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@@VladVexlerChat Russia is a busted flush…….the US and the Europeans are killing its economy….and China is stood by smiling and waiting to pick at the carcass.
Vlad. What do you think of Stephen Kotkin's examples of, and concept of "winning the peace." (Noting that at this time he's favoring that more for Ukraine than it's possibility of winning anything, yet he's in NO WAY favorable to the Russian side).
I saw a video today of a firefighter in Kharkiv sitting in the smoking rubble of a shelled house, next to a covered body of a woman, her feet sticking out. His team had been called to the scene, and it was his house. His 37 year old wife was lying there. His 10 year old son hospitalized with burn injuries. We need to be better, do better.
@@itsallminor6133the entire country is a warzone, and Karkhiv is a decent distance from the frontline. How are you gonna move, who can you sell your house to? Imagine blaming civilians victims of an invasion for their own death instead of their killers, because the civilian did not immediately flee their country. Idiotic take.
Which is only an issue because Putin makes it one. Zelenskyy is also short, but he's completely unselfconscious about it. Zelenskyy is the more honest man.
In the mid 90's I made a friend who had fought in the Red Army during WWII. He'd lived a lifetime before we ever even met. He was actually born in Pristina, Serbia (now Kosovo) to Russian parents. Sergey. God rest his soul. Adored his wife. Loved birds. I was still in the Army at the time, working the Yugoslav meltdown. Anyway, I once asked him, what was it like, caught between Stalin on one side, Hitler on the other? The soldiers were largely uneducated, but they were not fools. They knew both sides were led by mass murderers, and their individual survival meant less than nothing. Killed if they fought, killed if they ran. Sergey told me back then the soldiers had a saying: (I think it summed up their wry fatalism perfectly) "Наше зло лучше."
@@jonaseggen2230 he was the closest thing to an actual "good" dictator if we wanna say it like this. which I cannot find any other example in the modern era (starting 1900). some illuminated kings or emperors of the past were similar, but hard to say. Anyway.
My bet is that many of these promised payments to Russian troops never materialise ... either because the troops die in combat before payment is made, or because the payment gets later denied on some 'small print' contractual pretext or other, or because they are simply told lies. Or else they discover that they have to buy some of their own equipment, the cost of which wipes out or even exceeds the original signing-on payment. To put this more simply, the Russian state is built on lies from top to bottom.
You will easily lose your bet. Don't confuse Russia with Ukraine or your own country. There is a lot of money in Russia now. In Russia, state payments, and in general, state authorities and centres for issuing state documents have long been working very clearly and efficiently. Payments to participants of the SMO are under the control of the governor of each region, any rare roughnesses are instantly corrected, technical delays in payments to any individual rarely, but happen, which is immediately brought to the public sphere and taken under additional control of the central state bodies. It is a banal interest of the state to keep the participants and their families happy and to provide good publicity for new volunteers.
@@MikeMike-cc4jk Russia is one of the most corrupt nations in the world. It's a gangster-state, with an economy that is barely the size of that of Italy. If you actually believe what you've written, then good luck to you.
Why does Russian history always repeat in this way? It's like the Tsar's troops in WWI going into battle without guns, with drumming to imitate the sound of machine guns
@@michigandersea3485 в 1916 году русские с барабанной дробью вместо артиллерии прорвали фронт противника и прошли 100 км, в то время как британцам и французам с их промышленной мощью это удалось только в 1918 году.
Okay. Putin is tremendously shy about his shortness, taking pains to surround himself with people of the same height and use other visual tricks to minimize his shortness, showing a deep insecurity, overcompensated by delusions of grandeur and acts of unnecessary aggression. Zelenskyy, in contrast, is completely at ease with his short body. He makes no effort to disguise his shortness whatsoever. What's real is real; he offers no illusions, no deceit, he just presents himself as he is. Accordingly, he doesn't want an empire, just his own country, and he defends his country, not acting aggressively against others. Now, which one is more likely to be truthful in negotiations?
You gotta take care of the muscles in your back and it can help with soreness which can caused by weak muscles. Look up back and shoulder exercises you can do with no equipment.
