Being Russia and Russian now

[FrozenBit]

I sometimes wonder what this war is really saying about the turmoil going on right now, when both sides will receive physical and human defeats. But the information that I've learned so much about protesting or supporting, and how it's manipulated, makes me see more and more issues of selfishness in the name of community bringing peace. I'm not going to discuss who's right or wrong, but it's clear that what we're seeing in terms of political and economic developments across different regions shows the truth that maybe they're lying, I I don't want to point out who the liar is just to let people feel the truth for themselves.

[be.open]

Why the economic war against Russia has failed

The West embarked on its sanctions war with an exaggerated sense of its own influence around the world. As we have discovered, non-western countries lack the will to impose sanctions on either Russia or on Russian oligarchs. The results of the miscalculation are there for all to see. In April last year, the IMF forecast that the Russian economy would contract by 8.5 per cent in 2022 and by a further 2.3 per cent this year. As it turned out, GDP fell by just 2.1 per cent last year, and this year the IMF is forecasting a small rise of 0.7 per cent. And that is all in spite of the war in Ukraine going much more badly than many imagined it would in February of last year. The Russian economy has not been destroyed; it has merely been reconfigured, reorientated to look eastwards and southwards rather than westwards.

Highlighted by me.

Well, congratulations, you found one article, out of a million others, where someone expressed an opinion that amuses you
but the reality is different, don’t overread this article!

Here are just the titles of the articles:
- “Friendly” countries refuse to open accounts for Russian banks
Russian banks face problems when trying to open accounts in “friendly” countries in order to establish trade bypassing the dollar, euro and other world currencies. To agree on the opening of correspondent accounts in order to conduct transactions in national currencies, “it does not always work out,” said Alexei Guznov, deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, speaking at a legal forum in Moscow.

- Russian cosmonauts were left without spacesuits
Russia is no longer a SPACE power, but a COMIC
The whole world has already laughed about the second army of the world

- G7 countries agree on partial trade embargo against Russia
The G7 countries are close to agreeing to introduce a partial trade embargo against Russia, which will tighten the sanctions regime against some particularly sensitive categories of goods. This is reported by Reuters with reference to diplomats familiar with the preparations for the G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 19-21.

- "It's scary to fly at random." Airlines massively hide the technical problems of aircraft
The Proekt publication, citing employees of Aeroflot and Nordwind, reported a systemic deterioration in aircraft maintenance after the imposition of sanctions.
From the spring of 2022, airlines require personnel not to enter technical defects in the flight logs (TLB) and aircraft often fly out of order. Senior flight attendants of Aeroflot were forbidden to write down problems with equipment without the consent of the aircraft commander.

....and such news every day, every hour, every minute
And most importantly - you will not be able to refute any of them! And it remains for you to just rejoice and dance near some one, probably even a custom article

Well, can you refute this article, because it is also based on facts? It seems not, and you are not even going to do it, it is easier for you to reject the article in its entirety and say that it is custom-made. This is a reliable sign that you are politically engaged and are in a bubble of pro-Western propaganda.

You can list "facts" as much as you like that there are some difficulties in Russia. Of course they are. Such a huge and complex economy cannot simply be turned from west to south and east at the snap of a finger without some difficulties and overlaps. But the main thing has already happened - instead of falling apart and begging the West for mercy, the Russian economy has withstood the sanctions strike and is even showing growth. Try to disprove this fact.

[Smartprofit]

I'm sitting in a cafe now (I decided to have a bite) - I listened to what kind of music was playing, and this is "Farewell of the Slavyanka" .... And before that there was some kind of military march.  

And people come to this cafe just to eat.  What worries me more is not the presence or absence of Russian spacesuits for spacewalks, but the gradual addiction of Russians to war.  War is an unnatural state for a social society.  

The cult of power and war can bring great troubles in the future.  I really do not know how much it is possible to reformat social society in this direction, but the desire to reformat on the part of certain forces is very great ....

Now a melody is playing in the cafe - "The division went forward along the valleys and hills in order to take Primorye, the stronghold of the White Army, in battle."

This is clearly not the kind of music I want to hear in a cafe.

[Sithara007]

Well, can you refute this article, because it is also based on facts? It seems not, and you are not even going to do it, it is easier for you to reject the article in its entirety and say that it is custom-made. This is a reliable sign that you are politically engaged and are in a bubble of pro-Western propaganda.

