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Why? Do you have somewhere you need to be?
Ukraine counter offensive
- Thread starter Notch7
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Spring, there you go nailed my colours to the mast. What say you?
You having a go at being a General
Me maker says me times not up, now I know what a job Jesus had on his hands.
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Klaus Strauss tipped me the wink, so my opportunities in that department look somewhat limited given the time constraints.You having a go at being a General
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More fake news...
Before Putin, Russia was bankrupted due to so called "free market reforms" introduced by the IMF and the Americans.
State assets were looted by crooks and bent politicians who stashed their loot in western countries, London was awash with stolen money from Russia(no talk about sanctions against these thieves back then).
Ordinary Russians lost their pensions and were forced to sell their furniture on the side of roads.
Putin may or may not be a crook but life for ordinary Russians is hell of lot better than it was under the previous regimes.
Sex, Lies and Offshore Vehicles: How Russia Became the Country It Is Today - VICE
www-vice-com.cdn.ampproject.org
When pat crops posts he leaves a bit behind to give us a guess to what he's on about.
This has left me in the dark, you might be over edging it a bit.
Ukraine war: Vladimir Putin gets a tractor for his 70th birthday
Gifts for Russia's embattled president include a tractor from Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko.
www.bbc.co.uk
It was given him by his Belarusian ally, Alexander Lukashenko, whose country boasts a tractor works.
Mr Lukashenko confirmed the news as he visited his fellow strongman's home city, St Petersburg, for talks.
Useful gift. Could this be the start of Putin Heavy Recovery Service
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do we have any proof of this claim?
more Russians claim to be oppressed now than before Putin. Those that dare speak out, that is.
Oil tanker train on the Kersch bridge has caught fire,
And the road way has been dropped. The rail line is a bigger deal but the road way is more impressive visually.
In some ways life is better for Russian citizens since the days of the Oligarchs but sanctions over the last decade has led to significant protest and increasing authoritarianism by Putin in order to maintain his grip on power: t'was ever thus for Russian leaders.Before Putin, Russia was bankrupted due to so called "free market reforms" introduced by the IMF and the Americans.
State assets were looted by crooks and bent politicians who stashed their loot in western countries, London was awash with stolen money from Russia(no talk about sanctions against these thieves back then).
Ordinary Russians lost their pensions and were forced to sell their furniture on the side of roads.
Putin may or may not be a crook but life for ordinary Russians is hell of lot better than it was under the previous regimes.
Sex, Lies and Offshore Vehicles: How Russia Became the Country It Is Today - VICE
(they have a 'tradition' that leaders alternate between bald men and hairy so look out for his successor sporting a mullet
)Alexei Navalny is the most recent, high-profile, dissident, and his followers are still making their voices heard but without a leader to spark them into outright rebellion, democracy is a distant dream for them. Personally, i don't think it will ever successfully take root in Russia. The country is too vast and too ethnically divided for it to work beyond Moscow.
I read an interview with 'Putin's banker', Sergei Pugachev, who was as close to Putin as anyone in the early years but had to flee when Putin turned on the Oligarchs and even now he checks under his car and looks over his shoulder in case he's being followed. A price he's had to pay for becoming richer than Putin. He's still in litigation for assets he insists were illegally expropriated and says he's down to his "last $70m" but the alternative, from Putin's point of view, was to allow these men to become so powerful that effectively they'd run the country by buying up politicians and holding an election where the richest man wins. Sound familiar?
America did its best to transpose their version of democracy on Russia and failed due to Putin.
The Russian leader had a chance to make something out of his political victory then made the same mistake as his predecessors - autocracy. If he'd been wise enough to listen to advisors who 'told truth to power' instead of installing yes-men, Russia wouldn't be in this mess today. Maybe. History has a way of repeating itself and i wouldn't discount the Red Army just yet. Winter is coming and mobile warfare will be restricted, giving them time to train the Reservists, re-supply, re-equip, and prepare for spring. Unless a political solution can be found the next phase of this conflict could be even more violent.
Just like now.
Putin-approved gangsters are allowed to loot the country with government protection
As long as they support Putin and don't try to influence government
Anyone who steps out of line has their money and power taken away, and will be imprisoned or assassinated to keep the others in line.
Russia is a kleptocracy
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