing they need now is a fight for supremacy, similar to what we have in Ukraine, that would cripple their war effort and benefit only their enemies. The death or one of the opposition leaders may be considered as a small price to pay to avoid the 1917 like catastrophe. Today, with the abundance of nuclear weapons, the stakes for the whole world are much higher than then.
• TomK32 3y ago
  Surely not the last opposition figure and Russia will run out of manpower as every attacker has a higher loss than the defender. You forget Lukashenko, he wasn't unwilling to let Belarus join the Russian Federation for no reason. As soon as Putin dies for whatever reason, Lukashenko will be the first to race to the Kremlin and take over. Personally I have great hopes that an outsider like Kasparov could become President of Russia once Russia is defeated. He did attempt to run for presidency in 2007. You do read the news? Ukraine is sinking the Russian Black Sea fleet ship by ship with cheap sea-drones. Ukraine is destroying Russian oil refineries and Russia has to reduce it's crude oil production now that India seems to saturated with cheap Russian oil. On Ukraine ceding territory, I assume that's in case of a peace deal? Putin will sell that as a victory to the Russian people and prepare the next attack a few years later. This simply isn't an option for Europe to allow. Russia will crumble.
  • jncfhnb 3y ago
    Lukashenko taking over Russia is the funniest take I’ve heard about him
    • selimthegrim 3y ago
      Remember at the time his competition was Yeltsin
      • TomK32 3y ago
        An here they are in 1997 signing the founding treaty of the Russia-Belarusian Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_State#/media/File:RIAN_archive_141088_Signing_Treaty_on_Establishing_Russian-Belarusian_Union.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_State#/media/File:RIAN_a...
    • TomK32 3y ago
      Sure sounds funny but here's a few things: * Lukashenko is president since the post was created, his position is quite solid and will be useful when Putin's time is over. * just two years into his presidency he signed a Union treaty with Russia, then still ruled by Yeltsin. Russia always understood that treaty as Belarus becoming part of Russia, something Putin is very keen on, extending Russia by force has happened more than once since 2000 but Belarus joining peacefully would push Putin's popularity. Lukashenko again and again promised things like introducing a common currency by 2004, 2005, 2006 and "maybe" 2007. Didn't happen. For Lukashenko it's a carrot he dangles in front of Putin. * Belarus didn't join the war against Ukraine, and Lukashenko profited a lot when he got Wagner to stop their rebellion.
• lawn 3y ago
  He never represented any real hope for regime change. He was just a useful figurehead to attract sympathies from the west, but he never posed any threat to Putin and even if he somehow got into power he would do nothing to change Russia for the better. He died (was killed) because he no longer served a purpose for Putin.
  • dralley 3y ago
    Be that as it may, he wasn't controlled opposition.
• api 3y ago
  You forgot a chunk of the US right actively supporting Russia and praising Putin as savior of the West. They aren’t the majority but are influential. Xi Xinpeng should take a lesson here. Apparently all you have to do is dunk on gay people and pay lip service to right wing culture war stuff and they’ll roll over. You don’t even have to mean it. (Every core statistic the right claims to care about is worse in Russia like birth rate, divorce, abortion, etc.)
  • joenot443 3y ago
    I hang out with people of a huge range of political views, from classical Marxist-Leninists to earnest tear-it-down anarchists, from neolib Obama stans to full magapedes. I've yet to meet a single one who "actively supports Russia and praises Putin as savior of the West". Like, literally not one. The only time I've _ever_ heard this viewpoint uttered in North America is when people online are sketching it out online as a bogeyman. Even on the trashier, more marginal sides of Twitter it's still America First - I just don't know who these people are that you and others in this thread are so concerned about. Have you personally met someone who believes that crap? Who, given the option, would prefer a world of Russian hegemony over American? I think we're getting mad at a population that in North America doesn't really exist in any meaningful way.
