>>524527All the libs on a website I use are shilling the former head of defence of Estonia (lol) saying that Russia is somehow losing the war:
"Don't know how accurate this is but give it a read.
The guy behind this tweet thread is Riho Terras his bio says: Member of European Parliament @EPPGroup @EP_Industry, @EP_Agriculture. Deputy coordinator for @EP_ArtifIntel. Former Chief of Defence of Estonia.
THREAD 1/7 Intel from a Ukrainian officer about a meeting in Putin’s lair in Urals. Oligarchs convened there so no one would flee. Putin is furious, he thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in 1-4 days. @EPPGroup @general_ben @edwardlucas @politico
<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FMhRmgkXsAAzAL1?format=png&name=small">2/7 Russians didn’t have a tactical plan. The war costs about $20 bln/day. There are rockets for 3-4 days at most, they use them sparingly. They lack weapons, the Tula and 2 Rotenberg plants can’t physically fulfil the orders for weapons. Rifles and ammo are the most they can do.
3/7 The next Russian weapons can be produced in 3-4 months – if even that. They have no raw materials. What was previously supplied mainly from Slovenia, Finland and Germany is now cut off.
4/7 If Ukraine manages to hold the Russians off for 10 days, then the Russians will have to enter negotiations. Because they have no money, weapons, or resources. Nevertheless, they are indifferent about the sanctions.
5/7 Alpha Spec Ops have been near Kyiv since the 18th February. The goal was to take Kyiv and instal a puppet regime. They are preparing provocations against innocent civilians – women and children – to sow panic. This is their trump card.
6/7 Russia’s whole plan relies on panic – that the civilians and armed forces surrender and Zelensky flees. They expect Kharkiv to surrender first so the other cities would follow suit to avoid bloodshed. The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered.
7/7 The Ukrainians must avoid panic! The missile strikes are for intimidation, the Russians fire them at random to “accidentally” hit residential buildings to make the attack look larger than it really is. Ukraine must stay strong and we must provide assistance! #StandWithUkraine
https://twitter.com/RihoTerras/status/1497537193346220038"
yes this guy is seriously claiming that russia has run out of munitions after like 3 days
>>524533Regardless of how much they believe or say about Nazi in Ukraine, it's better to prevent your enemy from making any… pro gamer moves.
Nationalist radicals aren't known for not making messes in times of war, see: Ottoman entry into WW1.
>>524570Cmon let's not haze anyone who's new
>>524571It's seriously fucking with me how many normies are just like 'heh you really believe that?' when you bring up easily verifiable shit like Ukraine bombing Donbas or China's COVID stats, just because they didn't see it on MSNBC
Short results on February 26.
The northern ("Kiev") front - without significant changes. Regrouping is underway, pulling up the rear and reserves, fighting is underway for individual local points.
The Central Front (Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions) - the troops are forced to stop at the borders reached due to problems with supply and the presence of large enemy resistance nodes in the rear. Only the left (southern) flank, which is advancing in the north of the Luhansk region, is moving forward (very moderately). According to reports, fighting has begun to clean up Chernihiv and a second attempt to clean up Sumy is being prepared. There is no information on Kharkiv.
Donetsk Front. The enemy completes the withdrawal of its forces with minimal impact of artillery and aviation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which should be considered a serious success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the unbroken withdrawn units will certainly be reintroduced into battle in the area of Dnepropetrovsk, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine is preparing a resistance node similar to Kiev.
Apparently, the same pattern is observed in the Berdyansk-Mariupol area. In the latter, perhaps, a garrison will be left for the forces of the DPR corps and Russian troops, but most of the Ukrainian units and formations are already hastily retreating to the north and will also probably soon appear in the Dnepropetrovsk area (if the aviation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation cannot actively prevent them from doing so). In the central sector of the front - Otdokuchayevsk to Debaltseve - the enemy is still firmly holding its fortified positions, actively shooting the accumulated ammunition (since they will still have to be abandoned otherwise during withdrawal). It goes to both the advanced positions of the "corps" and the civilian population.
