https://archive.li/Z0m5m

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.

  • Flaps [he/him]
    hexbear
    135
    10 months ago

    RT was banned first day of the war due to links to the kremlin and propaganda. Wouldn't want people influenced by propaganda, of course! This is the west! We're free thinkers! Now let me see how the war is going in the non-biased Kyiv Post.

    • @KevonLooney@lemm.ee
      hexbear
      38
      10 months ago

      Why do posters from Hexbear defend Russia so much? They're not communist. If anything, they're right wing.

      Putin has a government allied with Russian business oligarchs and the support of the Russian Orthodox Church. He promotes the military as heroes. He cultivates a cult of personality. He personally controls billions of dollars. That's textbook Fascism.

      • danisth [he/him]
        hexbear
        84
        10 months ago

        Criticizing this article isn’t the same as supporting Russia lol.

        • autismdragon [he/him, comrade/them]
          hexbear
          76
          10 months ago

          I swear someone could claim like "Russia is controlled by an army of demons" and if someone from Hexbear was like "actually that is not true you should stick to the realm of fact in your criticisms of Russia" posters you'd still get like "WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING RUSSIA? DONT YOU KNOW RUSSIA ISNT COMMUNIST".

        • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
          hexbear
          4
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          If it was only that it wouldn't be an issue, but many comments here are pushing Putin's propaganda by trying to legitimate manipulated referendums and cherry-picking colateral damages of Ukrainian self-defense or Ukrainian extremists to try to inverse the burden of guilt. I don't know if they actually support Putin or if they are just blinded by their hate of the West, but the end result is that they do help carry Putin's propaganda and its fascist oligarc dictatorship.

      • Flaps [he/him]
        hexbear
        65
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Nowhere do I voice support for Russia. It's that any nuance with regard to the Ukraine conflict is seen as 'defending russia', which you've just proven, again.

        Edit: nvm, you're that asshole that used the Sartre quote about anti-semitism to justify your anti-communism. You don't want to learn. Almost as if you're a bot

      • Egon [they/them]
        hexbear
        59
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Pointing out blatant untruths, being anti-war and wanting accurate reporting rather that copium meant to inspire more people to thrown themselves to a pointless death is checks notes russian propaganda?
        You would've supported the invasion of Iraq

        • @I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.ml
          hexbear
          12
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          So if you're anti-war, why do you support Russia who started the war and has shown they are adamantly pro-war?

          • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
            hexbear
            49
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            We believe the war was started by a quagmire of situations going back as far as 1991, including things like the 2014 NATO-backed coup of Ukraine and the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia. This war wasn't some random unprovoked territory grab dictated by Putin, it's the resolution of western interference in the region for decades. Ukraine had been shelling Donbas and Luhansk for years. NATO brought this war upon themselves, basically. Instigating and prodding at the situation for years.

            Also, Russia and Ukraine, near the start of the war, floated the possibility of a ceasefire and NATO pressured them out of it. The USA saw the possibility of a proxy war and started drooling.

            We don't support Russia so much as we see them as one unfortunate reality fighting another unfortunate reality. The war's true culprit is capitalism, and as a leftist the only conclusion you should reach is wars like this are senseless and they should immediately stop. And the only way I see this war to stop is if Ukraine immediately surrenders and loses territory, otherwise we'd just be back in 2014 all over again and the situation would repeat. I can vaguely see how that could be construed as pro-Russia, but it's more that I believe diplomacy with Russia is strained, Russia is volatile, and nothing is gained from open warfare with them. Everyone needs to stop fighting, whatever that takes, because the only winners in wars like this are wealthy capitalists, the rest of us lose.

            • @I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.ml
              hexbear
              14
              10 months ago

              I'm sorry no. Every time someone tries to say "oh well Russia was just pressured by NATO" that's all they leave it at.

              How?

              No really, explain. Explain how the only option for Russia was to invade their neighboring country and steal land. What negative effects would Russia be feeling right now if they hadn't invaded Ukraine?

              "Well NATO was pushing up against their borders"

              So fucking what?! Just because your country is so shitty that your neighbors choose to ally with someone else is not an excuse to invade them!

              • Dr_Gabriel_Aby [none/use name]
                hexbear
                36
                10 months ago

                Have you ever heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis? Why did America freak out that Cuba was going to get missiles from the Soviet Union? What did the Soviet Union choose to do to stop the crisis? Could it be that it is entirely normal for a nation to not want an adversary’s missiles on their border? Has there been multiple examples of conflicts stemming from this issue all over the globe? Have you ever asked yourself a question about how conflicts start, and if other nations have ever behaved similarly?

              • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
                hexbear
                29
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                Russia has no excuse and neither does NATO. The best case scenario is both countries lay down their arms and have socialists take power. Unfortunately we don't live in that kind of situation, so the only thing I can advocate is both NATO and Russia cease fighting. Ukraine shouldn't ally with NATO because NATO shouldn't exist.

