The Reality of War Is Dawning Across Russia

[babylonsister]

https://politicalwire.com/2022/03/03/the-reality-of-war-is-dawning-across-russia/


The Reality of War Is Dawning Across Russia
March 3, 2022 at 7:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard

New York Times: “On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry for the first time announced a death toll for Russian servicemen in the conflict. While casualty figures in wartime are notoriously unreliable — and Ukraine has put the total of Russian dead in the thousands — the 498 Moscow acknowledged in the seven days of fighting is the largest in any of its military operations since the war in Chechnya, which marked the beginning of President Vladimir Putin’s tenure in 1999.”

“Russians who long avoided engaging with politics are now realizing that their country is fighting a deadly conflict, even as the Kremlin gets ever more aggressive in trying to shape the narrative. Its slow-motion crackdown on freedoms has become a whirlwind of repression of late, as the last vestiges of a free press faced extinction.”

[L. Coyote]

1. Protests continue. This is not good PR:

Link to tweet

[Stuart G]

2. K and R...Thanks for posting !!

[L. Coyote]

3. Are russians seeing this, bombed apartments buildings?

Link to tweet

[Warpy]

7. You nuts?

They're seeing Ukrainian armored vehicles the Russians have hit.

They're not seeing the massive parking lots a lot of the highways there have become, blocked by destroyed and disabled Russian vehicles. They're not seeing the bodies in the road and they're not being told the true numbers of casualties. The war is still moral and glorious.

Yeah, I watched a bit of Russian TV online. My Russian has rusted solid, but I still got part of the gist.

[L. Coyote]

9. Only part-time!

And they see the internet (still).

[Warpy]

11. I keep reading that young people and people in the cities aren't fooled

and know the war is a miscalculation, to say the least.

Their countryside is like ours, older people who watch state TV/Pox News and believe all the lies.

[L. Coyote]

13. I saw polling reporting a majority are under the sway of state propaganda.

This might be the event which erodes that significantly.

[ffr]

4. Coming to a red state here too.

Just need a few more republicans in power to make it a reality.

Hillary was right. Something is not right with the QOP.

[uponit7771]

8. +1

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. EU official says Russia may bring in (real) martial law Fri Mar 4; reported in US News & World Repor

Apparently there is talk on Russian social media about this possibility.

Further, the Russian Duma meets Friday for an important session.

And, ... Russian stock markets closed for 4th day in a row (6 counting weekend).

https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/805569.html (Ukraine, quotes Presidential office adviser)

Very brief article:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-03-03/eu-says-it-is-picking-up-signs-russia-may-bring-in-martial-law

[crickets]

6. It's odd that so many of the protesters being arrested in Russia are women.

Is it that more of them are protesting? Is it that photographers choose to photograph them more often, or that photos of women are chosen for use more often? Is it that police choose to grab them first as easier targets?

It's striking, like something once noticed that cannot be unseen.

[Praek3]

10. Putin-Be a Man and Explain

The doctors and nurses frantically tried to save her but the six year old girl died in front of her sobbing mother and the world watching on their screens. Putin needs to explain how she was a threat that needed to be bombed.

Their lifeless bodies, alone and abandoned by their units. The Russian boys dead because Putin is a criminal thug. Putin needs to explain to their mothers why their sons were discarded and left behind.

I hope karma destroys whatever Putin holds dear. What goes around will come around, Vlad.

[smb]

15. Already Done

I hope karma destroys whatever Putin holds dear.

His precious image of strength is gone -- his army exposed as a paper bear, his global propaganda network kicked off almost every communication channel, his economy in freefall, his population and henchmen increasingly restive.

[JasonMain]

12. If they're saying 498 then it's probably double that.

[Sapient Donkey]

16. Even with their numbers of 500 deaths and a few thousand wounded

That's a lot of deaths for just a week of fighting in these times. At least for wealthy (formerly wealthy) and powerful countries. That's probably not as unusual for countries that don't fit that criteria, but those primitive parts of our human brain make it easier to ignore those conflicts. But anyway, the point is that 500 deaths in a week is a lot, and I don't suspect the Ukrainians will be giving up anytime soon. Even if the government of Ukraine collapses, is there any reason to believe there won't be an insurgency? Given what we've seen so far by Russian military, I'm going to take a guess that much like the US in Iraq, they don't have a good plan for what happens next.

[mathematic]

14. Can't get money from ATM. Country under martial law. "Hey guys did something happen?"

Oh, the blessed Russian. To so serenely live a life of ignorant bliss, forever watched over by their benevolent leaders. Never a care in the world. It must be quite a surprise, indeed, to suddenly find out that you've started a naked war of conquest on your neighbor, brother Ukraine.

No offense, whoever was being quoted in that snippet, but the Russians are ADULTS. They know what's going on. They wanted this. They got this. They thought it would be easy. They thought the West was weak. They were wrong.

[Drum]

17. Release Navalny