• @_druid@sh.itjust.works
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    882 months ago

    You have more in common with those soldiers than you do with the warpigs pulling the strings that led them to their deaths.

    • @meeeeetch@lemmy.world
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      432 months ago

      I’m pretty sure everybody on these websites knows they’re more similar to enlisted soldiers than to Vladimir Putin.

    • @Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      So… You have a lot of common with people who are ready to go kill in exchange for money?

      Oh wowzies.

      Also what a damn bad dichotomy: either side with killers for money or those who pay them to kill.

      For once, a normal human being will not side with either of.

      edit: oh keep them downvotes coming, keep yourself counting all y’all who think killing for money is ok ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

      • Gordon Calhoun
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        302 months ago

        You mean the 18-30 y/o men who are conscripted into compulsory military service for a year? Kinda sounds like a lot of them might not have much choice, barring gulag or suicide, in the matter.

        • @PugJesus@lemmy.world
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          172 months ago

          tbf, most Russian conscripts are not involved in the war - men sign theoretically voluntary contracts in exchange for extra pay or reduced service time to be deployed outside of Russia.

          That being said, there’s a great deal of coercion that’s involved, so while you can resist pressure to sign a contract, it’s not unreasonable to think that a significant minority felt they really didn’t have a choice.

          • Gordon Calhoun
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            122 months ago

            I just believe the righteous antipathy is better leveled at the Russian government, specifically Putin, than the anonymous cannon fodder.

            • @Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              52 months ago

              I prefer to hate everyone willing to kill me, my friends, my family, take over my country equally. Especially so, if they do it for money, for ten years.

              Hard to grasp such a complex concept, I understand.

              • Gordon Calhoun
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                12 months ago

                I can understand why you feel the way you do and cannot dispute it is a hatred you’ve earned.

                Just like I wouldn’t be able to blame any Canadian for hating every US soldier if the US were to invade Canada.

                I personally feel bad for every person involved in something as horrible as fighting in a war. I wish their hearts, brains, and energies could instead be employed in something peaceful, helpful, and beneficial for the future.

            • Tuukka R
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              22 months ago

              I live in Finland, where about five percent of the people are Russian-speakers. Half from the Russia, the other half from Baltics.

              My image of them has changed dramatically since 2022. I’ve had a job where I encounter a lot of different low-educated workers, and that has a included several tens of Russian-speakers. There has been precisely one among them that has not been repeating Putin’s talking points.

              Nowadays I try to steer clear of everyone with a Russian name because I don’t want to ruin my workday. When they hear that I’ve lived some time in Ukraine, the war easily comes up. And then does the propaganda.

              Having this experience has been something I really wouldn’t have wanted to have. I have indeed met Russians who are decent people. But, all of them have received other citizenships already years ago, because if you don’t believe the Russian propaganda, you see what a horrible country it is, and want nothing to do with it.

              If someone has not left the Russia by 2025, they have a reason for that. They stand for Putin’s fascism.

              • Gordon Calhoun
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                12 months ago

                Thank you for sharing your personal observations and experiences. They sound even more insufferable and dangerous than MAGAsites in the US.

      • @faultywalnut@lemmy.world
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        62 months ago

        For a lot of people, yeah actually. It’s all relative to each country’s general economy and propaganda, but there are a lot of people around the world either already in the military willing to die or kill for their country because of patriotism or feeling like there’s no other career paths for them, or that would take up the call if conscripted by their country.

        Then think about how hitmen, assassins, sicarios and those type of criminals are usually from poverty or lower class and just regular people that descended into a life of crime and kill for money. Yeah, I think it’s actually quite common for regular folk to be killing others for money unfortunately.

  • @Doomsider@lemmy.world
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    242 months ago

    The world allowing the few to massacre the many for their personal gain has to be what we reject in the 21st century. We need to start arresting and trying every war monger for the murders they are.

  • Optional
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    232 months ago

    Anyone know the number of Americans killed in Vietnam without looking it up?

    Tap for spoiler

    ~58,000

        • Gordon Calhoun
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          82 months ago

          I would imagine Agent Orange and severe PTSD-induced homelessness or suicide should also contribute to that number.

          • Tuukka R
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            22 months ago

            They don’t count as military losses. This isn’t a statistic about Russian suffering. This a statistic about how many soldiers the Russian military has lost from its ranks. PTSD doesn’t remove a soldier from the ranks.