                What negative effects would Russia be feeling? I don't know, personally I thought Russia entering the war was a bad call and a strategic mistake. I can see the reason why it happened while still saying it's an open act of aggression. Russia probably could have negotiated with Ukraine about Donbas/Luhansk through better oil deals or something, no idea. Possibly could have tried straight up purchasing the land that Russian separatists occupied?

                But Russia probably had reason to distrust diplomacy with Ukraine ever since 2014. For context, I believe that 2014 happened specifically because Ukraine's previous government was becoming too close to Russia and it made NATO nervous. I could easily ask, what negative effects would Ukraine be feeling if they hadn't had a western backed coup? Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych floated membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, which set off protests that were capitalized upon by western nations. Would it had been so negative had Ukraine entered a formal economic alliance with some former Soviet states? Who knows now.

                The new president, Porochenko, was much harsher on Russian separatists in the east than his predecessors, which started the Donbas war in earnest. That's the moment above any I can point to that started all of this. Maybe if Yanumovych had remained president there could have been a more peaceful solution to Donbas. Who knows now

                Yeah but this is all speculation and we live in reality. The reality is the war should cease immediately, for the benefit of people in Ukraine, Russia, and all refugees from the region. Only way I see that realistically happening is if NATO disengages and Ukraine loses territory.

                Maybe once fighting finishes something new and better can get negotiated, but I'm not holding my breath that neoliberal countries like this know how to resolve long standing conflicts.

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  4
                  edit-2
                  10 months ago

                  Ukraine shouldn’t ally with NATO because NATO shouldn’t exist.

                  Maidan wasn't about NATO. Support for NATO membership of Ukraine only sky-rocketed once Russia invaded (after 2014, that is), and by now is overwhelming.

                  Maidan was about EU membership. Should the EU also not exist in your mind? And yes btw the EU is also a defensive alliance (it's a gazillion of things). Russia's invasion wouldn't have happened had Ukraine been a member. Hence why Russia's stooge Yanukovich was ordered to stop EU accession: Because then Russia wouldn't be able to invade, any more. Ukraine would be as safe as the Baltics and Finland have been all this time.

                  Oh and btw after the 2004 NATO enlargement (including the Baltics) Putin said that he saw no threat to Russia from that, and also that every country was free to choose their alliance.

                  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
                    hexbear
                    14
                    10 months ago

                    I've come to realize I gotta preface a lot of what I say on other instances like this: Russia is an imperialist country and I'd laugh if Putin got forcibly removed from power. I'm a communist.

                    No, the EU should not exist either. No neoliberal institution should exist, including things like the IMF, World Bank, USMCA, NATO, the EU. Should all become memories. Yeah except that's not the world we've got quite yet.

                    I can't really talk much about what should happen. Money, bosses, landlords, and banks shouldn't exist either, but too bad, right? And yeah we can say all day what would have happened had Ukraine become an EU member nearly a decade ago, but it didn't happen and now we're stuck in this situation. It's all alternate history now. Best case scenario I see right at this moment is a ceasefire even if that means Ukraine loses territory.

                  • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
                    hexbear
                    14
                    10 months ago

                    Oh and btw after the 2004 NATO enlargement (including the Baltics) Putin said that he saw no threat to Russia from that, and also that every country was free to choose their alliance.

                    Lmao

                    As NATO Finally Arrives on Its Border, Russia Grumbles

                    Russia's lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Wednesday denouncing NATO's expansion generally and the deployment of the F-16's specifically.

                    Echoing warnings in Russia's new military doctrine set forth last fall, the resolution called on President Vladimir V. Putin to reconsider Russia's international agreements with NATO and its own defense strategies, including its nuclear posture.

              • Dr_Gabriel_Aby [none/use name]
                hexbear
                30
                10 months ago

                I wonder how American would act if Chinese leaders showed up at protests for Black Lives Matters protests, or Russian leaders showed up for Jan 6th protests?

                Victoria Nuland showed up to the protests, and she has multiple emails that basically call it a coup.

                https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957.amp

                Also 2 weeks later was the Maidan Sniper incident that has overwhelmingly evidence of a false flag operated by the Ukrainian far right.

                I know it’s hard to see that the world isnt Disney level “good vs evil”. It’s actually a little more complicated

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  4
                  10 months ago

                  I wonder how American would act if Chinese leaders showed up at protests for Black Lives Matters protests, or Russian leaders showed up for Jan 6th protests?

                  Well Russia did stoke a ton of that culture war bullshit in the US. On both and all sides, of course, they don't care who comes out on top all they want is the US being dysfunctional (well, more dysfunctional than usual). The more controversy the better.

                  What makes you think they didn't do the same in Ukraine? Just that unlike Yanks, Ukrainians actually understand how Russians operate.

                  Victoria Nuland showed up to the protests, and she has multiple emails that basically call it a coup.

                  Foreign diplomat is abroad doing diplomacy. Curious. Coincidence? I think not.

                  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957.amp

                  Coup? Where? All I see is American arrogance. Americans also still believe that they started Libya and that it had something to do with Hillary.

                  Also 2 weeks later was the Maidan Sniper incident that has overwhelmingly evidence of a false flag operated by the Ukrainian far right.