Even Russian military bloggers admit that the problem with people is very noticeable, especially after almost a year of endless assault actions and a catastrophic repeat march on Kharkov in May. Now the only question is whether ordinary Russians are so desperate that they will grab handouts despite the fact that they will hardly be able to spend them, or whether Putin will announce a new mobilization, which will have unpredictable consequences for him.
"Surely the Russians will revolt and not just obey the Tsar's orders" - People throughout history. He is for some reason scared to call another mobilisation even though the Russian sheep will obey to everything.
@@user-uf6dg9kb4bPutin is afraid to call a new mobilisation because the last one led to hundreds of thousands fleeing and the public perception of war and levels of stress worsening drastically, so much that they had to call it off much earlier than planned, and you have no idea wtf you are even talking about
@@user-uf6dg9kb4b it's not like unwinnable wars and discontent caused the fall of the Russian state twice in the 20th century or anything. Right? I am against the war tok but Russians aren't stupid just like any other group of humans. Don't dehumanise the enemy. We don't wanna end up in a Weimar Russia situation.
From the conversations I had with pro-russia or pro-russia inclined people the most common feedback you get from them is "we don't know the whole truth", which just takes us back to what you said a million times about russian propaganda and denial of any truth entirely
Yes, or maybe not? Do you expect they will admit they are fine with invading neighbour country and killing people, destroying cities? I bet on this, they know how it works, they just don't want to look like fascist to anyone, so they play "I dunno anything" role.
@@user-nl6zv6hz6xbig oil that lost a lot of assets in Russia. They needed to know they could develop oil fields and not be undermined by cheap Russian oil.
@@JoeWedgwood-ik9zo I think one of the weirdest things to come out of the Russo-Ukrainian war is this idea that anyone who lives in an authoritarian country deserves to be oppressed. People may not express it in those words but that's essentially what they mean. As someone who was fortunate enough to be born in an affluent and democratic country, I feel uncomfortable condescending to people who weren't as lucky.
Would there any be Left Alive to complain about who would seem at that point all you're worried about is who is getting the benefits it's like trading your life for someone to have a better one in a country where I don't know if better exists
@@seneca983 You underestimate the psychology of a man in uniform to slave away for nothing. Outside of Western Style democracies, soldiery is an intoxicant for men who wouldn’t have anything else to do with their lives.
@@dionysian222 I disagree. There's clearly a reason why they have had to raise the incentives to enlist so high. If they defaulted on the promised payments, rumors would quickly spread and recruitment would suffer a lot. (Defaulting *after* the war has ended is possible, though.)
All Putin is doing is casting a brighter, fancier lure into the water. Same dumb 'fish' will bite, just more of 'em this time. In practice the Russian MoD is finding ever more ways to avoid paying these bonuses and perks.
Till french revolutionary's wars, all soldiers were hired or they volunteered to defend their land. Those who attacked had to hire people. Back to an age where soldiering was a career.
:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) The title of your video made me smile - is the first time in a very long time! Of course putin is short of men, but what made me laugh is the correlation, him being a short man. Thanks, and much love, from Lisbon.
Something occurred to me while listening. It is often said that the war in Afghanistan created a lot of unrest in society, contributing to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Perhaps the same social dynamic is not at play in Russia nowadays because people choose to go, motivated by money. They're not just drafted and forced to go. So from societal dynamics point of view, this might just be inherently more sustainable for the regime than the war in Afghanistan was? Another factor contributing to why the Russian population largely supports the war, is my impression at least, is a sentiment that if Russia would withdraw now all the losses would have all been for nothing. A deadly sunk-cost fallacy that locks in a part of the population into the war regardless of how they regard the Putin regime, or ultra-nationalist ideology.
In other words doubling down as your hand gets worse and worse. Seems a signature of someone unable to understand or play the game they are in. And a recipe for systemic failure which is the hallmark of the various chapters of the Muscovy empire's disintegrations. Dis-integrate is an interesting term in the context of a poorly run and led empire with very poor social and economic development.
Freezing the front temporarily can be exploited for mobilisation - more men will be willing to join when the danger looks diminished but incentives stay in place.