The greatest successes of the third day of the offensive fall on the Southern ("Crimean") front, which continues to expand the bridgehead north of Kherson on its left flank (the city itself has not been cleared and is still under the control of the AFU) - bypassing Nikolaev. Apparently, if they come out to Nikolayev today or tomorrow, they will not take him - there is no one and nothing yet.
On the right flank, the advance continues (already with battles now) to the north - to Zaporozhye and to the east - to the rear of the enemy's Mariupol grouping. Which, alas, has mostly avoided the environment so far, but is forced to hastily withdraw (which is absolutely impossible to do without losses).
Analysis and forecasts for the 4th day of the war.
The extremely successfully launched and successfully continued offensive of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, due to a number of objective and subjective factors, began to slow down, which is very unlikely to have anything to do with Putin's alleged instruction about "suspension for 12 hours". I strongly doubt that this has taken place at all. If there was a suspension, it was due to the backlog of the rear and the need for minimal rest of the personnel.
However, there were also consequences of major mistakes made during the initial planning of the operation. The main thing is "exceptional goodwill" to the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the initial missile and aviation training. The units and formations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did not "appreciate" such courtesy in any way and, in an absolutely overwhelming majority, entered the battle in an organized manner (although some did not immediately, passing by the shock troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, attacking defenseless rear units).
As a result, by the end of the third day of the war, the operational successes of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation so far (I emphasize - so far!) they did not grow into a strategic success. The Ukro-army suffered heavy losses, but continues to provide organized and sometimes successful resistance, forcing the Russian Armed Forces to slow down the pace of advance almost everywhere except the southern front. But even the latter, advancing, faces an acute objective problem - a shortage of cash and reserve forces.
As a result, not a single large APU compound has been encircled so far. Moreover, the opponent has a good chance. With considerable losses, but to withdraw the main forces of the Donetsk group to the Dnieper, where they will try to stabilize the front, trying to hold 2 key points - Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk.
General conclusion: a lot has been achieved, but the main tasks are far from being fulfilled. The pace of the offensive is falling, the final defeat of the enemy is moving away, and the enemy - this is a bet on the maximum prolongation of the war - will try to take advantage of any miscalculations. It seems that this conflict will not be quick, since everyone has already paid attention to the ill-considered logistics of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and unpreparedness for fierce resistance. Zelensky read this (probably not without prompting from Western partners) and therefore merged with the negotiations. And for sure now it will drag them to the bitter end (or to the last Ukrainian) to wait for the depletion of the Russian army and economy. This will allow him to close potential peace talks on more favorable terms for himself. Only now they will have to wait for two weeks if the Russian army does not turn the situation around in a critical way now. Meanwhile, Western "peacekeepers" in an emergency mode began pumping Ukraine with weapons. No politician worries about ordinary people in this situation.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/261-politics/79918112"Russian Thermobaric Rocket Launchers Headed To Ukraine
Thermobaric missiles are vacuum bombs that suck in the oxygen from the surrounding area to create a huge explosion. Since it sucks in the oxygen it would suffocate those in the direct area.
Remember Putin’s name was cheered today at CPAC. It’s quite obvious using these bombs would be an act of genocide. They are not meant to destroy buildings but targets people.
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-26-22/h_0050ad4a0b55a2fdd9753d00b44efc40"
why are they like this
>>524561picrel
>>524571Hyperreality is really getting out of hand. Baudrillard couldn't have predicted it getting even worse since Gulf War 1
>>524507Propaganda that reinforces the lie of Ukraine "resisting" the Russian invasion by implying their only way of advancing is subterfuge and even in that the based Ukrops are on to them. On that, let's hope their leaders bend in time so Ukranians don't have to find out how wrong the propaganda is.
It's also papering over the mass conscription problem and the deserter problem that cannot possibly exist within the propaganda narrative. They don't exist. No civilians shoots friendlies or uses the guns irresponsibly or are lacking in discipline order or training. They are all UBERSMENCH super-soldiers, hard boiled post-maidan patriot heroes and everyone they attack is a filthy enemy infiltrator.