                  You mean Berkut gave Right Sector rifles, then Right Sector shot protestors (including their own people), then Right Sector gave those rifles back to Berkut so the bullets in demonstrators could be matched to Berkut rifles? Overwhelming evidence like that?

                  Hey but at least you didn't claim Azov was involved who didn't even exist yet.

                  I know it’s hard to see that the world isnt Disney level “good vs evil”. It’s actually a little more complicated

                  Indeed.

                  • Dr_Gabriel_Aby [none/use name]
                    hexbear
                    22
                    10 months ago

                    Victoria Nuland was not a diplomat. She ran the Bureau of Eurasian Affairs in an office based out of Washington DC. She deliberately flew to and took part in demonstrations against a democratically elected government. Again if Chinese or Russian officials did the same during Black Lives Matter 2020 or Jan 6th 2021 I think it would be negatively recieved. I understand you need to pretend that’s not true so you don’t have to admit to being wrong.

                    Added to that, the person Victoria Nuland picked to be prime minister in the phone call about the the 3 named opposition leaders became prime minister that very same month in an UNELECTED designation by an alliance of far right parties like Svoboda. Svoboda was specifically tied to the shootings in the square on February 20th. 7 days later they were helping choose the US picked prime minister. This wasn’t some magical event of peace, it was clearly deeply effected by US interests and has led to a decade of violence in the country. I’m sorry to hear you enjoy people dying for self righteousness, but here at hexbear we just want senseless violence to end.

          • Flaps [he/him]
            hexbear
            27
            10 months ago

            Bruv if you could read you'd see the numerous comments saying we don't support Russia.

          • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
            hexbear
            22
            10 months ago

            "here look at this"

            Show
            Show
            Show
            Show

            "two days later russia started the war ! Can you belive it , i consume imperial core media ! "

              • CascadeOfLight [he/him]
                hexbear
                10
                10 months ago

                You may notice that they form concentrated barrages along lines of advance, such as one might make if one were about to launch a maneuvering assault, upon two territories recognized just earlier that week as sovereign states by Russia, and with which it signed defensive pacts.

                • @I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.ml
                  hexbear
                  2
                  10 months ago

                  Are you suggesting there was even the remotest possibility that Ukraine was going to invade Russia? Cuz I've heard some dumbass takes, but my God.

                  • CascadeOfLight [he/him]
                    hexbear
                    5
                    edit-2
                    10 months ago

                    No! But actually, yes! Here is a high-ranking Azov fascist talking about various things (how the west supports them because they enjoy fighting and killing, how the Maidan would have been a "gay pride parade" if not for a very active fascist element) but most importantly what would happen if "Russia split into five or so Russias". This has been the US State Department's goal since 1993, to divide up Russia into a group of powerless fractional states and enslave them through austerity and debt peonage, so they can exploit their natural resources and labor cheaply - EXACTLY as they did to the Balkans, directly across from Russia.

                    The threat of the fascist Kiev regime is that it is attacking, subjugating and ethnically cleansing the Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens of the Donbass, who formed militias and fought back against their extermination for eight years. If the AFU had launched a huge invasion and pushed deep into the region, it would be too late for Russia to reverse the operational momentum - ESPECIALLY if, as was continuously threatened, Ukraine joined NATO or their invasion (overtly) included NATO personnel, at which point Russian intervention would start a nuclear war - and they would be left with a group of victorious, energized, viciously anti-Russian fascists on their doorstep. Would those fascists diligently stay on their side of the border? No, of course not. As Andriy Biletsky, founder of the Azov battalion puts it, it is their "crusade to lead the Aryan peoples of the world against the Jewish-led untermenschen". Russia would be subject to continuous destablization by Nazis crossing the border, with the ultimate goal of bringing down the Russian state.

                    Ukraine, or crucially rather the US State Department puppetting Ukraine, vigorously waved a red flag in front of Russia's nose for eight years, getting closer and closer until finally Russia was forced to invade or face a direct threat to its existence. And how gradually they invaded! It took about a week for the Duma to vote on recognizing the DPR and LPR as sovereign states, and then vote on signing a defensive pact with them, and then finally start moving soldiers into position.

                    Here are some interesting images

                    Russian early warning RADAR coverage. Notice the gap RIIIIIIGHT there in eastern Ukraine.

                    Show

                    What does Vladimir Putin think about this?

                    Show

                    The US couldn't even accept nuclear missiles hundreds of miles from its coast in Cuba (a situation IT PROVOKED by moving missiles into Turkey) so why should Russia accept them along its very border?

                    And in case you're wondering about the depths of Nazi fanaticism that have been painstakingly and expensively cultivated in Ukraine with the help of the US

                    Show
                    Show
                    Show

      • Bnova [he/him]
        hexbear
        58
        10 months ago

        They're not communist

        Wait, I'm ootl what happened?

      • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
        hexbear
        48
        10 months ago

        Everything you say about Russia is true, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a proxy war where US is trying to weaken Russia. You can just be against a senseless war that's killing hundreds of thousands of people and destroying lives of millions more. Anybody who is even minimally engaging with reality can see that this war will only end one way. What the west is doing is prolonging it without changing the outcome. People of Ukraine are being cynically thrown into a meat grinder so that US can score a win in a geopolitical chess game with Russia.

          • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
            hexbear
            13
            10 months ago

            For Ukrainians it's not the case they're being forced or deceived into fighting, it is a war of national survival! It is a war against an aggressor seeking to at the very least oppress Ukrainian national identity if not destroy it entirely as a political and social force.

            Russia is not interested in conquering Ukraine. They're interested in goals like keeping Ukraine out of NATO, maintaining access to the Black Sea, and not having ethnic Russians who don't wish to be a part of Ukraine killed on their borders.

            • @diablexical@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              2
              edit-2
              10 months ago

              What would you call the annexed regions if not conquered? “Liberated”? Get a grip

              • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
                hexbear
                10
                10 months ago

                I would call them annexed. The people in them do not want to remain part of Ukraine, they're fine with being part of Russia, and that's the touchstone here.

                Russia is not interested in conquering the whole of Ukraine, because most of the people in the western part do want to remain Ukrainian, not Russian.

                  • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
                    hexbear
                    8
                    10 months ago

                    I think a firm majority of people in the annexed regions want to leave Ukraine and are at least fine with joining Russia.

          • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
            hexbear
            11
            10 months ago

            The reality is that Ukraine lost its sovereignty when the legitimate and democratically elected government was overthrown in a coup. That's when the war started between the regime in western Ukraine backed by the west and the east. Western media actually reported on this as well

            • CNN coverage of Donbas in 2014 https://twitter.com/paulius60/status/1611148483859255296
            • HRW report https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/20/ukraine-widespread-use-cluster-munitions
            • Donbas documentary 2016 https://yewtu.be/watch?v=bN68OfFKaWs

            I agree that at this point Ukraine is basically fucked. There was a possibility to make a deal back in March last year, but US and UK decided to sabotage it. Now, Russia will likely go all the way and there's not going to be an Ukraine left when this war ends.

          • @barsoap@lemm.ee
            hexbear
            6
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            Ahh, the rare sane hexbear user I still have hopes for you lot you're definitely not as bad as lemmygrad.

            However, let me add something:

            It is impossible to conceive of peace until there is a mutually hurting stalemate between the two sides in which neither believe they can win

            You leave out the scenario of Russians getting kicked out of the country. Which is going to lead to Putin being sent to his Dacha, and if not and he somehow clings on Ukraine having all its territory opens NATO membership which means that the Russian general staff is going to shit bricks and rather putsch than attack.

            What do you think happens if Zelensky signs a peace deal that gives up land? He, a Russian-speaking Jew who used to be on Russian TV and regularly went to the country. He would be deemed a Russian traitorous Jew and would be overthrown and possibly killed by the nationalist and far-right elements within the Ukrainian Army

            He a) wouldn't do that and b) since when is Ukraine antisemitic you're confusing it with... pretty much all other countries in that area and c) you don't need to invoke far-right fucks (who are a tiny minority btw) the rest of the country would, well, send him to a Dacha.

            And ever if: At that point we'd be in the situation many predicted in the first days of the invasion: Fall of the government, but Ukrainians then fighting a partisan war. And Ukraine right now is just in way too good a position to switch to that.


            All in all, the way forward to quick peace is clear: Help Ukraine win this thing. It's both the best option from a direct humanitarian POV by cutting the war short, as well as the best option for wider humanity and the future: Not allowing states intending to conquer to get away with such behaviour. Discouraging wars of aggression is important by itself and one of the reasons why Ukrainians fight so hard, they see the universalism in their own national struggle it just all aligns so well.

                • Dr_Gabriel_Aby [none/use name]
                  hexbear
                  18
                  10 months ago

                  you are welcome. Since you are asking for more people to die than less people to die, and you say it’s for peace. I’ve decided simplifying your long ass post for everyone.

                  • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                    hexbear
                    3
                    10 months ago

                    I'm asking for less people to die:

                    It’s both the best option from a direct humanitarian POV by cutting the war short,

                    Because, you see, less people tend to die in a short war than in a long war.

                    Hence why I'm questioning your reading comprehension.

              • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                hexbear
                1
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                The best weaponry available to Ukraine was shattered against the Russian frontline-they can barely even take a few villages,

                Ukraine send like two and a half Leos out to see if a frontal assault would work, and it didn't, so they didn't do it again. The vast majority of western systems are still intact and in any case: If things like MBTs and APVs don't get destroyed you're not using them. Things get shot at in wars and it's no secret that a direct artillery hit will kill any tank.

                Meanwhile, though, Ukraine is inflicting heavy attrition on Russian artillery, as well as choppers. Don't let the lines on maps confuse you there's a lot happening that isn't visible there.

                what I am saying is that the far-right has disproportionate strength in the Ukrainian army

                That would mean that all those people who joined since 2014, 2022 are far-right? Which would mean that the whole of Ukraine is far-right. Which makes no sense when you look at the election results with Svoboda having one seat in the Rada.

                then in 2022 because it was the best organised forces in the areas seeing the most intense fighting.