        • Brave Little Hitachi Wand
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          42 months ago

          That’s a fact. Though it’s hard to know what kind of statistic we’re seeing in Russia’s numbers here, by comparison

  • @Leviathan@lemmy.world
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    222 months ago

    They throw their young generations into the meat grinder just to control resources. Putin couldn’t find a way to pivot to new domestic products so now people get to die.

    Fight war, not wars.

      • Lorindól
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        122 months ago

        Ukraine has lots of valuable natural resources, but Russia has much more of everything. The biggest reason for the invasion is most likely that Putin could not let a “brother nation” prosper and drift towards Europe and being a functioning democracy.

        Russia’s population might get wild ideas if they saw that their Ukrainian cousins’ standard of living starts to rise rapidly while they have to endure living under a fascist dictator. And substandard and underdeveloped infrastructure, due to the rampant corruption and a government who doesn’t give a shit about the areas outside the larger cities.

        • Phoenixz
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          32 months ago

          It’s that but (playing devil’s advocate for a second) Russia “traditionally” had a huge buffer between Moscow and the evil west. If Ukraine goes European and -worse- NATO, then that evil west with their evil ideas like freedom and democracy is suddenly quite close to Moscow’s doorstep.

      • @JargonWagon@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I thought it was about access to that gasline without Ukraine intervention, but then they blew it up or something, soooo…nothing? Baby boy Putin has been anti-Ukraine for a decade at least. Seems to be about being anti-NATO and for “political power”, but I doubt Putin will gain any if they end up winning against Ukraine.

    • Tuukka R
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      22 months ago

      The total number is not what you should be looking at. The interesting thing is the number of losses in proportion to the Russian recruitment capacity. They have recruitment infrastructure that enables them to recruit a maximum of 35 000 (or, according to some sources, just 25 000) soldiers per month. They are not able to restructure their recruitment procedures in wartime, as that would first decrease the recruitment capacity for a few years.

      The Russia must get their losses under that number, because as long as they don’t, they won’t be able to train their soldiers – they are needed too acutely at the front for that. If they can train their soldiers, their daily losses will decrease a lot.

      Neither side is going to run out of population to send to the front in the next 50 years. But they can lose them faster than they are able to recruit new ones.

  • @electric_nan@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    I find this difficult to believe. Edit: Wikipedia has a total (both sides) death toll of 160k-290k.

        • Tuukka R
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          2 months ago

          Many do. But, in military purposes, it is not really relevant whether your army loses a soldier through death or through a severe permanent wound. He is still a soldier that you cannot use at the front.

          It’s a standard practice to count the dead and permanently wounded in the same number, because that’s what is militarily relevant.

      • Tuukka R
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        12 months ago

        Seriously wounded.

        There are also slight wounds, which number at around 10 000 per day on average (according to a Russian source that I read two-three days ago). Remember that this number includes everything, including getting a paper cut in your finger, so the same person can end up in that number several times per month.

        The number of Russian military losses consists of wounded by a bit under ⅔ of the number. The wound gets included in the number only if its severe enough to permanently remove you from the front.

    • @doo@sh.itjust.works
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      22 months ago

      This difficulty to believe it’s actually quite fundamental to what’s happening.

      If you like, I invite you to imagine what would be the explanation if these numbers were true. (Even adjusted for being dead and wounded)

    • nio
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      12 months ago

      IDK but seems probable if anybody on earth can take large amount of casualties, might be the Russians

      • Tuukka R
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        12 months ago

        Yup. They do have that feature.

        As do Ukrainians. Which causes it to be a detrimental feature for both sides. If only one side had that, then it would be of advantage.

    • @index@sh.itjust.works
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      12 months ago

      regardless of the total number there are combat footage videos of entire platoons getting obliterated

  • @Doorbook@lemmy.world
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    102 months ago

    Russian has been losing and the economy is collapsing since 2018 according to these news. Every other week I see something like this. Yet we dont see them retreating.

    900k is more than 50% of there forces according to wikipedia that list 1.5 millions.

    I highly doubt the accuracy of these news reports.

    • @GoodEye8@lemm.ee
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      62 months ago

      Their losses are clearly significant enough to bring a foreign army (North Koreans) to replenish their forces. Maybe not 50% but I don’t think it’s that far off.

      • Tuukka R
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        32 months ago

        I have not heard of another batch of NK soldiers after the initial 12000. There are talks about them possibly sending another 12000.

        With the Russia losing 1300 soldiers per day as dead and wounded, the NK troops cover 10(+ maybe another 10?) days worth soldiers.