    • rightbyte 3y ago
      Usually, I believe the underlying reasoning is that they think someone is not pro-war enough, or anti-the guy enough, when they accuse someone of being pro the guy. Like secret supporters or something. Because actual pro the guy seem extremely rare.
    • mywittyname 3y ago
      My dad praises Putin as a good leader. He sees Putin as someone who is merely capitalizing on the weakness of Biden, and that Putin was scared of Trump. In his mind, Putin invading Ukraine is the fault of everyone who voted for Biden. It's stupid an illogical, but it is his legitimate opinion on the matter. He's not even a fringe case either, just your standard old dude who parrots whatever crap Fox News is spewing.
• steve76 3y ago
  [dead]
• Mistletoe 3y ago
  Putin has cancer and Father Time is undefeated. There’s reason for much optimism in the world.
  • mistyq 3y ago
    We've been hearing news about his cancer periodically since ~2012, now it's the time to believe
  • gorbachev 3y ago
    He has Princes waiting in his wings that will continue the same kleptocratic dictatorship in that country for decades to come. Nothing will change when he, hopefully soon, dies.
    • Mistletoe 3y ago
      I know it is enough to fill several books but I don’t see how we went from Gorbachev to this. I’ll hold hope that the Princes will be less homicidal maniacs. I think there is something extra psychotic about Putin that you don’t find in normal people.
  • rufus_foreman 3y ago
    In the early 2000's it was rumored in the west that Putin's health was poor. In 2008 the Pentagon authored a study that claimed that Putin had Asperger’s disease. In 2010 there were more rumors about his bad health after being photographed with a black eye. In 2012, more rumors after he postponed a visit to Japan. In 2014 "sources" reported that he had cancer of the spinal cord. Other "sources" denied that report, and instead said it was pancreatic cancer. In 2018, more health rumors, more "sources" saying that Putin was about to resign for health reasons. In 2020, he still reportedly had cancer, along with Parkinson's disease. And also, leprosy. Clearly a very, very sick man. I hope I never get cancer. But if I ever do, I hope I have access to the very obviously incredible Russian medical facilities. More seriously, you do realize this is the same propaganda that is rolled out every time there is a leader the US does not like? Putin may actually be ill, but you can't determine that from reading US news reports. They tell lies over and over and over.
• dindobre 3y ago
  Let's keep in mind the man was no saint either, perhaps his regime would have preferred sending some rockets to the Georgian "rats" rather than Ukrainians.
  • eveningsteps 3y ago
    Context: https://web.archive.org/web/20200414045757/https://navalny.livejournal.com/274456.html https://web.archive.org/web/20200414045757/https://navalny.l...
• qwertox 3y ago
  > how Russia will crumble just any day now (TM) Have you ever thought about what Russia's influence in the AI sector would be by now if they would have focused on developing it instead of starting a war? Developing it while pretending a peaceful cooperation with the West? It might well be that China supports Russia's war effort so much because it knows that this way Russians will have zero time and resouces to focus on being an AI leader, and through it, a threat to China. The biggest win for the US and China is that Russia will now never be at the cutting edge in AI development. The longer this war goes on, the better it will be for both the US and for China. Even Europe will be more advanced than Russia during the next couple of decades.
  • czechdeveloper 3y ago
    This sounds so random. Did Russia ever proved they can do AI in any significant capacity?
    • macleginn 3y ago
      Yandex was doing alright: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex_self-driving_car https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex_self-driving_car
      • bzzzt 3y ago
        Their "Tesla killer" not so much: https://news.yahoo.com/russia-presents-electric-car-amber-162000888.html https://news.yahoo.com/russia-presents-electric-car-amber-16...
  • ivan_gammel 3y ago
    Putin's Russia does not have a good track record of developing strategic projects with big R&D component. If anything, they spectacularly failed in space, in nanotechnology and other fields which were designated as strategic 15 years ago. All Russian successes were in commercial sector so far thanks to many technology entrepreneurs and ignorance of Soviet boomers - the generation currently in power. Despite the enormous brain drain, Russia may be now in a better position to start and make significant progress in something. Russia is traditionally better in mobilizing the nation in times of war than in peaceful times and it shows now, when they were able to scale military-industrial complex capacity very quickly.
