I don’t believe Russia or Ukraine, or us. We’ll probably never learn the real truth. First casualty in war, is always the truth.
Did we ever find out what really happened in World War II? That would be a yes.
Centuries of practice.
There are some clear facts here
1. Russia has lost a lot of troops.
2. Russia has lost lots of first rate troops, which is why they are looking for mercenaries
3. They have retreated from Kyiv and kharkiv. They have barely advanced in the past 2 months in Donbas
Putin’s Russia doesn’t have the demographic or economic depth as in 1943.
I agree. I don’t trust what we’re being told at face value. One day there will be a settlement and we’ll have a better understanding of the true cost. I think the only clear winner right now is Brandon. He managed to convince Putin that it was the right move to attack Ukraine with no skin off Joe’s nose.
“The First Casualty of War is Truth.”
(attributed to Dr Samuel Johnson in 1758, or even the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus around 550 BC)
And, of Course: “Propaganda is the First Weapon Used in Times of War”
We will know the whole ugly truth in about twenty years if not forty. But, as of Now, all we can see is what’s happening on the ground. Russia appears to be stumbling and losing ground. If your not advancing, your losing. They need to re-think their goals and put more troops on the ground and seek more allies. They need to open a second front. If Putin dies, it might change things but, if we are seen as the real aggressors it will unify the Russian People and stimulate a renewed war that will not end well for anyone.
Ukrainet is considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world - BUT NOT AS CORRUPT AS RUSSIA.
And George Soros was for this war... which always gives pause as he tends to stand with criminals against the lawful.
We’ve had our military and preparedness degraded... and we’re less able to fight a war with a real adversary because of that. And we’re risking a nuclear World War III...
None of that is good.
And the story about how Putin would take other countries is weirdly reminiscent of LBJ telling us commies would take over all of South East Asia if we lost... country by county - then come for us. Dominoes. Which didn’t pan out.
I’m concerns people in Taiwan are looking at the mess in Ukraine and thinking they’d rather give into China than deal with that kind of mess... that’s not good.
And Biden? From his track record? Yikes ... This whole mess could become a horror beyond anything we’ve seen ...
It may slowly seep out. Soviet losses in Word War II were originally given as 20 million (1950s) and they sometimes admitted to 25 million (1960s). After about 50 years they started to say up to 30-35 million. That was about 1/4 of their total population and is probably in the right neighborhood. But between the confusion that is inherent in a major war and the desire of the Soviet government to hide a demographic disaster, it is taking a very long time for the info to seep out.