this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2025
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Russians are dying because Putin places his own vanity and desire for future "glory" over the lives of the Russian people. The was ends the second he calls off the invasion.
Do you really think the Russo-Ukrainian war is about "glory" and "vanity?" Russia has the upper-hand, they aren't going to pack their bags and leave before their demands are met, namely the oblasts, NATO neutrality, and for Kiev to stop oppressing ethnic Russians living in Ukraine.
But for Russia
Exactly, lmao!
Like, I can empathize with the anti-war crowd. Why on Earth do they keep saying Russia can turn around and stop? That doesn't make any sense, they have the means to continue and their goals still haven't been met, so the war is going to continue until they are. Shouldn't the anti-war crowd desire a swift surrender from Ukraine to minimize further bloodshed?
I saw a former minister of defense use this talking point in a debate on national television a while back, and I felt like I was about to have a stroke.
Like yeah, you're technically correct that the Russians could do that, but the actual chance of it happening is basically zero, so why are you bringing it up? You know this! What the hell kind of argument is this even supposed to be?
Yea, it's ridiculous. Just pure bloodthirst.
Yes, this is about vainglory. Ukraine was seeing membership in the EU and the EU mandated reforms that would have addressed issues for minorities. The principle problem was the question of minority groups having school taught in their native language. That was a specific reform mandated. Following the process would yield the desired outcome without any Russian citizens being thrown into a meatwave attack. How has this war benefited Russian-speakers? So many deaths and scarred bodies and souls. The payoff isn't there. The proposition only favors vainglory because the current path is more harm than any alternative. Regarding NATO, neither Hungary nor Turkey would ever permit this to happen and everyone knows it. Admission into NATO requires 100% support for all existing nations. Russia knows this would never happen. It isn't about NATO membership. Putin wants to restore the Russian empire and he wants to be recorded in the history books as the man who made this happen.
Kiev already broke the Minsk Agreements that were meant to solve the issues of Ukrainian armament and oppression of ethnic Russians. There's only so many times you can deliberately break international agreements before nobody takes you seriously. The Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics broke away a decade ago, and have been at war since.
As for Russia, what they gain is security. When diplomacy fails, they are taking the millitant route. I ask you, if this is for "vainglory," why limit it to the Donbass region? Russia has proven capable of fighting an attrition war that Ukraine cannot, why not go for other areas in Europe? The narrative that Putin just wants to restart the Russian Empire, as though he wants to become the Tsar, is ridiculous. Not only is the Russian population benefiting massively from strengthened ties with China, it's populace increasingly favors socialism over capitalism:
There's no "meat grinder" here, Russia has been strengthened economically, and appears to be meeting its stated goals. There's no backing to the "empire" narrative, of Russian conquest of Europe.
Ukraine maintained every part of the Minsk agreement reasonable to keep while Russia was in blatant violation of the agreement. Russia agreed to a withdraw of military forces from Ukraine (including the Dombass region) and refused to do so after signing the agreement. This constrained what Ukraine could reasonably do under the circumstances. To Russia, the agreements were a hiatus in a bigger fight.
The LPR and DPR are not recognized as legitimate entities under the Minsk Agreements. They were added without consent by Ukraine after Ukraine had already signed the agreement.
Yes, now bombs fall on Russian cities, power plants go dark, and refineries are on fire.
Russia has already expanded their territorial claims beyond the Dombass.
Neither side is doing well. If Russia was capable, they'd be gaining more than a few meters every day.
Russian demographics are in the toilet and friendship with China isn't going to help.
A wartime economy produces encouraging economic figures but cannot be sustained and, when the war produces this kind of strain, the post-war economy is economic collapse. The war has to end someday and it will be ugly for the Russian people when that happens.
Ukraine broke the Minsk agreements, and Russia recognized that the agreements weren't worth anything then. Pretty clear-cut. Russia's economy is being strengthened not just by temporary wartime economics, but also by being further embedded in Chinese trade, as well as increased cooperation with the global south. Russia's desire for the four oblasts has been consistent, and they have been steadily gaining territory month over month as war in Ukraine becomes increasingly unpopular.
You have proven nothing regarding the war being about "vainglory" or "mass expansion," these are absurdities one must conjure out of thin-air in order to treat Russia not as a country of humans but instead as a saturday morning cartoon villian. This is Marvel-movie style analysis of complex geopolitical interactions.
They both agreed to let Finland and Sweden to become formal members of this genocidal gang, so this claim does not have a good basis in reality.
What is this claim based on? How do you know that NATO's owners wouldn't just threaten the dissenters the way they actually did with Hungary?
Finland & Sweden were not controversial for admission and even these took much effort. Hungary has made clear they would never support Ukraine inside NATO. But even if their politics changed to allow it, the Turkish would never allow it, no matter which political party runs Turkey.
But let's say that Ukraine did join NATO. So what? NATO is a defense treaty and a standards organization. Being a member of NATO just makes you a little harder to invade, it is not a threat to non-NATO neighbors. If Russia did not have an "invade your neighbor" mindset, there would be zero problem with all her neighbors being NATO members. That Russia has a problem with the idea of Ukraine inside NATO is an indication that Russia does not respect borders or national sovereignty of her neighbors. That she opposes it is the reason it is reasonably desired.