Ricky is hoping that Bobby signs up to die for the extra cash because he knows their government will come back for both of them pointing guns if neither takes the offer. Squid game war economics.
13:53 - Gambling also that #1, you survive intact enough to collect the full payout, if thats how that works. And #2 the Russian government declines to honor the contract by manufacturing an excuse to prevent paying. Such examples would be declaring a solider missing, therefore no payment can be made until status is confirmed (which it never is) and/or falsely stating that the solider did not follow orders voiding his contract disqualifying him from payment.
Nah. Show me a standing army where soldiers (and sailors and airmen) don’t sign contracts. Cash recruiting bonuses and signing bonuses aren’t common practice afaik, but they don’t turn an army into a mercenary army. Nor are the recruited soldiers freelancers. Russia’s recruitment tactics are extreme and are symptoms of its difficulties, but it doesn’t make its military mercenary as we understand the term.
In a city w. population of ~ 1M the casualty rate is about 200 per month which, for awhile, wouldn't be noticeable but then you'd start to hear about people you know, more and more often.
I think the doubling of the recruitment bonus is an economic indicator. I think the value of the ruble is set to drop drastically (as the recent economic paper, written by eight European finance ministers, has asserted). I think the Kremlin knows this. So, they double the bonus in the interim, with the plan to delay those payments until the drop in value, that they KNOW is coming, hits. Then they're ultimately paying the same amount (in the real world) but can drive recruitment until it happens. As far as your defeatist conclusions as to what is on the cards for Ukraine, I can't join you there, compadre. I'm sure you're right, because you're smarter than I am - but one russian on Ukrainian land is one russian too many, and I think russia can still make mistakes large enough to cost them everything. Unlikely, but possible, and worth fighting for. Two cents, and worth exactly that. Hope you're feeling better, Vlad. Take care.
Russian soldiers are often paid but generals keep the money. If you go home for a holiday sure they want you to look okay but most don't get a holiday. Injured personal are kept at the front returned without treatment no point in paying for medical treatment and it'd look bad. It's possible to fool a lot of people until it isn't.
@user-nl6zv6hz6x ...yet. First of all: "inflation isn't 200% yet" is a hilarious thing to say. Thank you. Secondly: I'm suggesting that the Kremlin knows something is coming that the population of russia does not know is coming. Meaning - in the future. Not yet. They've either decided that an untrained warm body is suddenly worth 2x to the Kremlin (which is bad news for the state of the war) or that the ruble will be worth 50% less in the near future (which is bad news for the state of the economy). Take your pick.
From a forecasting strategical standpoint, 2022 border seems to be the baseline. You can't let it ends in a scenario where Putin's "SMO" ends up with any measurable territory gain for them. Such precedent can't be made.
Earlier I feel you reflected on the war with a strong knowledge about Russia and Russian attitudes - I found this interesting and valuable. Please go back to that.
Tiny little putin Tiny little man Super massive ego Made an evil plan Tiny little conscience Tiny little prick Tiny little friendships Tiny little clique Tiny little stature On a shrinking world stage Using lies and hatred From a bygone age Tiny little putin Gone too far Tiny little ruler Would be Czar Tiny little putin Tiny little name Met his match and ended, Ended with Ukraine. 🇺🇦🇬🇧💛💙
Imagine you're fighting in useless war, seeing your buddies cripple and die, officers scamming and scheming, you've been on the front line for far too long and still receive less than new recruits. Must be quite demoralizing.
The numbers you quoted assumes the Russian government pays them out. 1. They may not pay these recruitment bonuses up front, waiting for people to be KIA and writing them off as a "no show". 2. When soldiers get killed or injured, they may not write them down as injured or killed. The Russian Army is already sending people with untreated wounds back to the front. If the soldier gets killed, at best they only pay out for the soldier being KIA, not for the wounds.
That's a wrong understanding of Russian bureaucracy or how Russian state works overall (or any state, for that matter). They do pay these bonuses up front, but it might not reach the recipients because of corruption and every link in the payment chain trying to get as big a slice of it as possible. Russian state absolutely hemorrhages money while every person in a position of power tries to scam it. Just a reminder, during Holocaust people paid money to smuggle things and persons in and out of death camps. A country wide conspiracy doesn't and cannot exist. If it did, purely from a logistical point, it would be so effective that by now Russia would have the biggest economy, army, and most advanced science in history.