                Ukraine built its army from 2014, recruiting ordinary people, training them according to NATO doctrine (giving status and independence to NCOs, mission command, such stuff), with NATO help, we sent like a gazillion of instructors. Many many Nazis left Azov after they were integrated into the National Guard, and the whole thing was actively depoliticised.

                Are there still Nazis in Azov? Almost certainly. But the days of them dominating and openly running around with SS runes on their helmets are definitely over. Just as a side note btw Azov is and always was Russian-speaking, Ukrainian nationalism gets complicated.

                I do not see how Ukraine can win this-even with western weaponry they have failed in their counteroffensive.

                No. Ukrainian generals have been very clear about this from the beginning: The offensive is going to drag on for a very long time due to the lack of materiel to do anything big. Conditions have improved somewhat with Stormshadow and Taurus is bound to come soon but Ukraine has no weapons with which it could just obliterate Russian artillery en masse which would then allow them to bring in slow and vulnerable materiel to clear minefields etc. to enable them to break through the line with heavy armour. They, as already said, have to slowly grind down Russian artillery where they can.

                The other way would be actual air superiority. Dunno if those F16s will suffice to switch to full NATO strategy but it's certainly going to give the Russian side quite some trouble.

                Speaking of NATO strategy that's probably the reason this impression exists: Yeah if Ukraine had a fully equipped NATO army they'd disable the whole Russian rear from the air, then parachute in armour to attack the Russian lines from the rear and the whole thing would be over in no time. The kind of not war but beating you saw on TV so many times. Like Operation Desert Storm. But Ukraine doesn't have a fully equipped NATO army, it's a Soviet-style army half-way switching to NATO doctrine drip-fed some NATO surplus.

                Oh another tidbit: Russia mobilised all its reserves to the front, quite some while ago. Ukraine didn't they're rotating troops in and out. Which is why you see renewed conscription drives in Russia, which then poses the question on what kind of equipment they're supposed to be equipped with, not to speak of the additional instability doing that causes.

      • notceps [he/him]
        hexbear
        47
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Because I truly believe that war is horrible the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in this war is a human tragedy, working people all over the world have to deal with the fallout of this war with rising energy costs and higher foodprices which certainly also caused the deaths of people, meanwhile this war is used in many western countries to push extreme austerity which will lessen the quality of life at best.

        This war and all wars are a human tragedy, and at the start of it I certainly wasn't in Russias corner and I'm still not but I have lost all sympathy for Ukraine and the West because not only have there been many off ramps for Ukraine to end this conflict but western politicians have contributed to this misery. They've contributed to the deaths of so many lives. People like Boris Johnson that sabotaged the peace talks, Biden that keeps on sending more and more weapon over there so more and more people can die. I've since stopped looking at how much money they've given but around spring it was 100bn USD which would've been enough to combat world hunger for 3 years. Ukranian officials like yes Zelensky who is a clown that personally doesn't suffer from this and uses it to push his own persona and does a cool photoshoot in his sick operator outfit.

        Ukraine has not approached the negotiating table in any serious manner because they insist on demanding everything back including Crimea, which just won't happen especially not in this position, so the ukranian leadership is happy to get some money from the west so they order people like you and me to walk into artillery fire or into landmines not for any reason because there haven't been any real gains but just because that's how the money is flowing in.

        Ukraine totally could negotiate a peace it would be incredibly easy because Putin seems eager to want to negotiate but what Ukraine wants isn't a restoration of the border situation before the war they want Crimea as well, they are not serious about peace and everyone knows it, Ukraine will never surrender and so the only thing that can stop this senseless war is when the endless amount of money flowing into Ukraine stops or when the people of Ukraine have had enough of their bloodthirsty corrupt leadership and overthrow them.

        Edit: Also sorry but quite a few people from other instances literally say fascist shit that reminds me of rhetoric that was used during the conflicts in Yugoslavia and we all know how that turned out, calling russian ethnicities in Ukraine 'occupiers' is surely not going to lead to violence towards that group.

        • @barsoap@lemm.ee
          hexbear
          13
          10 months ago

          because not only have there been many off ramps for Ukraine to end this conflict

          How many of those involve not giving in to the aggressor?

          Is this one of these "pacifism is when I kick you and you don't defend yourself" bits?

          • brain_in_a_box [he/him]
            hexbear
            48
            10 months ago

            the moral purity of ''not giving in to the aggressor" doesn't make anybody less dead.

            • @barsoap@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              5
              10 months ago

              It does: It dissuades the aggressor.

              Germanic tribes, and this continues over to Ukraine culturally (because Rus), had the battle cry "better dead than slave". A village would fight down to the last woman, elderly, and child. Because even if the aggressor overcame them they'd be left with nothing but their own losses. Thus, they wouldn't even try.

              If Russia is allowed to get away with this, Taiwan will be next. A gazillion of small-scale empires in unstable regions all around the world will say "well, seeing that noone cares our time to get away with it".

              Millions if not billions of people more will be dead.