• picadores 3y ago
  It fits very well into the narrative that democracy is ineffective and basically a hot-house flower, that some culprits propell.
  • aerique 3y ago
    Yes, as long as said autocrats spent billions to undermine it ;-)
  • Agraillo 3y ago
    What keeps my hope for democracies in the world is an observation I made after reading The Year 2000 by Joseph Goebbels written on 25 February 1945. He more or less said that Stalin wasn't bound by the rules of democracies then he would succeed after all. I like to analyze such predictions because you know the outcome and you can guess what was wrong when someone wrote this. My version is that democracies have values kept while transitioning from a state to a state (after elections) while dictatorships change in many respects. It was visible in the Soviet Union, every new ruler brought a new system despite the fact that they all claimed to fight for the same goals.
  • eric_cc 3y ago
    Democracy is an ideal. There absolutely are bad implementations, democracies that get hijacked and are democracies in-name-only, dumb populaces, etc.
• jncfhnb 3y ago
  There are more oppositional figures, they’re simply barred from entry because it’s not a real democracy. Russia is not gaining noteworthy traction. Avdiivka is a tiny pointless place aside from the fact that Russia is willing to impale itself at horrible odds to achieve any victory it can for optics.
  • elihu 3y ago
    Avdiivka is a tiny fraction of all of Ukraine, but it's still noteworthy that Russia is making significant progress there, and pushing in at other points on the whole front. Ukraine's lines aren't at imminent risk of collapsing, but they have a pretty serious shortage of artillery shells and other equipment, and it's taking a toll. If the U.S. were still supplying Ukraine they'd be in a much better place.
    • jncfhnb 3y ago
      It’s not that noteworthy though. Russia cannot sustain the war effort at this cost and this pace for the entirety of Ukraine. It’s a really small place with minor strategic value. Incessant meat waves do eventually work buts it’s not a winning strategy. “Sustain” is a really funky term that’s hard to define. Like, they can keep refurbing tanks. They can keep funneling out meat. But they can’t replace the ships. They can’t replace the sovereign wealth fund. Not to say the US shouldn’t be sending every last bomb it can find
      • lukan 3y ago
        "Russia cannot sustain the war effort at this cost and this pace for the entirety of Ukraine. " That is something I heard ... since the beginning of the war, yet I see no signs of it. Russias economy is in full war mode, producing way more tanks and shells than the west. Ukraine has serious ammunition and manpower problems and the front can collapse. Also Ukraine prepared for a succesful offensive, and neglected the defense. "It’s a really small place with minor strategic value" And that small place was one of the best fortified places and succesfully defended since 2014. The fallback positions are not nearly as good prepared. And the chances are low, that they can even fallback with no more roads under their control. It is really not looking good at the moment.
• FredPret 3y ago
  Europe will now spend more on it’s own defence which is very good for the West and just horrible for Russia. Invading the EU is a different proposition to invading Ukraine. Invading a well-armed Europe is almost impossible.
  • reactordev 3y ago
    “Invading a well-armed Europe is almost impossible.” Funny, the world had the same thought in 1936.
    • ninjin 3y ago
      Fair point. But if you want to use that analogy, maybe you are also willing to admit that the might of the Wehrmacht accomplished substantially more than getting bogged down about 100km beyond their initial borders two years into the conflict?
      • reactordev 3y ago
        I will admit no such accomplishments. Where I'm from, we punch Nazi's in the face.
        • ninjin 3y ago
          Not sure how admitting that the current state of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation relative to the rest of Europe is not as good that of the pre-WWII Wehrmacht has any relationship to punching Nazis.
          • reactordev 3y ago
            I do not admire Nazi military accomplishments nor compare current military strategy to a world invasion. Russia’s military state is because Russia’s military doesn’t want this fight, but they must.