Some of the very elevated sign up bonuses of late have been connected to payment in instalments scheme. The total amount would only be paid after a year of service. To me this appears to be a scam, few would live for so long and many would probably not even see the first instalment. Another trick seems to be to connect payments to various administrative details which the are falsified, like never actually registering the soldier in the war zone (“sorry, in our papers your husband is assigned to a mortar training unit outside Moscow”).
@@hmmm2564 you're the fool that assumes that Russian state doesn't pay out for its recruits. Reality is the opposite. This is the highest possible number of recruits, and number of recruits is likely lower.
Sometimes people actually get paid, in the same way that sometimes slot machines actually make someone playing them instantly rich. You have to do it often enough to sucker the rest. It's a loss-leader. (I'm saying this as someone whose tribe has profited well by using casinos to make paying reparations fun.)
I really don’t think that Ricky and Bobby will look at it that way, I believe that one of the first questions may be when will I get this payment. In my opinion the payment will be paid in retrospect and when in a trench in Ukraine the neitherRicky nor Bobby will be in a position to do anything about it. In the end I think the incentive is great but will not materialise and families will be left without their male supporters and rewards promised.
Hi Vlad, thanks for your analysis and example of the two families. I have a small addition. Three weeks ago I got my hair cut in Helsinki (I'm from Denmark), the wife (who clearly owned the place) was from Ukraine and the man who cut me from Russia. When the conversation finally got around to talking about the war (it was my first visit there) their conclusion was that both places were run by a crazy man. This point of view I could feel was something I should not interfere with. I got a nice haircut and left the place with a smile, but also a wonder that the two who had lived together for almost 15 years had come to that conclusion. It was easier to see it that way without digging deeper into the wound, it was like a way of dealing with it. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the perspective. I have long wondered how Russians can accept this crazy war. You pose a believable picture of why village people could involve themselves in this.
It's what happens when you try to fight wars the same way previous governments did. The Red Army conducted its business by throwing bodies at problems, without regard to casualties and I would offer that that had long term effects on the Russian nation. The Russian Federation is NOT the Warsaw Pact. The supply of men is not endless.
Military historians here talked about a lack of institutional knowledge. The Red Army of 1944 is an entirely different quality than the Red Army of 1920. The Red Army of the immediate post-war decade was probably at it's height.
As I've said before, economics will ultimately have more effect on Russia's ability to continue with this war than military considerations. The way that Russia's economy is now set up is unsustainable, especially given Western sanctions, the slow draining of Russia's financial reserves (due to war spending and loss of government revenue), and the effect on Russia's population and general economy (high inflation, rising taxation, reduced social and civilian infrastructure spending etc).
Some caveats to the Bonuses. There is lots of info out there that Russian soldiers often have to spend a lot of this sign up bonuses for buying there own equipment or better equipment then what is given to them, plus even food and water. Some complain that they even purchased vehicles, fuel and ammunition by pooling money. And another thing with all this payments might be that masses of soldiers are not classified as dead or wounded but as missing. If you are missing, your family gets nothing.
And vlad, they aren't talking about the kremlin like it's a colonizer. They're talking about it like it's their feudal leadership and they are the peasant levies. This is how people thought about where they lived before nationalism. 'It's just a place with some rules that I follow'.
Time is not on Putin's side. I doubt he'll be in the Kremlin in 5 years. Whether his MoD becomes his successor depends on economics. And that's looking grim.
Given historical precedent, the current economic situation for Russia, combined with Putin’s age, the collapsing demographics and the dilapidated Russia infrastructure, and the destructive forces of the war plus sanctions and positive feedback loops paired with accumulative effects make it increasingly unlikely that the Russian Federation will win the war or survive this decade as a unified state.
I mean replace the word Russia with Ukraine in that sentence and you wouldnt be wrong also. We dont know whats going on or whats gonna happen. I dont think stuff like that helps.
