Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
POSTED BY: captaincrunch
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 21:09
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Putin Still Believes He’ll Win in Ukraine. The People Closest to Him Have Quietly Concluded He Can’t
By Steve Balestrieri | June 4, 2026
https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/putin-still-believes-hell-win-in-u
kraine-the-people-closest-to-him-have-quietly-concluded-he-cant/
Summary and Key Points: Vladimir Putin still tells his country that victory in Ukraine is coming. But the war has now lasted longer than World War II did for Russia, and the people best positioned to know — including one of Russia’s own top academics — have quietly reached the opposite conclusion: this war cannot be won, not without an occupation that is simply impossible.
The Ukraine War and a Look to History
The current war in Ukraine has lasted longer than World War II did for Russia, but they have not yet achieved one of their primary goals of the war. The Ukrainians have been turning the tide of the war, but may not have the military forces to drive Russia out of its territory.
Like the Korean War before it, this nearly four-and-a-half-year war may end up in a negotiated settlement, with a country divided by a heavily militarized line of control between the two warring factions.
In a bizarre twist of fate, thousands of North Korean “volunteers” are fighting for Russia in the same brutal, bloody, meatgrinder that their forefathers fought in the 1950s.
Many of the Same Factors Face Each Side in Ukraine
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is facing increasing pressure both at the front and within the country. The Russian army’s offensive is slowing down, resources are being depleted, and Ukrainian drone strikes are hitting the logistics and economy of the Russian Federation increasingly hard.
Military analysts are increasingly coming to the conclusion that Putin’s war aims, despite his insistence, are becoming increasingly unattainable.
Putin’s growing frustration has led many analysts to believe that Putin will once again resort to nuclear blackmail in an attempt to win strategic concessions from the West.
There were the same threats that both sides used in Korea.
Other Similarities To The Korean War
Neither side is able to gain much territory. Just as the Korean War transitioned from rapid territorial swings to a grueling war of attrition along a static front, the conflict in Ukraine has frequently settled into a defensive deadlock.
A reluctant armistice could freeze the front lines with a heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) stretching across ruined territories.
CIRSD wrote that “just as the Korean War came as a consequence of the division of Korea, the war in Ukraine came as a consequence of the breakup of the Soviet Union. Modern world history shows that, when a unitary state splits or disintegrates, violent conflicts can ensue.”
Also, like the Korean War, the war of attrition has been dragging on, with an appalling number of casualties on both sides, but mainly suffered by Russia.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as of late May 2026, Russia has suffered more than 1.3 million casualties (killed and wounded) in Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion. More than 352,000 of these are believed to be fatalities.
Despite very positive combat assessments by his generals, Putin’s forces are making very minimal gains (15 to 70 meters per day) but at casualty rates of up to 1,000 troops per day.
Ukraine Was Offered The “Korean Option” In 2023
In January 2023, Oleksii Danilov, the Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council, warned that the stalemate may result in the same armistice. “We are being offered the Korean option. ‘Here there will be some Ukrainians, here there will be other Ukrainians, and here there shall be no Ukrainians.’ I’m convinced that one of the options they will offer us is this 38th parallel.”
Oleksii Arestovich, a well-known Ukrainian political commentator and former advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that the situation was similar to Korea as well, saying the country could e
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The campaign of AI drone strikes is intensifying. And now the Russians are losing potentially hundreds of trucks every day. Far more than they can immediately replace with new production. While Russian ground forces possess tens of thousands of cargo vehicles and buy thousands of new ones every year, they're currently on track to lose thousands per month.
If truck losses continue at the current rate, or get worse, the Russians may have no choice but to begin doing for trucks what they've long done for tanks: pull very old vehicles out of long-term storage and do their best to refurbish them for continued use.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/06/02/old-russian-trucks/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
By failing so spectacularly against Iran, a far weaker military power, Trump has dispelled much of the world’s fear.
Krugman said the quiet part out loud: We've been running the world on fear. He probably didn't even realize what he just admitted.
What will "the world" do when it no longer fears us?
I don't know, but payback's a bitch.
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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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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
THGR, I'm sure you'll never respond to this.
I listened to the first few minutes of your latest video, and it's just chock-full of unsupported statements.
