Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
POSTED BY: captaincrunch
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 21:09
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Here’s the real lesson from the showy Xi-Putin meeting
A strong China is bolstering a weak Russia. That’s the real headline that describes the showy meetings in Moscow this week between the two countries’ leaders. The Chinese aren’t providing weapons (yet), but Xi certainly offered moral and psychological support in what might be described as a get-well visit to an ailing relative. White House spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday rightly called Putin a “junior partner.”
The paradox of the Ukraine war is that Putin’s bid for greater power in Europe has made him weaker. This diminished Russia will fall increasingly under China’s sway — unless there’s an unlikely turn post-Ukraine and a Western-leaning leader replaces Putin. Maybe that’s the biggest reason for Xi’s fraternal visit: He is bolstering a flank against America and the West.
China’s dominance over a weaker Russia will take many forms in the coming years. Russia has lost its energy markets in Europe because of its reckless invasion, so it will depend ever more on demand from China and other Asian customers. China’s economic sway grows every year in central Asia and in Russia’s own far east. Its hard power in space, cyber, robotics and artificial intelligence will increasingly dwarf Russia’s.
Though Putin was beaming in Xi’s reflected glow this week, the visit was a reminder of just how isolated the Russian leader is. President Biden hosts a prominent foreign leader at the White House every other week. When was the last time you saw a major foreign leader visit the Kremlin? (The president of Belarus doesn’t count.) Xi’s get-well visit will give his “dear friend” Putin a psychological boost and help his domestic popularity. But other than China and a few outliers, Russian stands alone.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/21/xi-putin-summit-all
iance-danger/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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World Bank says $411bn cost to rebuild war-torn Ukraine
A World Bank report has estimated it will cost Ukraine $411bn over the next 10 years to recover and rebuild from Russia’s war on the country, with the bill for cleaning up the rubble from devastated towns and cities standing at $5bn alone.
The report released on Wednesday said that estimates “should be considered as minimums as needs will continue to rise as long as the war continues”.
Produced jointly by Ukraine’s government, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations, the $411bn assessment marked an increase from the $349bn estimated in a report released by the bank in September.
The report details some of the economic and human toll of Russia’s war, including nearly 2 million homes damaged, more than one in five public health institutions damaged, 650 ambulances damaged or stolen and at least 9,655 civilians confirmed dead, including 461 children.
Ukraine’s reconstruction will “take several years”, the World Bank’s Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde said on Wednesday.
The report calculates $135bn in direct damage to buildings and infrastructure so far, not counting the broader economic fallout from the more than year-long conflict.
But the damage could have been even worse if not for the defence mounted by Ukrainian forces, which had kept the worst of the destruction confined to the front-line regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Kherson, Bjerde said in a call with reporters.
The evaluation expects Kyiv to require $14bn for critical and priority reconstruction as well as recovery investments in 2023 alone. The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that it reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine for a four-year financing package worth about $15.6bn.
Despite Russia’s fierce onslaught, Ukraine continues to maintain essential public services, including keeping schools and hospitals open, paying the salaries of teachers and civil servants as well as paying pensions, the World Bank said in February.
“Supporting these critical services continues to be a priority, and Ukraine needs about $3-4 billion per month to sustain them,” the bank’s Bjerde wrote at the time.
Russia’s invasion has displaced millions of Ukrainians. Global food and energy prices have also surged as a result of the war.
To date, the World Bank said, Russia’s invasion has undone 15 years of economic progress in Ukraine, cutting its gross domestic product by 29 percent and pushing 1.7 million Ukrainians into poverty.
The report said it was essential to keep Ukraine’s government, private business sector and recovery efforts going even amid the attacks and raging fighting in the east of the country. For Ukraine to postpone rebuilding risks the country “settling into a situation of low or no growth and facing huge social challenges once the war ends”, the bank said.
Ukraine’s energy sector has seen the greatest surge in damage recently as a result of Russia’s targeted attacks on the electrical grid and other energy hubs during the winter in a bid to freeze the Ukrainian population and leadership in Kyiv into submission.
Total damage to the energy sector is now five times greater than it was last summer, the World Bank said.
“Energy infrastructure, housing, critical infrastructure, economy and humanitarian demining are our five priorities for this year,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a statement on Wednesday.
Shmyhal also warned that “the amount of damage and recovery needs currently does not include data on the loss of infrastructure, housing and businesses in the occupied territories”.
Ukrainian authorities will start restoration work in these territories when they are liberated, he said.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/23/cost-of-rebuilding-ukraine-du
e-to-russian-war-411bn-world-bank
Learn how @WorldBank is helping Ukraine recover and rebuild: http://wrld.bg/U61650NnWMz
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.m
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:Dood, THE TITLE of your article says "Kiev pictures". Are you saying it ISN'T from Kiev?
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
This action is just political theater.
SECOND: When Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia was charged with crimes, Signym sided with Milosevic.
When Muammar Gaddafi of Libya was charged with crimes, Signym sided with Gaddafi.
When Bashar al-Assad of Syria was charged with crimes, Signym sided with Al-Assad.
When Putin was charged with crimes, who did Signym side with?
What do these people have in common? Russia.
THUGR: Tyrants, dictators, thug’s murderers and criminals, one and all.
SIGNY: Oh fuck you, THUGR. Your ignorance is boundless. And worse, you refuse to learn bc you can never admit that you're wrong.