You can list "facts" as much as you like that there are some difficulties in Russia. Of course they are. Such a huge and complex economy cannot simply be turned from west to south and east at the snap of a finger without some difficulties and overlaps. But the main thing has already happened - instead of falling apart and begging the West for mercy, the Russian economy has withstood the sanctions strike and is even showing growth. Try to disprove this fact.  

Both the sides seems to have overestimated their own capabilities. Russia, at least initially thought that they will be able to conquer all of Ukraine with just 120,000 to 160,000 soldiers (when Ukraine have close to 2 million soldiers including reserves). Western nations also thought that the Russian economy will collapse in a few months and all the world nations would join them in embargoing Russia. Both cases didn't happened. Even within Europe, Turkey refused to join the sanctions against Russia and has emerged as one of the top importers of Russian hydrocarbons. 

[be.open]

Well, can you refute this article, because it is also based on facts? It seems not, and you are not even going to do it, it is easier for you to reject the article in its entirety and say that it is custom-made. This is a reliable sign that you are politically engaged and are in a bubble of pro-Western propaganda.

You can list "facts" as much as you like that there are some difficulties in Russia. Of course they are. Such a huge and complex economy cannot simply be turned from west to south and east at the snap of a finger without some difficulties and overlaps. But the main thing has already happened - instead of falling apart and begging the West for mercy, the Russian economy has withstood the sanctions strike and is even showing growth. Try to disprove this fact.  

Both the sides seems to have overestimated their own capabilities. Russia, at least initially thought that they will be able to conquer all of Ukraine with just 120,000 to 160,000 soldiers (when Ukraine have close to 2 million soldiers including reserves). Western nations also thought that the Russian economy will collapse in a few months and all the world nations would join them in embargoing Russia. Both cases didn't happened. Even within Europe, Turkey refused to join the sanctions against Russia and has emerged as one of the top importers of Russian hydrocarbons. 

Perhaps you are right. In my opinion, the US and UK economies are doing worse than expected, while the economies of Europe and Russia are doing better than expected. In the sense that a year ago the economic outlook for the US and the UK looked brighter, while the economic outlook for the EU and Russia looked bleaker.

[Sithara007]

Perhaps you are right. In my opinion, the US and UK economies are doing worse than expected, while the economies of Europe and Russia are doing better than expected. In the sense that a year ago the economic outlook for the US and the UK looked brighter, while the economic outlook for the EU and Russia looked bleaker.

US economy will be back on track if Trump wins POTUS election in 2024. That is not the case with the United Kingdom. They are digging their own grave by elongating this war. US is one of the countries benefitting from the war (as a result of increased demand for LNG and weapons), but the UK is a net importer of fuel. On top of that, they are spending huge amounts of money to prop up Ukraine. Americans can easily send $10 billion or $12 billion of military aid per month to Ukraine, but if the UK tries to do the same, then their economy will collapse.

[Smartprofit]

Perhaps you are right. In my opinion, the US and UK economies are doing worse than expected, while the economies of Europe and Russia are doing better than expected. In the sense that a year ago the economic outlook for the US and the UK looked brighter, while the economic outlook for the EU and Russia looked bleaker.

US economy will be back on track if Trump wins POTUS election in 2024. That is not the case with the United Kingdom. They are digging their own grave by elongating this war. US is one of the countries benefitting from the war (as a result of increased demand for LNG and weapons), but the UK is a net importer of fuel. On top of that, they are spending huge amounts of money to prop up Ukraine. Americans can easily send $10 billion or $12 billion of military aid per month to Ukraine, but if the UK tries to do the same, then their economy will collapse.

In my opinion, it will be very difficult for Donald Trump to win the US presidential election (in 2024). 

Donald Trump is a very scandalous and eccentric person.  At the same time, apart from Donald Trump, the Republicans have no other worthy candidates for the post of President of the United States.  In my opinion, Joe Biden will easily defeat Donald Trump in the 2024 election. 

As for the UK, I agree with your assessment that its economic position is more vulnerable than that of the US. 

However, supplying weapons to another country and independently conducting military operations are completely different actions.  Great Britain is not involved in the war and hostilities are not being conducted on its territory. 

Great Britain is the financial center of the world, its economy, in my opinion, is not critically dependent on the supply of hydrocarbons.