So they are increasing the sign in bonus by alot. While on the other hand increasing interest rates due to inflation, making it harder for business to take loans. So in short: people get more money = higher consum demand Business gets less money to produce and expand + sanctions = lower consumer goods production Somehow i feel like this wont last many years
I like the half-motorized Europe. Owning a car in Europe was not guaranteed. There was civilian trucks and cars. This is a problem in Hearts of Iron. You can add motorized components but fuel for them needs to appear.
In other news, the first few F-16 jets are confirmed to have now arrived in Ukraine. How they are used will depend a lot on which missiles Biden has permitted them to be supplied with. If it's the very longest range missiles then this will have a big impact on Russia's ability to launch glide bombs into Ukraine (which they do a lot), as Russian planes could potentially be hit deep into Russian air-space, far beyond the distance to the Ukrainian border from which glide bombs can be launched.
Here’s the thing about the long range missiles. They are long range when launched at high altitude. There is less air resistance and a longer glide path to target. If the F-16 take the time to reach the ideal altitude, they are much more likely to get shot down. If they don’t go for altitude, their missiles won’t have the range to hit the Russian bombers staying in Russian airspace. So currently, these missiles wouldn’t be of much use. The most obvious use now, with a limited number of planes and pilots, is as enablers for other sorts of attacks. HARM munitions can be used to suppress and degrade local Russian air defense, which could enable more Stormshadow and HIMARS to reach their targets. (And I imagine many of those targets will be the air defense systems themselves.) And when they begin to use the F-16 in this manner (or for any operations at all), there’s a pretty good chance that Ukraine won’t announce it. Why should they?
I have been following your chat channel for about 1 year now but could never comment due to a technical issue. I take this opportunity to thank you for your amazing work. You have a great talent to put complexe things in short messages! I'd love to hear you on the follwing point: what is sport (miss)used for now and when Putin came to Power.
But isn’t it this way? Compensation for casualties are paid when the bodies are recovered but we see a lot of videos of bodies left on the front so this way they don’t have to pay for the families.
Dear Vlad, Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf. The interesting question regarding Putin's ability to maintain troop levels, is two fold; a ) How long can the government continue to fund troops at these levels, b ) How long can the government rely on "The Regions" for troop replacements without "Politicizing" those same regions? Since 2023 6% - 9% of total Russian GDP is being spent on the war with Ukraine. How long Putin and the Oligarchs can maintain this level of spending is dependent simply on the price of Oil. Should the Per Barrel price of Oil on the markets drop to some value half or more than its current valuation, this would change Putin's long term strategy on the war drastically. Currently he can afford to pay the prices for both troops and for materials, because he has turned Russia into a Banana State, this solves his problems now, but he is mortgaging future Russians economic lives. For Putin, the Politicization problem is more worrying. He can NOT acquire troops from the Educated Elite young elite, many of them have left Russia already ( a difficult brain drain problem for the long term ), so troops must come from less urban, less educated, less "Russian" regions. As the payouts become greater and the death tolls stay the same or higher, at some point his recruitment numbers are going to flatten or diminish.
Interesting thought about sign on bonuses. Why didn’t the rest of the world come up with the idea of paying the death benefit early? All these years we have had life insurance for our military if they die. Now with the money up front they can spend it before they die in Ukraine.
It’s not anything new. What seems to be new is the “extravagance” of the bonuses, and what is troubling (for the Kremlin) is that they’ve needed to increase the bonuses to this level, despite the poverty of their recruitment pool.
Thanks Vlad, World War 2 had its setbacks also but ultimately liberal democracy prevailed over dictatorship. Right now Pudin is looking a bit shakey, hopefully there is a latter day Batitsky lurking around the corridors of the Kremlin that might bring things to a quicker conclusion. Otherwise its the long haul.
Regarding the algorithm bias, I would not agree. Duran, Col. Douglas, Mearsheimer, WIlly oam etc are more prominent in my feed than Pro-Ukraine channels are. Even those channels that could be seen as "Pro Ukraine" are gloomy and realistic ones. The only "super optimistic" Pro-Ukraine (obviously unrealistic) channel I'm seeing is Times Radio and to some extent Silicon Curtain and Konstantin's channel.
