Russia and Ukraine

[The Grand Nudger]

Soledar is strategically important to Prigozhins bank account.  He'll have to round up some pows and stolen kids to work the salt mines, but that shouldn't be a problem.  Russia intends to build a bunch of labor camps and penal colonies in the occupied areas.

Yeah, and Russia has "conquered several cities".
Which ones if i may ask?

Bel is also pontificating about alleged profiteers on the western side, while Shoigu with an annual salary of 100k has a mansion for several millions, or was that his wife?

Russia "conquers" piles of rubble.  Case in point....Soledar.  Meanwhile, on the grift angle, ukraine has just booted some ministers for corruption.  

The value that most of the piles of rubble have for ukraine, is that they're already destroyed and there's no one left in them for russia to torture, or murder, or kidnap.  If they can keep the conflict largely contained to them, that's a huge strategic victory.  If they can cause russia to chew up thousands of their men and hundred of their vehicles for a symbolic win, a russian version of a mission accomplished banner for domestic consumption, another strategic victory.

The irony here, is that the purported prize for russia in having taken soledar..is that gives them an oppurtunity to threaten bahkmut...which is another pile of rubble russia has been feeding.  No one doubts that russia is paying a huge price for these piles of rubble, which may yet get swept up in another ukranian wagon wheel at any moment - and which have been changing hands back and forth just about weekly since the start of the conflict.  No one doubts that russia is losing many...many more men than ukraine in the effort.  There is still the concern, ofc, expressed by ukranians soldiers on the front (and mangled by Bel so that it was more useful to his pack of lies) that Russia can, ultimately, afford the loss of those men more than ukraine can afford the loss of their own. That russia may be able to win despite having lost, and lost hard, in any given engagement. There is also, ofc, the fear that their western allies will extort them on russias behalf in the event that russia simply cannot win but will not leave.