              • Sinonatrix [comrade/them]
                hexbear
                49
                10 months ago

                I'm sorry but this is definitely shit you only say when you're very far from the action. Would you want your grandpa drafted and sent into a minefield to "dissuade the aggressor"? Grandma and the children too apparently, better dead than governed by another neighboring authoritarian shithole?

                I think I'd rather just flee with my family to a country right next door that has a nuclear deterrent and NATO membership. Literally why would "they need to all fight to the death instead" be your first thought? I can't imagine it coming from a position where you think Ukrainians are as human as you are.

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  2
                  10 months ago

                  People back then couldn't flee like that. You're taking it all well too literally.

                  And yes I have Ukrainian refugee neighbours. Soldiers knowing their families are safe with friends isn't exactly bad for morale, either.

                  • notceps [he/him]
                    hexbear
                    36
                    10 months ago

                    lol no you don't, you've been lying through this entire thread, I bet even if you had them you wouldn't know about it because when I asked you to go outside and talk to people you ignored it, literally stop being a NEET go outside and talk to people

              • brain_in_a_box [he/him]
                hexbear
                48
                10 months ago

                If Russia is allowed to get away with this, Taiwan will be next. A gazillion of small-scale empires in unstable regions all around the world will say "well, seeing that noone cares our time to get away with it". Millions if not billions of people more will be dead.

                Holy shit mate, stop watching Marvel movies and get some perspective; this isn't the first time one nation has invaded another. The world didn't end when America invaded Iraq.

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  3
                  10 months ago

                  The Iraq war was wrong for a multitude of reasons, and many countries (including mine) wanted to do nothing to do with it, but one thing sets it apart very clearly from the current situation:

                  Iraq wasn't a war of conquest. Russia's war against Ukraine is. The US hasn't waged a war of conquest IIRC since Hawaii, it's always been foreign meddling instead but never out-right imposition of rule and they've gotten less and less bad at how they're doing it over time. I mean compare the Iraqi or Afghani government during occupation with the likes of Batista.

                  Then, and this (as well as that Marvel reference I couldn't give less of a fuck) makes me think you're American: It's the first war by a major power in Europe since WWII. We thought we had that shit behind us, that Yugoslavia was a regrettable exceptions caused by small-minded autocrats exploiting ethnic tensions for their own benefit. But, nope, actual full-scale war has come back to Europe because unlike the rest of Europe Russia hasn't gotten the memo that imperialism is soooo 18hundreds. As a yank you wouldn't understand.

                  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
                    hexbear
                    13
                    edit-2
                    10 months ago

                    Iraq wasn't a war of conquest.

                    Please, for god's sake log off before you strain something.

                    less and less bad at how they're doing it over time.

                    This is actually disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself. The Americans murdered a million Iraqis, and in the last few years at least 400,000 Yemenis, plus god knows who else and in what numbers.

                  • MoreAmphibians [none/use name]
                    hexbear
                    5
                    10 months ago

                    It's the first war by a major power in Europe since WWII.

                    Are you a child, an american, or did you only start paying attention to history in February 2022?

                    1. The Troubles (UK vs occupied Ireland)
                    2. Cyprus War of Independence(UK vs occupied Cyprus)
                    3. Bombing of Yugoslavia (Nato vs Yugoslavia)
                    4. Russo-Georgian War (Russia vs Georgia)
                  • Ram_The_Manparts [he/him]
                    hexbear
                    5
                    10 months ago

                    Ah yes, the US murdering millions of people in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Afghanistan, Iraq and so on was just "foreign meddling".

                    You are fucking disgusting.

              • Ram_The_Manparts [he/him]
                hexbear
                6
                10 months ago

                Germanic tribes, and this continues over to Ukraine culturally (because Rus), had the battle cry "better dead than slave". A village would fight down to the last woman, elderly, and child.

                So when are you going to Ukraine to sign up for the frontline?

                You're definitely gonna do that right?

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  1
                  edit-2
                  10 months ago

                  I'll have to inform you that I'm a conscious objector (spent my time in catastrophe relief) and by now too old.

                  But yes there's plenty of German reservists in Ukraine. Also what does that have to do with anything I said, I was glossing Ukrainian sentiment. Did you merely wanted to be right on the internet (in your own mind).

                  • trompete [he/him]
                    hexbear
                    4
                    10 months ago

                    How is this an excuse? The Germanic tribes of Ukraine used to fight down to the last elderly person I hear.

          • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
            hexbear
            34
            10 months ago

            Ukraine has lost. They are not getting their separatist regions back.

            Their choices are to keep fighting, which will not change this outcome, or negotiate an end to the war so they can stop dying and start rebuilding. Their negotiating position will only weaken as the war continues absent some one-in-a-million stroke of luck.

            This isn't "I kick you and you don't defend yourself." It's "I kick you, you defend yourself, lose, and choose to either walk away or keep getting beaten up." And that's not even digging into the actual causes of the war, which are nowhere near as clear cut as Russia one day waking up and deciding to attack out of the blue.

            • @barsoap@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              2
              10 months ago

              Ukraine has lost. They are not getting their separatist regions back.

              [citation needed].