            • 3y ago
• kunley 3y ago
  Sad reality, from the pov of their neighbors, is that russian regime change wouldn't really change much on their side. As much as it is incomprehensible for America, there are societies that do not value freedom from the very bottom to the very top - and Russia is one of them
  • randomname93857 3y ago
    >>... that russian regime change wouldn't really change much on their side. there is more to this. The power there is usurped by a group of KGB officers, and they control all the government and power branches, etc (including even russian orthodox church). Any hypothetical elected outsider as a president will be coerced into doing what they demand. Anyone non-compliant will be eliminated.
• piltdownman 3y ago
  There's not so much infighting as there is a fascist fox in the hen-house (Orban). They still managed to get the €54bn aid package through this month - and that's just a Marshal Plan to set the country up for future EU membership. Germany alone has pledged €8bn in bilateral military aid for Ukraine this year, and there's a further €5bn coming from the coalition. https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-eu-aid-funding-orban-support-european-189a9efd57709b4febf130a99189feb4 https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-eu-aid-funding... Also are we just ignoring Vladimir Kara-Murza in terms of opposition figures fighting for regime change? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/14/putin-ukraine-war-opposition-karamurza/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/14/putin-ukr...
  • ivan_gammel 3y ago
    Vladimir Kara-Murza is a minor figure, one of the many others in jail, who are decent people but irrelevant politicians. 99% of Russians haven’t heard of him. At this moment the only active and relevant politician is Nadezhdin.
    • type0 3y ago
      > only active and relevant politician is Nadezhdin. and how is he still relevant?
      • ivan_gammel 3y ago
        He managed to collect 200k signatures, remains free and active. He’s probably more recognizable than anyone else now.
        • type0 3y ago
          and now these people that signed will be expecting consequences and treated as enemies of the state as Russian television already reported on this
• stcroixx 3y ago
  Europe deciding to depend on Russia for their energy and not focusing on defense spending is the unbelievable part to me, but they've been doing this for quite some time now. They walked right into it. Russia is doing what they've always done and always will do.
  • ivan_gammel 3y ago
    It was reasonable not to see Russia as enemy. It was well integrated into European trade and some political structures (PACE, NATO-Russia council etc) and there were even talks about visa-free travel between Russia and EU. What went wrong was the glacial speed of integration, letting the nationalist sentiment and disappointment in West grow. Post-WWII Europe was pacified through a political union between Germany and France, post-Cold War Europe should have done it too. Putin could be another Orban in the worst case.
    • manmal 3y ago
      Did you mean someone else than Orban?
      • ivan_gammel 3y ago
        Name another enfant terrible in EU who undermines democracy but does not go too far to be expelled.
        • TheOtherHobbes 3y ago
          Scholz. Modern Russia is far better at political subversion than it is at outright conquest. Every country in Europe has captive politicians and far-right parties being funded and enabled by Moscow. Like Germany's AfD which - as a matter of record - has been cultivated, promoted, and steered in a pro-Russian direction. Scholz is clearly playing the same game, obstructing aid to Ukraine in every possible way. Geert Wilders in NL makes anti-Russian noises in public while threatening to cut support to Ukraine. Portugal has Chega, France has National Rally and Le Pen, the UK had Brexit and Boris Johnson - who installed the son of a top KGB operative to the House of Lords. The US has Trump and Maga. And so on. Every single one of these has proven Russian links. Ukraine is just a distraction. The real war has been happening elsewhere. Many leaders - and most voters - still haven't realised what's happening. And should Le Pen win in France and Trump in the US, that would leave the UK's one active nuclear submarine as Europe's sole protection against Russian nuclear threats.
• netbioserror 3y ago
  Hoping for regime change in Russia? Am I insane, or are the supporters of the ongoing holdout of the Ukrainian government literally dreaming for WW3? Why the hell does anyone here give a shit who rules eastern Ukraine? Why are we sleepwalking into a geopolitical firestorm?
