Putin's war is lost. 'He has guaranteed his regime's demise'.

[speak easy]

Putin’s plan seems to rest on a naïve assumption that it is simply a matter of taking Kyiv and announcing a new government. In fact, that is the relatively easy part - any quisling administration will then need to be maintained by force against a Ukrainian population that shows no sign of being willing to accept it.

Some will fight, something that is already clear as Ukraine’s government opens up its arsenals to distribute guns among volunteers. Even those not willing or able to fight, though, will resist in other ways, from sabotage to simple, mulish non-cooperation.

As a British Ministry of Defence analyst put it to me: “This isn’t going to be Occupied France - it’ll be more like the partisan war Ukrainians fought against the Germans in the Second World War.”

That would be a galling parallel for the Kremlin, which has made a virtual secular state religion of the war. An equally instructive one would be the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Again, an ageing leadership in the Kremlin airily assumed that all it needed to do was take the capital and impose a new leader, make a brief show of force and withdraw, with the Afghans now cowed and obedient.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/25/beginning-end-vladimir-putin/

Whether or not Kyiv holds or falls; Whether or not Zelensky is in charge or is murdered - Putin's plan was doomed from the start. He has lost.



Ukrainian citizens Yaryna and Sviatovslav Fursin got married hours after Russia launched it's invasion of their country. They spent their first day as a married couple collecting their rifles and getting ready to defend Ukraine.

[uponit7771]

1. I posed the question in another thread who replaces Putler? My Pillow Guy or worse? ... damn

[paleotn]

3. Good question.

[leftieNanner]

6. Putler??

Who is that?

[relayerbob]

8. Putin + Hitler

[leftieNanner]

9. Thanks. Got it. nt

[wnylib]

23. I just call him Adolf Putin and

his sidekick, Donald Goebbels.

[uponit7771]

16. Pronounced poot-ler like Putin - Hitler ... smashed together

[Zambero]

33. Behold ye, Vladolf Putler

As duly baptized by the devil to perform unspeakable evil.

[ChazInAz]

53. Any relation to Adenoid Hinkle?

[ToxMarz]

43. I think the international community can be influential, if not in who will replace him,

at least in WHO WON'T, if they ever want to begin rejoining the rest of the industrialized world economy. Just helping ensure free/fair elections could go a long way towards that.

[BigmanPigman]

59. I wondered about this myself...

and there seems to many candidates...

https://www.politico.eu/article/who-will-replace-valdimir-putin-russia-kremlin/

[Joinfortmill]

2. Let me know when he's dead.

[monkeyman1]

26. might be very soon ?

[Thomas Hurt]

4. There is an opposition politician in UKR that is buds with Putin. I am sure he is brushing off...

his best suit to be installed as head stooge.

[Grokenstein]

38. He better keep looking over his shoulder

if he doesn't want to be buried in it.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. I know a guy with 4 years' experience that I'd let go really cheap

[BComplex]

13. The only people that want that turd in their yard are the village idiots.

4 years of kissing putin's ass doesn't really qualify someone for much.

[ananda]

35. They all live here.

Oh well

[nancy1942]

18. Excellent idea!

[reACTIONary]

36. +10 nt

[paleotn]

7. Turns out, taking Kyiv isn't easy either. Or guaranteed.

They're gaining inches at a massive cost in blood and treasure. Numerous aircraft, costing tens of millions each, shot down. Tanks and armored vehicles destroyed all over the place. Supply convoys shot to hell. It's a bloody fucking mess from the Russian's perspective.

[uponit7771]

17. +1, looks like Putler is calling Belarus for troop help

[roamer65]

10. Afghanistan 2.0

Especially when we ramp up arms smuggling via NATO countries, into NW Ukraine.

[Binkie The Clown]

11. Throughout history, no dictator lasts for very long. nt

[speak easy]

15. 'Very long' is a relative term: Mao 1949-76 died in office.

Stalin 1925-53 died in office. Putin has been in power for 22 years, but IMO has signed his death warrant.

[dpibel]

24. Hey! Credit where due!

Francisco Franco, 1938-1973!

And (checks Chevy Chase's notes) he's STILL DEAD.

[aggiesal]

37. El Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead ...

[speak easy]

45. Franco's remains to finally leave Spain's Valley of the Fallen

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/23/francos-remains-to-finally-leave-spains-valley-of-the-fallen

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

[OnlinePoker]

34. Castro - 46 years until his retirement. n/t

[Binkie The Clown]

57. 46 years is a mere blip on the timeline of history.

It's all relative.

[Act_of_Reparation]

44. This is patently untrue.

[Quixote1818]

12. Groupthink and naivety on an epic level for Putin and his circle. nt

[brer cat]

14. Putin may win the battle, but he has lost the war.

He is despised by most of the world, including probably most of his people.

[speak easy]

19. And Donald 'Putin is a Genius' Trump is finished IMO

[monkeyman1]

28. he's next in line !!! done shit in his mess kit ! Intimidation don''t work !!!