[Argoo]

You can list "facts" as much as you like that there are some difficulties in Russia. Of course they are. Such a huge and complex economy cannot simply be turned from west to south and east at the snap of a finger without some difficulties and overlaps. But the main thing has already happened - instead of falling apart and begging the West for mercy, the Russian economy has withstood the sanctions strike and is even showing growth. Try to disprove this fact.

Yes, the main thing has already happened. If at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin demanded that NATO collect its belongings and get out to the positions of 1997, now we are arguing that Russia is not giving up now and with great difficulty withstands the sanctions strike. Moreover, Russia is now fighting with only one Ukrainian army, but with financial, material and military assistance from other countries.

On the territory of Ukraine, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, today a Russian group of about 370 thousand people, 20 thousand national guards and about 7 thousand various paramilitary formations are involved. That is, although the number of invaders even increased compared to the approximately 200,000-strong invasion group, the quality of manpower and equipment has already seriously fallen. The potential for offensive operations of the Russian army is absolutely exhausted, now they have a serious potential only for defense. Yes, and that is temporary. There was information that the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Shoigu was ordered to retreat from Bakhmut by 30 kilometers in order not to advance, but to defend himself. For about a year, Russia has been trying to capture a small town in the Donbass, and the “second army of the world”, having put the most professional part of its army there, is now forced to retreat.

[DrBeer]

You can list "facts" as much as you like that there are some difficulties in Russia. Of course they are. Such a huge and complex economy cannot simply be turned from west to south and east at the snap of a finger without some difficulties and overlaps. But the main thing has already happened - instead of falling apart and begging the West for mercy, the Russian economy has withstood the sanctions strike and is even showing growth. Try to disprove this fact.

Yes, the main thing has already happened. If at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin demanded that NATO collect its belongings and get out to the positions of 1997, now we are arguing that Russia is not giving up now and with great difficulty withstands the sanctions strike. Moreover, Russia is now fighting with only one Ukrainian army, but with financial, material and military assistance from other countries.

On the territory of Ukraine, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, today a Russian group of about 370 thousand people, 20 thousand national guards and about 7 thousand various paramilitary formations are involved. That is, although the number of invaders even increased compared to the approximately 200,000-strong invasion group, the quality of manpower and equipment has already seriously fallen. The potential for offensive operations of the Russian army is absolutely exhausted, now they have a serious potential only for defense. Yes, and that is temporary. There was information that the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Shoigu was ordered to retreat from Bakhmut by 30 kilometers in order not to advance, but to defend himself. For about a year, Russia has been trying to capture a small town in the Donbass, and the “second army of the world”, having put the most professional part of its army there, is now forced to retreat.

The Russian army, as well as any actions of Russia, are extremely idiotic. Now I will explain what I mean.

I constantly communicate with our guys from the Armed Forces of Ukraine on various issues. So the new wave of offensive that Russia "invented" and launched this year came down to two key concepts:
1. We do not care how many of our citizens (Russians) will die, but the tasks must be completed.
2. We don’t know how to fight, our second army of the world is a fake, so we just bombard everything around with shells, demolish everything to the ground level, we will call it “liberation”.

So they do. You can see, for example, a photo of the city of Marinka, after the "liberation" ...

For every square meter of land, they have several of their dead soldiers or criminals from the Wagner PMC. And for understanding - this town has been "liberated" by the "second army of the world" for 10 months already.

Actually, now the army of the terrorist country has 2 problems, as a result of two idiotic decisions:
1. Huge loss of manpower and equipment. HUGE! Officially, more than 200.00 killed servicemen of the Russian army have already been confirmed. Thousands more, if not tens of thousands, are lying around the fields and forests, Russia does not take them away. About 50,000 more killed mercenaries-criminals of PMC Wagner ... There is nothing to attack, mobilization in Russia failed miserably ... There are less and less idiots to go to die for Putin's painful fantasies. Well, the picture turns out: there is nothing to attack, it is necessary to go on the defensive. And here is the second problem.
2.  After the total destruction of settlements in Ukraine, the army of terrorists ... did not leave rear areas and areas for themselves to form a reliable defense. There is simply nowhere to gain a foothold and hide - EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED by their own hands!
And now Ukraine is beginning to smoothly, systematically, clearly simply destroy the manpower and equipment of the demoralized army of the terrorist country, pursuing and destroying them.