Here's an example: Ukraine has the technological edge.
Really? Like?
Ok, Ukraine has drones.
So does Russia.
Ukraine supposedly has drones that talk to each other.
Russia appears to have that too.
Ukraine has a "flamingo" missile, which is a subsonic cruise missile or a big drone.
Russia has that, and supersonic and hypersonic versions as well.
Ukraine doesn't have artillery, or planes, or air dedenses.
Russia does.
IDK what this guy is talking about. But he doesn't explain.
Listen critically and ask yourself if you're hearing specifics or just blah blah blah.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
No comrade, it is not full of unsupported comments. He is reporting in real time based on all available information. And I can show in video after video, and have been, that all the worlds’ experts are saying Ukraine has a technological edge. That they are in fact, winning.
That Ukraine now has the technological advantage in fighting this kind of warfare over the rest of the world. They are leading the world in having the capability of fighting a war that must include drones. Where’ as the Russians are nowhere near as capable.
Your list of comparisons is in no way accurate comrade because Russia does not know how to fight. And because Russia is out of gas in more ways than one. Your post that I am quoting shows you are ignorant to anything that doesn't support Putin lies.
T
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:
By failing so spectacularly against Iran, a far weaker military power, Trump has dispelled much of the world’s fear.
Krugman said the quiet part out loud: We've been running the world on fear. He probably didn't even realize what he just admitted.
What will "the world" do when it no longer fears us?
I don't know, but payback's a bitch.
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
No, it’s just that trump is too stupid to realize Iran is a stones throw away from much of the world’s energy resources. And that Iran has a lot of stones. Trump essentially chose to override the experts. The world still knows what we can do. War is not just bombs; it is also strategic. And Trump, like Putin, is a moron.
And as I’ve said to you before comrade, as far as payback goes, Trump breaks everything he touches. Not just Iran but also trade, NATO, and all our relationships with our friends; i.e. tariffs and on and on and on. If you are a democracy Trump doesn’t treat you with respect. Trump only befriends autocracies.
I warned you of this before his first and current term. But all you did was attack everyone but Trump during the elections. Which makes you an idiot.
T
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Quote:Krugman worked in the Reagan White House. Krugman also travels extensively outside the US. Krugman wrote a series of college economics textbooks that are the best sellers in the world. He knows exactly how the US got where it is. Military/Cultural/Financial/Scientific Superiority did it. He has said that the Republican Party has been a catastrophe for the prosperity of its citizens because it has damaged everything that made America Great.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:
By failing so spectacularly against Iran, a far weaker military power, Trump has dispelled much of the world’s fear.
Krugman said the quiet part out loud: We've been running the world on fear. He probably didn't even realize what he just admitted.
What will "the world" do when it no longer fears us?
I don't know, but payback's a bitch.
Learning from a Mentally Ill President
We need to deal with the powers and system that put him in power and keep him there
Paul Krugman
May 31, 2026
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/learning-from-a-mentally-ill-presid
ent
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Sigmym, with your every post, you come across as a Russian propagandist. A propagandist that is not very bright.
T
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It is NOT just Trump who is an evil nitwit among Republican Presidents.
Bush was as bad:
Paul Krugman was a prominent and vocal opponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. As a Nobel Prize-winning economist and opinion columnist, he criticized the conflict along two primary lines: the political deception used to justify the invasion and the long-term economic damage it caused.
A "Crime" of Deception
Krugman strongly rejected the idea that the invasion was an innocent mistake or a venture undertaken merely on flawed intelligence. He argued that the Bush administration wanted a war from the beginning and that the public justifications—particularly the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)—were falsified pretexts. In his view, pushing America into a war of choice based on fabricated evidence made the invasion not just a mistake, but a grotesque violation of public trust and a political crime.
Economic and Social Costs
On the economic front, Krugman highlighted the immense financial burden of the conflict. He frequently pointed out that the war was funded almost entirely through deficit spending rather than being paid for by the taxpayer base at the time. He emphasized how the trillions of dollars spent in Iraq directly crowded out domestic priorities, noting that those same funds could have been used to avoid cuts in social programs like food stamps and Medicaid, or to expand healthcare subsidies.