• Qwero 3y ago
  I always assumed Russia will win beside the small event when prigoschin marched to Moscow. The question to me was more what happens after? Terrorism inside Russia for years? Low bip for decades? Nato setting a clear border
  • mipsi 3y ago
    I'm not sure how to define a Russian win? Taking Kyiv? Regime change?
    • thriftwy 3y ago
      Russia gets to keep what it got so far¥ and everybody having to deal with it? ¥ modulo international recognition, which Russia does not care that much about.
• ramijames 3y ago
  If you think this will be limited to Europe, you are sadly mistaken.
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
• willsmith72 3y ago
  Just wait for the US election, it's gonna be a fun year
  • elihu 3y ago
    What everyone was afraid would happen if Trump wins in 2024 -- him blocking aid to Ukraine -- has already happened. Trump winning would be bad news for Ukraine, but in practical terms they've already been thrown under the bus by Republicans in Congress.
    • ModernMech 3y ago
      What everyone is worried about happening is him following through on his threat of leaving NATO and "encouraging" Russia to invade NATO states.
• mike_hock 3y ago
  Considering he was thrown in the can for 30 years and his associates had left the country, I fail to see how the opposition dies with his death, rather than having died with his incarceration.
• SEJeff 3y ago
  Navalty had some pretty scary things to say about Ukraine as well. To summarize: He thought there are no differences between Ukranian people and Russian people, he thinks that Crimea is rightfully Russia's (finder's keepers!), and he thinks it would be nice for Belarus and Ukraine to just be absorbed by Russia and become part of Russia again. He was only against the war in Ukraine when it became obvious it was not going to be a three day one and done operation.
  • ncr100 3y ago
    I'm not sure that's an accurate reflection of the man's views. Your sequencing is not construable to a new fact. He did recant any notion of Ukrainians being Russian. He also asserted ukrainians Right to independent self-governing.
    • HenryBemis 3y ago
      I remember watching a documentary about his life, and in his early years he has expressed some "extreme-right"/nationalist views. I assume that he was click-baiting anyone who would hear him, gathering fame and fortune. Eventually he was recognised as a 'potentially worthy' opponent of Putin and was given the support and guidance to become what he became. (Majority of) Russians are 'different'. They don't care to change. They don't understand the "modern" way of life. They don't understand the new/modern approaches of 'diversity'. (Understand = it conflicts with their ideology, traditions, mindset - of course they understand and simply disagree). In Russia, historically, the easiest way to solve a problem is to eliminate the person behind the problem, and the problem will solve itself. I has been done like that for centuries, and I don't feel that this will change anytime soon.
    • tivert 3y ago
      > I'm not sure that's an accurate reflection of the man's views. Your sequencing is not construable to a new fact. > He did recant any notion of Ukrainians being Russian. He also asserted ukrainians Right to independent self-governing. I never followed Navalny very closely, but my understanding was he opposed Putin but he was also a Russian nationalist, so (at least pre-2022) there wasn't tons of distance between them on the topic of Ukraine. Since Trump and especially since the more recent invasion of Ukraine, I think there's been a tendency for Western liberals to concentrate on Putin, oppose him, and therefore idealize his opponents as being and thinking just like themselves. So the liberals would tend to avoid thinking about certain uncomfortable facts, and Navalny may have been incentivized to conform to their views (given he was in prison and his main protection was the attention and sympathy of foreign liberals)
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
• SCM-Enthusiast 3y ago
  >I would have never believed all this just a few years ago, how it will go down. They have been following the same playbook since 2014. I'll tell you how it will go; Salami tactics. Invasion of crimea, Annexation of parts of georgia, Annex Belarus, Annex Kiev, expand military and mining presence in the artic, Incite war in serbia with other baltic states, annex a modern yugoslavia. At this point they will be the only major power who has been on a war footing for 10+ years. (US Skirmishes do not really count). They will have the inhouse manufacturing capabilities and knowledge to execute a ground war with the EU and will start by taking Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. I believe once they accomplish the above, they will be happy... for a generation or so.