              In any case Ukrainians disagree with you and keep on fighting. Heck even if Russia occupied all of Ukraine they'd keep on fighting. It's not in your hands whether they fight or not, and their motive is just, so why not help them? Because you're a defeatist? Come on.

              • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
                hexbear
                23
                10 months ago

                In any case Ukrainians disagree with you and keep on fighting

                Yeah, that's why they've been kidnapping people to the front lines, because the Ukranian people want to fight so much. That's why they conscripted prison inmates and forbid any man undder 60 from leaving when the war broke out, right. Because of all that popular will to fight.

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  1
                  10 months ago

                  There's been plenty of court cases and firings over improperly handled conscriptions. Prison inmates IIRC weren't conscripted but given a choice. Plenty of Ukrainians -- also men -- returned from other European countries to fight, left countries where they had a free welfare ride and working permits. Plenty of women fight in the army. It surely must be terrible over there /s.

                  Meanwhile Russia is force-conscripting pretty much any man they can get their hands on and sending them, without equipment, into meat grinders. Have a look at Storm Z units.

                  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
                    hexbear
                    8
                    10 months ago

                    improperly handled conscriptions.

                    Technically they fired every conscription officer in the country for bribery so I'm not sure that really supports your case.

              • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
                hexbear
                19
                10 months ago

                "They want to keep doing something you think is futile and causing senseless deaths, so why not help them?"

                fidel-wut

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  1
                  10 months ago

                  You know what would be even more senseless than dying in a trench? Dying in an FSB torture cellar while your family gets raped.

              • InappropriateEmote [comrade/them, undecided]
                hexbear
                8
                10 months ago

                Ukraine has lost. They are not getting their separatist regions back.

                [citation needed].

                Points at the utter failure of the joke of a counteroffensive to even breach Russia's first line of defense after months of hype about retaking Crimea

                In any case Ukrainians disagree with you and keep on fighting.

                You mean the ones forced to fight because they were kidnapped off the street and will be shot if they try to leave? Or the fascists that are in charge?

                Heck even if Russia occupied all of Ukraine they'd keep on fighting.

                Part of the reason why Russia does not want to occupy all of Ukraine.

                It's not in your hands whether they fight or not,

                Nor yours, but it is in the hands of NATO leadership who have stymied peace negotiations at every opportunity.

                and their motive is just

                [citation needed]

                so why not help them?

                Why would we want to help people get forced into a meat grinder?

              • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
                hexbear
                15
                10 months ago

                Disgusting is cheerleading who knows how many more deaths that if anything will only weaken Ukraine's bargaining position.

          • notceps [he/him]
            hexbear
            29
            10 months ago

            Minsk I a treaty they've signed that was about greater autonomy for the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts like them being allowed to speak russian a treaty that was very quickly broken.

            Minsk II a treaty that did the same thing which again was broken.

            and these are the off ramps before the war during the war you had the peace talks when the russian army was outside of Kiev whose content is dubious because so far only the russians said what it was about

            and more importantly every peace talk after that Ukraines position was a restoration of the 2014 borders aka they want Crimea back which sorry is just not reasonable, hell for a lot of those peace talks russia wasn't even invited it was a bunch of countries like Germany, UK and Ukraine but not you know the country currently participating in this war.

            This is one of those bits where I say that a country isn't about some piece of land but the people in it which guess what the ukrainian government is feeding into gigantic blender.

            I DON'T CARE ABOUT SOME IMAGINARY LINES.

            If Cuba decided to 'restore its borders' aka if it attacked the US base on Guantanamo Bay and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of Cubans throwing them against the US army blender I would call for the Cuban people to rise up against its government because it doesn't care about its people and I hope you would too, if Mexico decided to take back California I'd have that same stance. It's called being anti-war, something I'm sure you'll now quote how "actually your stance isn't anti-war my which calls for sending billions of military equipment is actually anti-war"

            My guess is that you don't know what war is like or have never interacted with anyone that had to flee a war, you really have two options here you can go outside and talk to any ukrainian woman that fled because of the war, tell them to their face that they are giving in to the aggressor when they say how angry they are at the ukrainian government because they don't know where their husband or their two brothers are. You know what I'll make it easier for you find any person in real life that has had to flee a conflict and how they feel about 'giving in to the aggressor'. Or if you feel you don't need to do that go join up the ukranian army do your part to fight the aggressor I mean it's only war right, you've seen some TikToks with war footage and some phonk music accompaning it, war is absolutely poggers I'm sure you'd have a blast fighting some russian orks.

            • @barsoap@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              6
              10 months ago

              Minsk I a treaty they’ve signed that was about greater autonomy for the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts like them being allowed to speak russian a treaty that was very quickly broken.

              Minsk II a treaty that did the same thing which again was broken.

              ...broken by the separatists. Also Russian was never outlawed.

              Ukraines position was a restoration of the 2014 borders aka they want Crimea back which sorry is just not reasonable,

              It's unreasonable to not give in to a conqueror? It's that "Pacifism is when I kick you and you don't defend yourself" thing, again.