THUGR: Riddle me this comrade signym. Why do the women of Iran have a bigger set of balls than the Russians when it comes to standing up to tyrants and dictators?
Can_you_see_me_laughing?
THUGR: Bc Russia is not a tyranny and Putin is not a dictator, ignorant troll.Quote:Why Putin is casting the Ukraine war as a fight for Russia’s survivalWhy western press is focusing on the "meaning" of the battle in Ukraine.
by Brad Dress - 03/21/23 1:48 PM ET
SIGNY: Because Russia is winning.
Ukraine Pictures Show Putin Sending Ancient T-54 Tanks to War
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-pictures-show-putin-sendi
ng-ancient-t-54-tanks-to-war/
THUGR: If you believe comrade signym. Russia is doing this because they are winning.
SIGNY: Why do you keep believing what Kiev says? I would have thought that, by now, having been caught in so many lies you would have gotten the idea that nearly everything "Kiev says" is a lie.
When Bakhmut falls... and it will ... Kiev will claim it killed a zillion Russians. Their much-awaited spring offensive will be accompanied by announcements of success after success. It'll be just like Berlin, right before it fell to the Russians.
You're a loser
THUGR: If it comforts you to pretend that I get all my information from Kiev so be it. It has been obvious for years you live a lie. It's expected.
In any case, our CIA, SD, WH, and MSM get their "info" from Kiev so even if it's second or third-hand, and been laundered a couple of times, it's still from Kiev.
Loser.
Days after Putin's dead-of-night trip to a city far from the front, Zelenskyy visited the heart of the bloodiest fighting in Ukraine.
Days after Putin's dead-of-night trip in Ukraine, Zelenskyy visited troops near the front lines.
Putin's visit to Mariupol featured edited videos and was criticized by Ukrainian officials.
Photos show the two leaders' starkly different trips to the two cities, one of which is the site of fierce fighting.
Days after Russian President Vladimir Putin's surprise trip to the occupied city of Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops in Bakhmut — currently the heart of the bloodiest fighting in the war.
Putin's dead-of-night trip occurred this past weekend. State media followed the Russian President meeting with residents who told him the occupied, war-torn Ukrainian city is a "little piece of paradise." He drove along city streets, saw inside new apartment complex, and visited a children's playground and renovated theater.
Daylight tells a different story of Mariupol, though. None of the video footage showed the widespread ruin across the city. Russia's invasion destroyed vast areas of buildings and infrastructure, leaving tens of thousands dead, the city's former mayor told the Associated Press.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/days-after-putin-s-dead-of-night-
trip-to-a-city-far-from-the-front-zelenskyy-visited-the-heart-of-the-bloodiest-fighting
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:
World Bank says $411bn cost to rebuild war-torn Ukraine
Fuck Ukraine.
--------------------------------------------------
Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
THUGR: Riddle me this comrade signym. Why do the women of Iran have a bigger set of balls than the Russians when it comes to standing up to tyrants and dictators?
Can_you_see_me_laughing?
Cheers to you too.
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It would be a relief not to see blindingly stupid posts from THUGR and SECOND every day.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger
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Yeah. I could just turn on MSNBC and hear whatever they're saying word for word if I wanted listen to that bullshit.
--------------------------------------------------
Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.
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Quote:Signym, everything you post is an elaboration of The Truth is All Lies and Signym's Lies are the True Truth. How does this cycle end of Up is Down and Down is Now Redefined As Up? It never ends until the Russian troll is either dead or has her hands cut off. Signym, while you still have fingers, work your magic inversion of the truth on this paragraph:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It would be a relief not to see blindingly stupid posts from THUGR and SECOND every day.
US officials have said repeatedly that Russia has likely lost half its tank force in Ukraine, if not more. These staggering losses can be attributed to a whole slew of issues plaguing Russian forces, military experts told Insider, including a failure to provide the necessary fire support in combat, a lack of common sense, and little adaptability.
https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/ukraines-getting-dep
leted-uranium-tank-rounds-that-can-punch-holes-in-russian-armor-and-moscows-not-happy-about-it/amp_articleshow/98951915.cms
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Speaking of lies..
STOLEN VALOR: Top Ukraine 'volunteer' soldier revealed to be fraud, heavily promoted by Adam Kinzinger, Malcolm Nance
https://thepostmillennial.com/stolen-valor-top-ukraine-volunteer-soldi
er-revealed-to-be-fraud-heavily-promoted-by-adam-kinzinger-malcolm-nance
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger
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After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Putin, Russian state TV host Vladimir Solovyov spoke out to warn that “any attempt to implement [the warrant] is a declaration of war.”
"It calls for an immediate nuclear strike on that country!” Putin’s ally fumed during the broadcast. “Immediate!”
“That's to say,” Solovyov continued, “any attempt to do it, to go against the will of the Russian people, which has made itself very clear, must result in a missile strike!"
Solovyov’s recent threat to launch nukes at any country that attempts to arrest Putin came just days after fellow Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev also threatened to use nuclear weapons against adversarial Western powers.
Last month, shortly after President Joe Biden announced that “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia,” Medvedev lashed out and claimed Russia is prepared to use nukes to “defend” themselves.
“If the United States wants to defeat Russia, then we have the right to defend ourselves with any weapon, including nuclear.”
https://radaronline.com/p/putin-confidante-threatens-immediate-nuclear
-strike-any-country-detains-despot/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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