And of course every day Russia decides
not to glass Kiev is a hard-won victory that leaves no losses and kill a million russians as they crash impotently against the unshakable determination of the Ukranian people taken arms.
>>524527>ukraine vs russiadoesn't matter
The Anglo clique got what they wanted. Russia is sanctioned, EU-RU relations are nice and cold again, and the Nordstream 2 is not going to be bringing Russian gas to Europe anytime soon
the only thing left to do is to throw as many Ukrainian lives, untrained conscripts armed with western "freebies", as possible at the Russian war machine to make the operation as costly as possible for Russia, before they inevitably lose
and that's what the UCU(Ukraine Cinematic Universe) is for
>>524596Very interesting
>>524603Every single thread
>>524644If he does bring back the Soviet union nobody stands a chance
No operation condor this time amerifats you'll have communist inside your country this time around
>>524679Multipolar world is here. Now we can support national liberation struggles and worker revolts in China/Russia sphere right?
Right?
>>524683No multipolar world
Just BRICS
>>524690Brazil is ranked number 12
Those macacos will destroy you
>>524695No shit India and china hate each other. They both still have good relations with Russia and plan to keep that
The world isn't black and white divided into 2 teams
Russia stepping it up
This has been one of most informative and nuanced analyst thru this whole conflict
https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael/status/1497770224472444930?s=20&t=lBCAIpGrg6dsOwuSuqZXTQ>>793330Digital renminbihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_renminbi
>Digital renminbi (Chinese: 数字人民币; also abbreviated as digital RMB and e-CNY),[1] or Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP, Chinese: 数字货币电子支付; pinyin: Shùzì huòbì diànzǐ zhīfù), is a central bank digital currency issued by China's central bank, the People's Bank of China.[2] It is the first digital currency to be issued by a major economy, undergoing public testing as of April 2021.[2][3] The digital RMB is legal tender[4] and has equivalent value with other forms of renminbi, also known as the Chinese yuan (CNY), such as bills and coins.[2]
>The digital yuan is designed to move instantaneously in both domestic and international transactions.[2][5] It aims to be cheaper and faster than existing financial transactions.[2] The technology enables transactions to take place between two offline devices.[6][7]
>[…]The digital RMB could provide a cheaper and more practical alternative to international transactions that are outside the U.S.-led global financial system, especially for countries with strong ties to China.[2][6] It is feared by U.S. commentators and officials that the digital RMB would weaken the ability of the U.S. to monitor and control the global financial system, through "dollar weaponization," such as sanctions[2][28] and through its intelligence access to the SWIFT payment system.[29] >>524689I was talking to my mom over the phone
She said I don't think Gorgachev gave away the Soviet union with no preconditions I don't think he was a fat dummy.
I'm like yeah well ma he kind of was.
>>524668>The US used to be in the driver's seat of EU relations with all parties. Now the US is in the driver's seat, and the EU is beaten, duct taped and handcuffed in the trunk.No you are wrong with that analysis, the US used to get it's way while using up far less political capital, this is a sign they are loosing influence in Europe. Framing it in your metaphor would be: You have to be in a pretty desperate position when you are stuffing people in the trunk. The US has managed to push a wedge between the EU and Russia for sure but China is going to be the one that is in the position to capitalize on it, not the US.
It's a long shot and unrealistic scenario but if the US were to manage isolating Russia from the World, Russia would revert to a Soviet style system, because that's what happened the last time they were isolated by the US. You know what will also come back: ML style foreign policy, of arming every national liberation movement under the sun.
>>524720>they're all westoidscowards, no balls
Let this be a lesson, westoids are fair-weather friends. Ukrainians just learned that lesson the hard way.
>>524724>any azovfag with a brainThey are nazi-slavs, anon. NAZI-SLAVS.
>has probably removed any problematic insignia off his uniformIt's really simple, but thousands of these hooligans are too stupid to just do that and they will ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess a few of the smarter ones among them are using a cheese grater on their swastika tattoos as we speak.
>>524755bros we could literally stockpile arms for a communist revolution
ak74? 5.45, very nice
>>524745Isn't swift is a system to connect banks or something?
Are they going to come up with a new currency?