PS. If you have someone decided to go to serve for the "Russian world", and went to Ukraine - tell them to immediately surrender. For those crimes that terrorists from Russia committed in Ukraine, they will not be taken prisoner in battle ... I don’t explain the details, I think you yourself understand what awaits the occupiers in Ukraine ...

[Argoo]

Citizens of the Russian Federation, accustomed to watching the war only in propaganda programs on federal channels, finally have a unique opportunity to feel themselves in the place of the Ukrainians, whose murders they so fiercely supported all these years.

Thanks to a large-scale raid by Russian volunteers fighting against the regime of dictator Vladimir Putin, residents of the Belgorod region can now witness with their own eyes such a breathtaking sight as tanks entering settlements, helicopters loitering in the sky and massive artillery shelling of strategic targets.

On May 22, 2023, it became known that the Legion "Freedom of Russia" and the "Russian Volunteer Corps" entered the territory of the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. The Russians turned to their compatriots with calls to overthrow the Kremlin regime for the sake of the "future of Russia." They report the release of several settlements on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Now, the Freedom of Russia legion has reported that the fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps allegedly completely liberated Kozinka in the Belgorod Region. Advance detachments allegedly entered the settlement of Grayvoron. Pictures of the movement of tanks and armored vehicles towards Belgorod, as well as the flags of the "Belgorod People's Republic" are published on the Web. Everything is about the same as Russia once arranged in the Donbass. Only now the situation is boomeranging back to Russia itself. We will see how events unfold further.

But Ukraine has nothing to do with it. Citizens of Russia themselves conduct a special operation on the territory of the Russian Federation. As previously stated in Russia about the Donbass, "We are not there."

[BADecker]

^^^ It's too bad that Russian citizens ignorantly think that they are working for their own good by fighting for the US/Nato that way. Sure, it looks good on the outside. But all they need to do is look at crime and demoralization in US places like Chicago, Los Angeles, some of New York, and especially San Francisco, to see that the tail of the banking system is finally catching up with the body. If they succeed in their doings, they will be bringing catastrophe on themselves, or their descendants. The world banking system is a Ponzi and a lie.


"There's Poop Everywhere": San Francisco's Office District Not Only A Ghost Town, It's Also Covered In Sh*t


https://www.zerohedge.com/political/theres-poop-everywhere-san-franciscos-office-district-not-only-ghost-town-its-also
Everyone knows that San Francisco is the nation's largest public toilet - requiring the city to employ six-figure 'poop patrol' cleanup team, however a new report from the city Controller's Office really puts things in poo-spective.

For starters, feces were found far more often in commercial sectors, covering "approximately 50% of street segments in Key Commercial Areas and 30% in the Citywide survey," second only to broken glass as can be seen in the 'illegal dumping' section.

If you're wondering about the city's fecal methodology, look no further than a footnote on page 43;

Feces also includes bags filled with feces that are not inside trash receptacles. Feces that are spread or smeared on the street, sidewalk, or other objects along the evaluation route are counted. Stains that appear to be related to feces but have been cleaned are not counted. Bird droppings are excluded.

As far as where most of the poo is found, Nob Hill takes the top spot, followed by the Tenderloin and The Mission districts.

"It's terrible; this street is covered," Tenderloin resident Joe Souza told The San Francisco Standard earlier this month. "There's poop everywhere. You always see it along the wall and in front of the garage there."

Meanwhile, nearly 2/3 of key commercial routes reported moderate to severe street litter, vs. 41% of the citywide streets struggling with the same problem.
...

[paxmao]

Sanctions really mean cutting commercial relations, so the effect is maximised if you  can achieve a strong asymmetrical response. Sanctions against the RF cannot produce such an immediate effect as they would against another more developed country - I will explain: The RF's economy is strongly based on exports of commodities, it is a BRICS country with a bit of extra industrialisation - old and inefficient, but...

There in an interesting video on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9w17Ne1S0M

The average citizen of the RF does not exist. There is an abyss between the elites in Moscow and St Petersburg and the shitty periphery and dominated republics. Empires do fall, but not in a year. 

[collinscoinz]

I will not totally agree that the war did not affect Russians negatively. But I will believe that this invasion have both affected the economy of Russia positively and negatively. Russians are now buying locally made products which is a good thing to the Russian economy. Local industries now have less competition from foreign product which will make them make profit and increase employment opportunities. Russians have been forced to negotiate trade using the Russian Ruble which help to reduce their overreliance on the US dollars. The negative implication is that there are lesser foreign direct investment, limited product substitute, unemployment and reduced transfer of technology.

