this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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The Russian commander of the “Vostok” Battalion fighting in southern Ukraine said on Thursday that Ukraine will not be defeated and suggested that Russia freeze the war along current frontlines.

Alexander Khodakovsky made the candid concession yesterday on his Telegram channel after Russian forces, including his own troops, were devastatingly defeated by Ukrainian marines earlier this week at Urozhaine in the Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk regional border area.

“Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no,” Khodakovsky, a former official of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said yesterday.

“When I talk to myself about our destiny in this war, I mean that we will not crawl forward, like the [Ukrainians], turning everything into [destroyed] Bakhmuts in our path. And, I do not foresee the easy occupation of cities,” he said.

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[–] UnicodeHamSic@hexbear.net 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

It is a proxy war against America. You don't win those. You just set yourself up a good position and dig in. America gets bored and leaves and then you can pick over what is left of what was destroyed. So you don't win, you just wait for America to forfeit.

[–] BigNote@lemm.ee 24 points 1 year ago (6 children)

It's not just the US though. The European powers are far more firmly committed. It's not at all clear that the rest of NATO will simply walk away if/when the US does. Especially the former Soviet nations; this is not a fucking game to them. The loss of US support would be huge, but I don't see a universe in which the Europeans just roll over for Putin once the US loses interest.

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)

The European powers are far more firmly committed.

So firmly committed that america had to blow up one of germany's pipelines? Are you having a fucking laugh?

Everyone I speak to, you know, normal people, thinks this is a fucking stupid distraction from domestic politics and the consistently declining standard of living we are seeing. America has ended european prosperity with this shit and it won't recover for 50 years. You think people here haven't noticed that?

[–] sibe@lemm.ee 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

America has ended european prosperity

USA invaded Ukraine? That's news to me

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 29 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The US assisted in the 2014 fascist coup that led to the fascist transitionary government, the deployment of all the fascist militias to attacking the donbas, and the 8 year long civil war that led to Russia eventually invading.

Your mindset on this shit is that it began in 2022 which is false, the US has been stoking it since 8 years earlier. If you want we could go even further back though, Operation Aerodynamic was the US operation to fund, arm and support fascists in Ukraine in order to destabilise the soviet union. Absolutely none of this would be happening today without the US' historic support of fascists.

[–] s0ykaf@hexbear.net 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

the US has been stoking it since 8 years earlier

way more than that

america knew what they were doing in late 2000s when they started the ukraine into nato bullshit; a lot of important people, including some ghouls, said russia would see it as an existential threat. i mean, fuck, angela merkel was saying that back then

[–] 420blazeit69@hexbear.net 23 points 1 year ago

That's the same Angela Merkel that admitted the Minsk agreements weren't done in good faith, rather, they were just done to create time to build the Ukranian military.

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[–] CascadeOfLight@hexbear.net 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No it was... you know... the thing

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[–] Sinonatrix@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I have to imagine direct intervention would've happened already if it was going to. Why let the Ukrainians get shoved into a meat grinder first? If you're America: it's good business and sells more guns. If you're actually reliant on the buffer zone then it's really not a game, as you say.

[–] peeonyou@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 year ago

if all the US / EU weapon stockpiles get wiped out then the US makes a mint resupplying everyone for the next war, which will be with China using Taiwan as the proxy

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[–] LeateWonceslace@lemm.ee 22 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Imagine liking a queerphobic dictatorship.

[–] UnicodeHamSic@hexbear.net 32 points 1 year ago (44 children)

What are you talking about? I said I don't like America. How did you get it backwards?

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[–] AntiOutsideAktion@hexbear.net 18 points 1 year ago

Me, losing every chess game I ever play, but at least my mind is pure because I don't think like those dirty white pieces.

[–] Frank@hexbear.net 13 points 1 year ago

Imagine having the reading comprehension of a sixth grader.

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[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

Russia does not have the resources for that. A reminder this isn't a proxy war for them, even though it is for the West. Russia is there in person conventionally and is somehow losing to a minor Western ally.

The Ukrainians aren't going to run out of stuff within the next year for sure, and maybe not ever because even if the US gets bored Europe is highly invested. Russia has negligible productive capacity of it's own, and is bound to have serious problems eventually, unless they convince China to help and China has so far been uninterested. They could theoretically win by population attrition, I guess, but nobody's really talking about that yet. And, to do anything, they need political stability, after already having one mostly-failed coup.

[–] 420blazeit69@hexbear.net 44 points 1 year ago (1 children)

is somehow losing to the minor Western allies

How are you defining "losing" here? They're occupying the separatist parts of Ukraine and can do so indefinitely.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Their original objective was to topple the government in Kiev, and they've gotten fairly continuously further from that. Saying they're winning has "Mission Accomplished!" energy at this point.

They're occupying Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea if that's what you mean, although it's in question if they can do that or anything else including exist indefinitely.

[–] 420blazeit69@hexbear.net 17 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Their original objective was to topple the government in Kiev

According to who? If you read the article from U.S. military analysts posted elsewhere in this thread, not even they think that was the point of the early war thrust towards Kiev.

Interesting you mention "Mission Accomplished" -- would you say the U.S. and its media did a good job of accurately informing the public about the War on Terror? Would you say they had good intentions?

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