I mean I'm assuming they are since he mentioned buttcorn
>>524778The yuan is not scary
What scares people is BRICS coming up with a strong currency to rival the dollar
But that didn't happen
So I'm gonna weigh in with some thoughts, I did my PoliSci (IR) masters degree on Ukraine-Russia diplomatic history from 1991 to 2014. I have some insights I think I can patch together with the available data.
Putin is probably surrounded by a host of yes-men even in this critical arena of military. Tis probably explains the slow adaptation of troops on the ground, confused conscripts surrendering, not knowing they're in Ukraine, etc… The paratrooper drops without support. Negative feedback is part of our evolution, like putting your hand on a hot stove. Obviously, something/someone is ignoring a lot of this negative feedback on the first 2 days of the invasion; and given the immense stakes involved, that ignorance is willfully happening despite instincts to change in the chain of command. That is a telling sign, I believe.
Ideologically speaking, Putin is a Tsarist-Bolshevik-Nationalist (don't @ me, there's precedent for this weird combo). He borrows from all three of these ideologies much like a swiss army knife. Each tool serves a purpose and appeals to a major demographic that he needs to keep supporters on board. He never leans too heavily into either too much. Nor does he lean out of either too much. But this invitation is like the perfect coalescence of these three elements, combined with an inflated ego of near unlimited power plus yes-men, this invasion looks more like an invitation for Putin. Easy pickings.
When looking at maps of territory held by Russians. The big red blob they're in doesn't represent troop positions. Russia is only going to park troops in towns or cities. So the space between them is empty. They're going for deep-strike operations it seems, and their BTGs are not entirely suited to it without a large paramilitary (read: cannon-fodder) support element to protect the flanks and make up for the low ration of materiel to men.
Zelenskyy going for negotiation was implied from the beginning. He does not want to be under attack. He's willing to negotiate because that means less/no fighting is happening. Diplomacy is about sending out as many feelers as you can to gauge the temperature of the other party. Of course, he'd prefer to bargain from a position of strength, but there is strength in the fact that there are relative levels of annoyance that Kyiv can manufacture for Russia in perpetuity. That's no exaggeration. What we're witnessing may be the largest nation-building and identity-forming event in the last 50 years. A puppet regime may be installed, but the idea of a free Ukraine with its own destiny free of a Russian leash cannot be wiped from Ukrainians' memory. The West learned from the Baltics during the Cold War: recognition of states' original borders despite however long it takes for them to become free, works.
This leads me into the long game for Putin. Still hard to see what he realistically aims to get without bogging Russia in a massive regime-support quagmire a la Afghanistan. This isn't Syria where there's a leader in a city who just needs control over the rest of the territory. Nor is this like the Georgian conflicts in 2008 where the separatist enclaves had existed for 6-7 years before and had been established in generally internationally-approved ways. Demilitarisation and denazification obviously aim towards kangaroo courts and a range of punitive measures against what Putin believes are elements in Ukraine's society that are anti-Kremlin. But everyone knows that. If I had to guess, I believe he's looking to completely annex the territories of his perceived "Novorossiya" territories (the South-East region of Ukraine), and then install a puppet to rule over rump Russia-approved Ukraine in the North and West.
Lastly, I think the implications of this war for the world are huge. Nothing happens for a decade, and then a decade happens in a week, Lenin said. We're seeing a total paradigm shift away from the post-Cold War order for Russia. How that'll take shape will be determined in the next 2 to 6 months.
Other predictions: Kyiv needs to last at least a week to keep Ukraine in a good bargaining position and to make costs high for Putin. By "Kyiv lasting" I mean that Spetznaz groups haven't made it into the centre and dragging Zelenskyy and other Verkhovna Rada deputies out by the hair to stand trial for "Nazism" or whatever dumb shit Putin has pre-arranged. I think there's a very good chance for this to play out, because of how resilient Ukraine's military has been so far. The next 2 days are vital because there'll be no snow. But from Monday to Friday there should be snow, which should make movements slower and defending easier. Ukraine needs to keep a western corridor open from Kyiv to L'viv to facilitate transport of materiel. Ukraine also needs to drastically up its pressure on the west to keep increasing sanction pressure.