@@daviddelgado6090 @daviddelgado6090 do you have common sense? They started with 150 k soldiers in Ukraine. Now they have have over 500k according to Ukraine.
The Ricky / Bobby village scenario could have equally played out in mediaeval times, warlords drumming up meatwave material ... Drone replaces crossbow or axe, plus ca change ...
As a Finn have been suprised why there are no more Ukrainian troops in the front. 1939 Finland mustered 500 000 men to front with population of 3,5 million and 1941 we had even 600 000 men on the front. Currently Finnish army is so organized that we have 900 000 reserve with population of 5,5 million. Ukraina could easily get 3-5 million men to frontline with population of 40 million.
@@user-nl6zv6hz6x as an Finnish army reserve officer I counted months how much it would take to train 2 million men. Figured out that this would have been September 2022. September came and went and nothing happened. Conscription of all people age 18 to 40 and to the frontline if you don't have a good reason and females have children, would be the answer.
Vladislav Wechsler is talking about the Law of Lemon Markets: If you are unable or not allowed to judge what you get for your money, you are only willing to pay a very small price (somewhere close to zero). Respectively, you don't know or can't know which risks and tasks await you in an offered job, which wage do you expect in return, to play safe?
The risky business part broke my heart but actually it is true! You can see it even for other forms of broken social interaction in different countries, like accepting money for voting for a party. At the end, the problem is the social communication and lack for attempt for development of the society.
I'm wondering if these payments are actually being made. We k ow there's an issue with corruption with highers ups taking their subordinates' pay. We have also heard reports on failures to payout casualty checks.
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@@VladVexlerChat Russia is a busted flush…….the US and the Europeans are killing its economy….and China is stood by smiling and waiting to pick at the carcass.
Fewer and fewer people are accepting rubles as payment. Now if Putin were to try paying euros or dollars, he might get more hires.
Vlad. What do you think of Stephen Kotkin's examples of, and concept of "winning the peace." (Noting that at this time he's favoring that more for Ukraine than it's possibility of winning anything, yet he's in NO WAY favorable to the Russian side).
Vlad, what do you think of Stephen Kotkin's concept of "winning the peace". Somehow YT's AI deletes my comment if I expand on this.
@@ferrariguy8278 I admire Kotkin very much! Highly recommend always. And generally sympathetic to his views.
I saw a video today of a firefighter in Kharkiv sitting in the smoking rubble of a shelled house, next to a covered body of a woman, her feet sticking out. His team had been called to the scene, and it was his house. His 37 year old wife was lying there. His 10 year old son hospitalized with burn injuries.
We need to be better, do better.
🙏🏻☮️
If your remain in a war zone......
Horrendous. Heartbreaking.
@@itsallminor6133...in a war with an invader targeting civilians
@@itsallminor6133the entire country is a warzone, and Karkhiv is a decent distance from the frontline.
How are you gonna move, who can you sell your house to?
Imagine blaming civilians victims of an invasion for their own death instead of their killers, because the civilian did not immediately flee their country.
Idiotic take.
Finally Vlad taking off the gloves and going after Putin’s height
Which is only an issue because Putin makes it one. Zelenskyy is also short, but he's completely unselfconscious about it. Zelenskyy is the more honest man.
@@DoloresJNurss Zelensky looks as if he can lift you one handed and has charisma... putin has the charisma of an 3 day old dead fish.
Putin is short. Putin is short of men . Putin is short of cash. Putin is short of time!!!
But he still kill a lot of men, women and children.
Very short.
@@_c_y_p_3 Putin is 5’ 7”
[obvious crude joke here] 😅
@@stevebull7105basically a dwarf
In the mid 90's I made a friend who had fought in the Red Army during WWII. He'd lived a lifetime before we ever even met. He was actually born in Pristina, Serbia (now Kosovo) to Russian parents. Sergey. God rest his soul. Adored his wife. Loved birds. I was still in the Army at the time, working the Yugoslav meltdown.