But I will also accept that the US and NATO underestimated the Russian economy. They thought their multiple sanctions will cripple the invader's economy, but they were surprise that their predictions failed. It is clear that Russia have prepared for this war and the resultant sanctions. The economy seems to be sanction proof.The RF's economy is strongly based on exports of commodities, it is a BRICS country with a bit of extra industrialisation - old and inefficient, but...

There in an interesting video on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9w17Ne1S0M

 The average citizen of the RF does not exist. There is an abyss between the elites in Moscow and St Petersburg and the shitty periphery and dominated republics. Empires do fall, but not in a year. you're wondering about the city's fecal methodology, look no further than a footnote on page 43;

Feces also includes bags filled with feces that are not inside trash receptacles. Feces that are spread or smeared on the street, sidewalk, or other objects along the evaluation route are counted. Stains that appear to be related to feces but have been cleaned are not counted. Bird droppings are

[BADecker]

Sanctions really mean cutting commercial relations, so the effect is maximised if you  can achieve a strong asymmetrical response. Sanctions against the RF cannot produce such an immediate effect as they would against another more developed country - I will explain: The RF's economy is strongly based on exports of commodities, it is a BRICS country with a bit of extra industrialisation - old and inefficient, but...

There in an interesting video on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9w17Ne1S0M

The average citizen of the RF does not exist. There is an abyss between the elites in Moscow and St Petersburg and the shitty periphery and dominated republics. Empires do fall, but not in a year. 

Who wants Russia? Everybody. But they know they are not strong enough to take her away from the Russians. China wants Russia. India wants Russia. Some nations in Africa want Russia. Some nations in the Middle East want Russia. The US and Nato want Russia. Since they are not strong enough to forcefully take her away from the Russians, how will they do it?

The US and Nato are trying to take Russia militarily and through sanctions. But if they did, that would leave nothing for China and the rest of the nations... and these other nations know it. So, what are the rest of the nations doing? They are going around the sanctions.

The world elite need help. Take an elite person, and stick him in the desert without food and water. What happens? He dies, just like anybody else. The elite need their citizens. And to remain elite, they need to constantly con their citizens into believing all kinds of lies, so that their citizens keep on supporting them.

When the citizens wake up to the lies of their elite leaders, there are revolutions, and the elite die at the hands of their citizens. Look at history around the world to see this.

The elite have a tricky game to play. They need to lie to their citizens to get wealth, but they need to be careful with their lies so it won't backfire on them.

The other nations of the world are going around the US/Nato sanctions. The sanctions are backfiring on the US/Nato. If the US/Nato isn't careful, they will make enemies out of the rest of the world. As the Mongols did under the leadership of Genghis Khan, they will rise up out of China and go all the way this time... wiping even the West off the face of the earth.

[darkangel11]

But I will also accept that the US and NATO underestimated the Russian economy. They thought their multiple sanctions will cripple the invader's economy, but they were surprise that their predictions failed. It is clear that Russia have prepared for this war and the resultant sanctions. The economy seems to be sanction proof.The RF's economy is strongly based on exports of commodities, it is a BRICS country with a bit of extra industrialisation - old and inefficient, but...

The sanctions did their job, but it will take time for the poor population to feel it. If you live in the rural area with your cows, goats and chickens, bake your own bread, have fresh eggs and milk every day and drive a 20 year old Lada, you won't feel a thing.

Analysis of Russia’s 2023 public budget suggests that relative to 2022, there will be a 50% increase in spending on ‘security’ (including not just military activity but also prisons and the prosecutor’s office), a 9% reduction in spending on health, a 2% reduction in education spending, a 24% reduction in infrastructure spending and a 19% fall in industrial spending. All of this is in the context of a sharply increasing budget deficit. The higher public budget share of GDP and, within it, of spending on security, squeezes private consumption.
https://www.economicsobservatory.com/what-is-the-current-state-of-the-russian-economy-under-sanctions

They can feel it, but still have reserves they can rely on. Putin expected this which is why they were buying gold, but they are using these reserves, which means they're losing a lot of money with each month of this war and it's going to take at least a decade to rebuild lost army and a whole century to do the same with reputation.

There's no way for Russia to lose this (get invaded or destroyed) and there's no way for Russia to take over Ukraine and annex it, so this will have to end in a draw one day.