>>524527Russia will win the war. There is no question about that.
The question is what happens next.
Lads the Ghost of Kyiv has been identified as Ivan Frakhovskyy
Here is the interrogation video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM-e46xdcUo>>524755stonks
might as well sell a NFT of the rifle too
>>524811No that'd be the yen
A lot of people use the yuan cause there's a lot of Chinese people
I don't think people exchange their money for yuans and think my wealth is in good hands
>>524807You're just proving my point. You see differences in people like differences in skill points, some are better at this and others are better at something else but overall everyone is still the same thing in your mind so it's just a matter of everyone cooperating.
That's not the kind of differences I mean when I say qualitative difference. The vast majority of people alive today (over 90%) are subhuman animals that are incapable of critical thought or independent agency. They are not people. Trying to create a communism out of them will only lead to hilarious disasters like very attempt so far.
>>524732There was a condition that NATO doesn't move eastwards.
But, well, you know how it went.
https://nitter.net/WarintheFuture/status/1497716025604771842#mtldr
-Russians clearly trying to spare civilians
-Supply problems, but maybe typical of all big invasions
-Air superiority failed
-"Russian doctrinal preference for disrupting, degrading, or destroying adversary command and control through artillery, missile strikes, air strikes, cyber/electronic warfare, and ground combat does not appear to be working (yet)."
-UA defending well
>>524826Source?
If that's true then NATO is wrong
>>524849Literally any protest that isn’t
1. Involved with antifa
2. Itself a counter protest
You guys are fucking retarded and I sincerely doubt you’ve ever protested once in your lives if you managed to interpret my disdain for street fighting as a blanket condemnation of all protests for racial justice. You probably like the antifa street fights because you get to experience the violence you list for vicariously through them.
>>524840It's behind a paywall
Here's the bit I can see
>The Chinese yuan will become a global reserve currency sooner than most people expect, said billionaire investor Ray Dalio.
>The U.S. dollar is currently the world’s reserve currency, but billionaire hedge fund manager Dalio said the yuan’s role could grow much bigger in the next few years.
>Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, said more global trade and financial transactions could be denominated in the yuan in the coming years. That’s going to help China’s currency become more widely used internationally, he told CNBC Managing Asia’s Christine Tan.
>Here’s the investor’s take on why the yuan is going to become more attractive, and how its digital form could be a very viable investment alternative. >>524886You think that's bad?
Everything is about to blow up in price buddy
>>524895It's either labor camp or homelessness no way around it
If somebody has a better idea I'm all ears
>>524937Where is and in Taiwan?
Haha they won't have to worry about that for long
>>524939Oh and is in California wow didn't know that
Oh well I'm sure the Chinese got that covered one way or the other
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES AND DO SOME JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
JOIN THE RIAD COMRADES
AND DO SOME PARXIS
PARXISJOIN THE RIAD COMRADES AND DO SOME PARXIS https://leftypol.org/leftypol/res/793501.html#793700 >>524972You really think valve would do that? They stay out of this no?
Is the CS:GO russian ban real?
>>524973It will be true eventually, your co-worker is a prophet
Tell him to say the USSR will be reborn next
We have entered a new age in the history of human civilization.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqAtk5D1R1Y>>524927The Rulling Class do not understand the difference between reality and fiction.
>>524973Polish-Soviet* War 2: electric boogaloo
*Yes, I know that the Russian Federation is quite anticommunist and antisoviet, just lemme shitpost
>>524984We need a term for this annoying fucking meme now
Shitters just grasp at anything to try and make it seem like the Simpsons predicted it
This is a syndrome, Call it Yellow Brain
>>525001should do it while the americans are awake
they're stupid enough to do it
late to the party on this one but read this article:
https://crimethinc.com/2022/02/15/war-and-anarchists-anti-authoritarian-perspectives-in-ukraineby the end, you will become anti-anarchist and pro-russian. As evinced by pic related,
THE UKRAINIANS ARE NAZIS. I choose to support the side that are fighting nazis; not actually joining forces with them.