Anyway, I once asked him, what was it like, caught between Stalin on one side, Hitler on the other? The soldiers were largely uneducated, but they were not fools. They knew both sides were led by mass murderers, and their individual survival meant less than nothing. Killed if they fought, killed if they ran. Sergey told me back then the soldiers had a saying: (I think it summed up their wry fatalism perfectly) "Наше зло лучше."
"Our evil is better"
😢
I think Tito was not like this. thats why stoolin tried to kill him many times.
@@drgetwrekt869 Tito is probably the most liked and least hated dictator ever
@@jonaseggen2230 he was the closest thing to an actual "good" dictator if we wanna say it like this. which I cannot find any other example in the modern era (starting 1900). some illuminated kings or emperors of the past were similar, but hard to say. Anyway.
My bet is that many of these promised payments to Russian troops never materialise ... either because the troops die in combat before payment is made, or because the payment gets later denied on some 'small print' contractual pretext or other, or because they are simply told lies. Or else they discover that they have to buy some of their own equipment, the cost of which wipes out or even exceeds the original signing-on payment. To put this more simply, the Russian state is built on lies from top to bottom.
You will easily lose your bet. Don't confuse Russia with Ukraine or your own country. There is a lot of money in Russia now. In Russia, state payments, and in general, state authorities and centres for issuing state documents have long been working very clearly and efficiently. Payments to participants of the SMO are under the control of the governor of each region, any rare roughnesses are instantly corrected, technical delays in payments to any individual rarely, but happen, which is immediately brought to the public sphere and taken under additional control of the central state bodies. It is a banal interest of the state to keep the participants and their families happy and to provide good publicity for new volunteers.
@@MikeMike-cc4jk Russia is one of the most corrupt nations in the world. It's a gangster-state, with an economy that is barely the size of that of Italy. If you actually believe what you've written, then good luck to you.
@@MikeMike-cc4jk
Thank God for people like yourself who
are still in touch with reality, who under-
stand what's really going on.
They leave their dead in Ukraine so their family cannot claim death benefits. What I don't understand is how Russians still trust the Kremlin.
@MikeMike-cc4jk it wouldn't be the first nor last time that Russian oligarchs lied to the Russian people.
From what I understand, they don't pay anything because they are expecting to get KILLED , CRAZY 😮😮😮
this
Why does Russian history always repeat in this way? It's like the Tsar's troops in WWI going into battle without guns, with drumming to imitate the sound of machine guns
@@michigandersea3485 в 1916 году русские с барабанной дробью вместо артиллерии прорвали фронт противника и прошли 100 км, в то время как британцам и французам с их промышленной мощью это удалось только в 1918 году.
“Putin is a short man - let’s discuss”
Leprechauns from 🇮🇪 Look Down on the midget putin 😉
Putin is 5ft7, not short but definitely not tall.
"That's a big country you're president of, sure you're not compensating for anything?"
Putin is a sort of man - let's discuss
Okay. Putin is tremendously shy about his shortness, taking pains to surround himself with people of the same height and use other visual tricks to minimize his shortness, showing a deep insecurity, overcompensated by delusions of grandeur and acts of unnecessary aggression.
Zelenskyy, in contrast, is completely at ease with his short body. He makes no effort to disguise his shortness whatsoever. What's real is real; he offers no illusions, no deceit, he just presents himself as he is. Accordingly, he doesn't want an empire, just his own country, and he defends his country, not acting aggressively against others.
Now, which one is more likely to be truthful in negotiations?
Always good to listen to you Vlad. From Australia 🇦🇺
"Extend the kitchen a little bit"
The older I get, the less i need, and want
(OK more backrubs)
Ty Vlad
You gotta take care of the muscles in your back and it can help with soreness which can caused by weak muscles. Look up back and shoulder exercises you can do with no equipment.
@@Broken_robot1986 ty ! I have been , just living in a motel room, w no floor space. I have chirp wheels and a yoga mat
Thanks for the encouragement!
@@Broken_robot1986 If possible, yes, exercise that back!
Even Russian military bloggers admit that the problem with people is very noticeable, especially after almost a year of endless assault actions and a catastrophic repeat march on Kharkov in May. Now the only question is whether ordinary Russians are so desperate that they will grab handouts despite the fact that they will hardly be able to spend them, or whether Putin will announce a new mobilization, which will have unpredictable consequences for him.
