Russia and Ukraine

[The Grand Nudger]

That's why it said that it do not need a CIA operative, Ukrainian news, or Kremlin propaganda to evaluate the past push to Kiev. It is an established fact, and given the context in which it happened it's pretty safe to say, that not everything happened as planned.

Did it? Who knows?
Maybe their idea was to divert Ukrainian troops aways from Donbas while Russia took it over. The established fact is that Russia currently controls Donbas and doesn't seem to be having much difficulty in keeping it.

They already had the separatist regions.  Recall, that was part of their early round of bullshit explanations for the invasion - that they had to protect these people and help them with their interest in self determination. They're now subject to forced conscription between 16 and 65 to be used as recon by fire elements for russian arty.  Currently, units are being pulled from the donbas to stop the front wide ukrainian counteroffensive. It's unclear that russia will be able to keep it. The ill-equipped separatist units aren't known for their valor or competence, and the only marginally better equipped russians aren't known for having their backs.

- but all of this is a doomed argument.  Putin said this territory...every square inch of ukraine... is his, that's why he did it.  We can dispense with any other explanation.  They wanted territory, they thought they could easily acquire it, they did not.  Further...they are losing territory they already had...and this is why they rattle the nuclear sabre, and hope to freeze the conflict, and this is why helpful idiots are dispatched to suggest the world abandon ukraine, and ukraine give russia what it has completely failed to take by force.     

They're not playing 3d chess. They just fucked up. Militaries fuck up.

Yes, he invaded. That's why I support maintaining the sanctions that the western world put in place.

Sanctions are great, but sanctions alone are just putting a price tag on wars of territorial expansion.  So..lets say a nation eyes some piece of real estate, does the math, and figures it's worth more than the sanctions?  We were entertaining that possibility earlier weren't we? Just go to the economy next door. Hey, is some chunk of wherever you're from worth the sanctions - whichever chunk we'll be giving russia in our negotiated peace in ukraine? Asking for a friend with alot of guns that isn't russia.