>>524997I hope the bombastic and propagandizing news cycles haunts liberals dreams for weeks to come.
It's their fault for taking corporate media drivel so seriously.
>>525028Thanks for the correction
>>525030Nat(i)onalism will do that to people, it's not a final convergence, remember WW1. Chunks of the left are just plain wrong, whether it is the american socdems pro nato, the anarchists Ukrainians or the KRPF bureaucrats wanting to collaborate with their ruling class in order to fight and feed this war.
>>525102Yes, literally so if this is true
>>524931from @KGosztola
>>525108the US and Ukraine started the war by breaking their peace agreements and adopting hardline policy of forcibly retaking Donbas and Crimea.
Putler just escalated the war to put an end to it.
>>525118Ukraine can't forcibly retake Donbass or Crimea, the correct move if they try is to repel them, pre-emptive strikes are always an excuse for aggression.
At most they can (and AFAIK were) increase their shelling of Donbass, and the correct response to that is the destruction of the units doing the shelling and a message that this will not be tolerated. Not trying to conquer the whole fucking country.
>>525140>Ukraine can't forcibly retake Donbass or Crimea, maybe, but they can sure try. they made clear this was their policy and Minsk was never going to be implemented, which means Russia was going to be at war with Ukraine anyway, even if in a more limited fashion in the east.
>the correct move if they try is to repel them, pre-emptive strikes are always an excuse for aggression.I tend to agree, but Russia chose to escalate and fight a shorter war, instead of fight a protracted indefinite war in the east for years or decades. And given the hardline positions taken by the US and Ukraine, this conflict would likely have led to other provocations and escalations anyway, and with the NATO membership issue always looming in the background.
Bottom line is, the US was in control of Ukraine's foreign policy and the policy was to use Ukraine to fuck with Russia ("fight them over there"), which included waging war against Russia, even if in a more limited fashion in the east. Russia got sick of this shit and wanted to end it now instead of fight them for years to who knows what end.
Reliability of
https://twitter.com/sentdefender and
https://twitter.com/osinttechnical as sources?
Seeing a lot of tweets from them about how Russians are "giving up."
Here's what the Russian Ministry of Defense says about their achievements so far. Take it or leave it.
>STATEMENT Russia MoD: "To date, the Russian Armed Forces have hit 975 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine. Among them: 23 control points and communication centers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 3 radar posts, 31x S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa AA missile systems and 48 radar stations. Shot down: 8 combat aircraft and 7 helicopters, 11 drones, two Tochka-U tactical missiles. 223 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 28 aircraft (on the ground), 39 MLRS, 86 field artillery pieces and mortars, 143 units of special military vehicles"https://twitter.com/ASBMilitary/status/1497820795061653505>>525194HOHOL
HOHOL
UIGHUR
HOLOL
UIGUR
>>525194who do you support grillpilled
should we support no one
what is the best way you think
>>525200Holodomor wasn't real
Stalin was a bitch
Khruschev rocks
Andropov best Soviet leader
Putinist Russia is evil
Hands of Ukraine
Reap what you sow 366257291 Gadaffie'd Putins
>>525168the only one who was doing shit to expand their sphere of influence was US-NATO, by orchestrating a coup and setting up a US puppet government that it could use to wage proxy war against Russia and expand NATO.
Look at the fucking map, it's only ever been US-NATO expanding it's sphere, in violation of peace agreements made with the Soviet Union and with Russia in the 90s.
This is the first time Russia's really done anything that could arguably be said to expand its sphere (by forcibly reversing a US-backed coup done to expand the US-NATO sphere).
As for backing DPR/LPR, that was done because the people there wanted and declared independence, and because backing them would prevent NATO from using its new coup government to expand its sphere of influence, and prevent future confrontations arising from NATO encirclement. There were already peace agreements that settled the DPR/LPR and NATO issues, agreements that *Ukraine reneged on* (under US "advice"), and proceeded to bomb and kill thousands of people in DPR/LPR in an effort to retake them by force. That guaranteed war one way or the other.
Unique IPs: 116