Paul Krugman on the 'Cartoon Physics' of the 2008 Crash
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Belgium has a Russian steel addiction — and doesn't want to fix it
By Chris Powers | June 5, 2026 4:37 PM
https://kyivindependent.com/belgium-blocks-eu-action-against-russian-s
teel-addiction/
More than four years after the EU began sanctioning Russian steel, Belgium remains a loyal importer — thanks to a sanctions exemption that allows a Russia-based steel giant to continue supplying its Belgian factories with low-cost slabs.
Despite sweeping EU sanctions against the Kremlin for its war in Ukraine, Belgium has opposed attempts to sanction the company, NLMK, and its Kremlin-connected billionaire owner, Vladimir Lisin. Belgian officials fear that taking action could hurt employment in an already economically deprived region. Critics say the arrangement is more money for one of Russia's richest oligarchs.
NLMK in Russia is supplying its European mills with slabs, according to the European steel association Eurometal. An industry slide deck seen by the Kyiv Independent says those slabs are sold at "ultra low prices," giving EU-based re-rollers "an artificial cost advantage."
While most forms of steel from Russia were sanctioned in the first weeks of the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was one exception: semi-finished steel slabs.
When steel is made, it can be cast into a basic "semi-finished" shape, which can then be "re-rolled" elsewhere into a final product, or finished steel. Slabs are one of these semi-finished shapes.
The EU agreed to a gradual phase-out of Russian slabs as part of its 12th sanctions package in December 2023, with an end date of Sept. 30, 2028.
Moscow currently supplies 58% of the EU's slab imports from third countries. A third of those slabs go to Belgium alone, with Italy, Czechia, France, and Denmark rounding out the top five importers.
While there are several steel manufacturers in Belgium, most are not using slabs at all, and ArcelorMittal Belgium, the largest entity in the country, "is not importing any Russian slabs or other semi-finished steel products to Belgium since at least 5 years," its CEO, Frederik Van De Velde, told the Kyiv Independent in a written comment.
But the same cannot be said of two plants owned by the Russian Novolipetskiy metallurgicheskiy kombinat, or NLMK, the nearest of which lies a mere 22 kilometers from the EU's capital, Brussels.
NLMK is one of Russia's four largest steel companies. It owns 49% of NLMK Belgium, and an additional 2% via a connected entity called Tube De Haren et Nimy. The remaining 49% is owned by Belgium's French-speaking region via its investment vehicle Wallonie Entreprendre.
As of June 2026, NLMK's owner, oligarch Vladimir Lisin, was listed in Bloomberg's Billionaires Index as the world's 110th richest man, with a net worth of $23.5 billion.
Lisin has been sanctioned by Ukraine, Australia, and Canada. The Canadians describe Lisin as a "Kremlin-linked billionaire" among those who support Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and who have benefited from the war.
He has not been sanctioned by the EU, something the EU's Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius questioned when he was a member of the European Parliament.
When asked if Kubilius still holds his former view, a European Commission spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent that EU sanctions policy is decided by unanimity, and that "sanctions discussions are confidential."
However, the Kyiv Independent was told by EU and national diplomats on the condition of anonymity that Lisin's name had been floated in earlier discussions, only to be removed from consideration.
A spokesperson for Belgium's foreign ministry said that "on the proposal to list Mr Lisin individually, Belgium has indeed expressed reservations, and that position has not changed."
But "sanctions must hurt the Russian war machine more than they hurt our own economies," the spokesperson
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Ukraine’s Bullet interceptor gets speed upgrade. It now has chemical accelerator to chase down Russian 500 km/h Geran-4
The accelerator burns chemical fuel rather than using jet propulsion.
By Olena Mukhina | June 5, 2026
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/06/05/ukraines-bullet-interceptor-get
s-speed-upgrade-it-now-has-chemical-accelerator-to-chase-down-russian-500-km-h-geran-4/
The booster gives a rapid launch profile and conserves the Bullet's main battery for the pursuit and terminal phases of the intercept.
The Geran-4, first deployed in May 2026, runs on a Chinese-supplied Telefly turbojet engine rated at 160 kgf of thrust, reaching speeds of around 500 km/h.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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