        The Russian army is shrinking by about 15 000 soldiers per month. That was canceled out by NK troops for one month once, and possibly another one soon.

    • Tuukka R
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      42 months ago

      It is collapsing. Some people have interpreted the news as the economy being at the brink of an immediate collapse, but articles I have read have talked consistently of end of 2025/early 2026.

      The difference is, in 2022 and 2023 it was assumed that once it becomes clear that the Russia’s economy collapsing will be inevitable unless they immediately end the war, they would indeed end it. Now it’s clear that they will indeed go to the very end, allowing their economy to collapse and then the war ending as a consequence of that.

      So, yes, it was predicted that the economy will collapse by 2026, and the war would end in 2022 or 2023 to avoid that. But, the timetable of the actual collapse has not changed. Or, at least not the timetables I’ve been seeing.

    • @poopkins@lemmy.world
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      -52 months ago

      I travel a lot, both for work and leisure, and wherever there’s no travel restrictions for Russians, like Thailand, UAE, or Egypt, it’s simply overrun with Russian tourists. And they’re rich, too, with the latest iPhones, Apple Watches and all the other fashion brands.

      As much as I’d like to see l say that Russia is feeling the impact of this war, empirically, I can’t say that it seems that way.

      • @Furbag@lemmy.world
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        32 months ago

        Classism is present in Russia too.

        I watched a couple of YouTube videos from a normal guy who lives in Russia talking about what it was actually like to live in Russia around the time that Tucker Carlson did that weird state visit and he peeled back a layer of intentional propaganda that the American journalist was spreading - that Russians are living in some kind of luxury paradise. Sure, everything costs less over there, but people are also paid a lot less too. If you’re working class, it’s hard to afford enough food to put on the table sometimes. The rich, however, are not hurting for anything and a lot of big brand labels that said they would exit Russia just rebranded themselves or quietly re-entered the market after all the commotion about the war died down.

        • @poopkins@lemmy.world
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          02 months ago

          I didn’t mean to suggest that it isn’t affecting the ordinary, working class Russian. My observation is that there don’t appear to be any less affluent Russian tourists.

  • @Gammelfisch@lemmy.world
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    102 months ago

    The fucking Muscovites can continue to fertilize the earth. The loss of troops and material means nothing to the Russians. The asswipes will continue to use mass assaults until the soldiers or the public revolts. Until then, Fuck Russia and US Reichwingers.

    • Tuukka R
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      72 months ago

      They’re using money in lieu of skill. Eventually they’ll run out if it.

      Then no more high salary for the Russian soldier – and consequently, no more soldiers.

  • @Madison420@lemmy.world
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    102 months ago

    Let’s just remember Putin does have a sense of humor. Sending families of dead soldiers lost in what the world is calling a meat grinder literal meat grinders as presents is extremely funny in a way it absolutely shouldn’t be.

    • Tuukka R
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      62 months ago

      This isn’t a war of lines on the map, really. The Russia’s goal is the end of Ukrainians as a nation. And breaking NATO’s article 5.

      • @index@sh.itjust.works
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        -12 months ago

        The Russia’s goal is the end of Ukrainians as a nation. And breaking NATO’s article 5.

        I don’t recall this being putin goal. Nations are invisible lines on earth

        • Tuukka R
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          12 months ago

          Countries are invisible lines on Earth. Nations are not.

          Nations are groups of people that sometimes fill some lines, often leave some parts among the lines unfilled, sometimes cross them.

          And nations can exist without any lines on Earth at all. If Ukraine was to somehow get completely occupied by the Russia, Ukrainians as a nation would continue existing. Until the Russia manages to actively purge them.

          The Russia’s official news agency that will not publish anything that Putin disagrees with, has written the clearest explanation about the genocidal goal. The important part is that in one part it said that all nazis in Ukraine must be exterminated, and in another part it defines Ukrainian nazis as “everybody who supports the regime of Kyiv”. And then there’s Putin’s speech on February 21st, 2022, which was supposed to take place just hours before the missiles start flying, although the attack then had to be postponed by two days. And then there are the three articles published by RIA Novosti precisely at 08:00 Moscow time on February 26th, 2022. And Putin’s speech from summer 2021.

          I wish I could find the version of the “What Russia should do with Ukraine” article’s text that is annotated in English language. I spent some hours looking for it a few days ago, to no avail. It’s somewhere out there in the Internet – I can remember having read it.