              I DON’T CARE ABOUT SOME IMAGINARY LINES.

              You may not. The people living in those areas (fled or not) do, though. They do care whether there's rule of law, whether they have a say in how things are run, whether there's a criminal installed at the top of things by the occupying force. After Ukraine got its independence many Tatars returned to Crimea that should tell you something.

              Ukrainians, no matter the ethnicity, don't want to be ruled by Moscow. It's as simple as that. Before the war, some still had hopes that good relations with Moscow are possible, but not any more. Do you want to be ruled by Moscow? See neighbours disappear in torture cellars?

              • notceps [he/him]
                hexbear
                24
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                damn I was so sure this ukrainian woman I was talking to really wanted the war to end but she must not be a true blooded ukrainian women amiright? Again you are just some edgy person that doesn't get out enough and you channel that into playing up how much of a big powerful person you are by yelling "WAR WAR WAR NO ME WANT BLOOD WAR NOW BOMBS MINES BLOOD SKULLS WAR" it is good to see though that you will not go outside so there's that you don't seem like a pleasant person to be around.

                Also this isn't a creative exercise you aren't supposed to just make up lies lol

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  5
                  10 months ago

                  Everyone wants the war to end. By the way of Russia losing it because Russia being allowed to win means even more war in the future: Peace on the agressor's terms is not peace, and thus cannot be the goal of any pacifist.

          • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
            hexbear
            25
            10 months ago

            If the Kiev coup regime was concerned about aggression, they could have simply not done eight years of ethnic cleansing in the Donbas and ignored a ceasefire🤷‍♂️

            • @barsoap@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              7
              10 months ago

              Are there any OSCE election monitor results you want to back up your "coup regieme" claim?

              Also, the breakaway Russian puppet states were the ones to break the ceasefires.

          • ThomasMuentzner [he/him, comrade/them]
            hexbear
            19
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            the first 2 , they just involved West Ukraine giving in towards accepting 30 % of your citizens to have Human and Democratic rights as well .. (please read up on Minsk 1 & 2 )

            • @barsoap@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              4
              10 months ago

              Ah, the old myth about the poor disenfranchised Russian minority. Who, pray tell, might have an interest in propagating such narratives? A neighbouring belligerent empire, perhaps?

              • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
                hexbear
                19
                10 months ago

                Ah, the old myth about the perfidious, untrustworthy minority with dual loyalties who are surely plotting with The Enemy. Who, pray tell, might have an interest in propagating such narratives?

                • @barsoap@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  2
                  10 months ago

                  Certainly not the vast, vast, majority of Ukrainians. Even among the Ukrainian far-right that's a tiny minority.

                  • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
                    hexbear
                    8
                    edit-2
                    10 months ago

                    A tiny minority with military and political power who have been attempting genocide in the Donbas for eight years, yes.

          • Frank [he/him, he/him]
            hexbear
            8
            10 months ago

            How many of those involve not giving in to the aggressor?

            How can it be hammered in to your skull that this is not a story book where good guys win by virtue of their righteousness?

            This is geopolitics. An empire wants to conquer an outlying resource rich region it has not been able to bring under it's control. It has provoked a small outlying nation to act as a proxy to weaken it's enemy. Ukraine isn't making decisions. They're just ammunition in someone else's war and the best thing for them would be to mutiny against Kiev and end the slaughter. Status quo antebellum is not on the menu.

      • UnicodeHamSic [he/him]
        hexbear
        39
        10 months ago

        We don't. However America is worse. So it is nice to neoliberal infighting. Bonus, America losing is better overall for world peace.

      • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
        hexbear
        34
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        What part of that comment can be construed as pro-Russia?

          • YuccaMan [he/him]
            hexbear
            31
            10 months ago

            That's not what he meant and you know it. He's making light of an obvious double standard regarding the standing in which we hold two sources with obvious national biases.

            • Frank [he/him, he/him]
              hexbear
              9
              10 months ago

              They might not know it. There hasn't been a lot of particularly complex analysis here and they very well might be operating on the level of "bad news bad, good news good".

              Honestly, why are we even wasting time here?

      • tuga [he/him]
        hexbear
        34
        10 months ago

        Why do posters from Hexbear defend Russia so much?

        You're an idiot

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]
        hexbear
        13
        10 months ago

        Because you have the reading comprehension of a grade schooler and are apparently incapable of handling such complexities as "Just because they're winning doesn't mean we support them" and "everybody in this conflict is an asshole except the non-Nazis soldiers being slaughtered so defense contractors can put in new pools in Arlington".

        This isn't some law of attraction thing. Admitting that Ukraine is at best stalemated isn't going to cause them to magically lose.

        • @redtea@lemmygrad.ml
          cake
          hexbear
          7
          10 months ago

          There's a lot of layers to this. Among them the problem that yanks and other westerners with an exceptionalist world outlook have been convinced that only the good guys win, and that to win means to be the good guy no matter how abhorrent they are. So to accept that Russia is winning or, at least, that Ukraine can't win, means accepting that Russia is in fact the good guy. Which is clearly nonsense, but then neither you nor I are making the claim.