[L. Coyote]

30. Maybe he had money in Russian banks!

That would be soooo sad for him.

[nancy1942]

21. He's probably very proud to be despised.

He would see that as a sign of his power. He has no soul so he certainly wouldn't care.

[Disaffected]

20. Even if he subdues Ukraine,

he is a spent force IMO. He and Russia are true pariahs now and that will continue until Ukraine is rid of both.

This will also be a huge blow to Russia's oil & gas industry which is the mainstay of Russia's economy. Even China is sanctioning some Russian banks.

I don't expect him to last more than a year or so and quite possibly sooner.

[nancy1942]

22. I hope you're right.

My biggest fear is that he'll fly into a rage and start launching nukes just to show he's the boss. He seems like the type that would seek vengeance. He's a monster and they don't go gracefully.

[wnylib]

27. Agree to a peace negotiation and

serve him some Russian tea.

[Evolve Dammit]

50. my biggest fear as well.

[Straw Man]

63. Well ...

My biggest fear is that he'll fly into a rage and start launching nukes just to show he's the boss. He seems like the type that would seek vengeance. He's a monster and they don't go gracefully.

He seems to be concerned with his place in history. If he starts throwing nukes, he will leapfrog ahead of Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot as the most hated human being of all time. That's if enough people survive WW III to actual teach/learn history.

[monkeyman1]

32. with sanctions , about a week ! money talk's - bull -shit -walk's !

[BootinUp]

52. I was telling a friend today, two years

but I like your scenario better. I think this whole thing reeks of desperation. Things must be worse in Putin world than we know.

[samsingh]

25. there is no victory for putin or the repugs

i think he thought that because he could command the GOP and Trump, Ukraine and the rest of the world would be as corrupt and gutless as the republicans. Fortunately that is not the case and russia will be a pariah filled with war criminals into the future. Never buy anything made in russia again.

[Captain Zero]

29. That couple. 'Lovers in a Dangerous Time'

[honest.abe]

31. Clearly Putin has jumped the shark with this foolish evil war.

He has united the world against Russia more than any time history. Plus created a monster in Ukraine resisting Russia’s invasion. He will regret starting this war.

[Upthevibe]

39. Kick n/t

[NoMoreRepugs]

40. When their currency crashes and hyperinflation rears up the

pressure from his own populace is going to ratchet up tremendously. Pootie had better be 1000% certain of the people in charge of his security.

[AverageOldGuy]

41. That young couple . . .

I'm an old soldier -- age 77, 30 years a soldier, two years in the bush in Vietnam seems like I was in a gunfight every day.

Looking at that young couple . . . I can't see the screen . . something in my eyes.

God save them.

[CaptainTruth]

47. My eyes seem defective too...

[ShazzieB]

62. Whatever it is, there's a lot of it going around right now!

[flying rabbit]

58. ...

[pazzyanne]

60. Certainly not the ideal Honeymoon!

[nakocal]

42. Putin's plan relied on Trump

still being president so that the response to the invasion would be fucked up. Instead he faces competent leadership from the US in the person of President Biden.

[calimary]

48. Yes indeed.

Maybe he got tired of waiting for the next election. Maybe he figured it might not make sense - because a second trump term wasn't guaranteed.

Perhaps he figured he might as well invade now...

And I bet he didn't figure on any blowback, because there's never been much before - at least nothing he couldn't withstand.

Hello, Miscalculation!

[James48]

46. Its only just beginning

The resistance will need a few days to organize, train, equip and start conducting some night time raids. The Russians have no idea what is ahead.

[calimary]

49. All the better that they have no idea what's ahead.

The better to catch them unprepared, or under-estimating the size and/or strength of the negative reaction.

I'm totally inspired by what I'm seeing in the coverage. And blown away by the blowback.

[TeamProg]

51. What Russian in their right mind, soldier or not, would want to

fight for a dictator? When the war is done, are they going to be proud that they killed their relatives? Won’t they be more proud that they resisted the killing?

Russian people, after seeing the actual war videos should not punish any AWOL soldier- they should embrace them.

[Aussie105]

54. With all the backlash against Putin's plan to expand his territory,

I wonder when he will realize he may have bitten off more than he can chew?

Does he have a back-out plan at all, one that won't see him lose his current status inside Russia?

If not, he may push on regardless and end up like past dictators - Hitler, Mussolini, etc.

[LaMouffette]

55. I think Putin should have reconsidered his invasion after the Irish fishermen successfully made his

navy turn around a few weeks ago!

[Mme. Defarge]

61. OMG!!!

Thanks for the reminder! Who knew it might really be a sign if things to come?

[pazzyanne]

56. "Putin's plan seems to rest on a nave assumption that it is simply a matter of taking Kyiv...

... and announcing a new government."

Isn't this what the "the coup master" tried to do January 6, 2021? Didn't work for him either, did it.