"Surely the Russians will revolt and not just obey the Tsar's orders" - People throughout history. He is for some reason scared to call another mobilisation even though the Russian sheep will obey to everything.
@@user-uf6dg9kb4bPutin is afraid to call a new mobilisation because the last one led to hundreds of thousands fleeing and the public perception of war and levels of stress worsening drastically, so much that they had to call it off much earlier than planned, and you have no idea wtf you are even talking about
@@user-uf6dg9kb4b it's not like unwinnable wars and discontent caused the fall of the Russian state twice in the 20th century or anything. Right?
I am against the war tok but Russians aren't stupid just like any other group of humans. Don't dehumanise the enemy.
We don't wanna end up in a Weimar Russia situation.
From the conversations I had with pro-russia or pro-russia inclined people the most common feedback you get from them is "we don't know the whole truth", which just takes us back to what you said a million times about russian propaganda and denial of any truth entirely
Yes, or maybe not? Do you expect they will admit they are fine with invading neighbour country and killing people, destroying cities? I bet on this, they know how it works, they just don't want to look like fascist to anyone, so they play "I dunno anything" role.
Who blew up the Nord Streams?
@@user-nl6zv6hz6xbig oil that lost a lot of assets in Russia. They needed to know they could develop oil fields and not be undermined by cheap Russian oil.
Lol like the USA
Lol like the USA
What a depressing reality for the Russian people…
Many are enjoying his one man vengeance show. When you think you're special, and you collapse ignomineously, there's a lot of anger to tap into.
Oh no, you just showed empathy to Russians! Prepare yourself for the obligatory comments explaining why that's actually wrong.
They made the bed they're lying in now.
@@InsidiousJazz yeah it’s more pity than empathy tbh.
@@JoeWedgwood-ik9zo I think one of the weirdest things to come out of the Russo-Ukrainian war is this idea that anyone who lives in an authoritarian country deserves to be oppressed. People may not express it in those words but that's essentially what they mean. As someone who was fortunate enough to be born in an affluent and democratic country, I feel uncomfortable condescending to people who weren't as lucky.
thank you for posting Janis kluges thread. I would never have found it
Thank you for listening reading and thinking!
I certainly wouldn't find it. I opted out of the Twitter cesspool long ago.
The discontent among the soldiers who didn't get the high signing fees, must be very high.
I’m pretty sure they don’t discuss their bonuses because they signed NDAs. 😂 lol, jk obvs
Even if they got them, the value of the ruble must be distressing.
Not many of those remaining now to be discontent, maybe their close relatives, but if their menfolk are listed as MIA, they will get zip.
Would there any be Left Alive to complain about who would seem at that point all you're worried about is who is getting the benefits it's like trading your life for someone to have a better one in a country where I don't know if better exists
Great insight Vlad - this is pretty much like the recruitment of mercenary troops in the Middle Ages - wow!
I doubt Russia is paying out even a single rusty kopek of the promised signing bonuses…….
I don't think they can afford not to while the war still rages.
@@seneca983 You underestimate the psychology of a man in uniform to slave away for nothing. Outside of Western Style democracies, soldiery is an intoxicant for men who wouldn’t have anything else to do with their lives.
@@dionysian222 I disagree. There's clearly a reason why they have had to raise the incentives to enlist so high. If they defaulted on the promised payments, rumors would quickly spread and recruitment would suffer a lot. (Defaulting *after* the war has ended is possible, though.)
All Putin is doing is casting a brighter, fancier lure into the water. Same dumb 'fish' will bite, just more of 'em this time. In practice the Russian MoD is finding ever more ways to avoid paying these bonuses and perks.
War is a racket. As well as occasionally an expression of a damaged, fascisizing and imperialistic empire.
Till french revolutionary's wars, all soldiers were hired or they volunteered to defend their land. Those who attacked had to hire people. Back to an age where soldiering was a career.
No war is politics by other means.
@@jackhakkenA racket by other means
Survival is a racket. Defending yourself is a racket. You should just lie down and let others have their way with you. Complaining only prolongs it.
@@jackhakken Mao, is that you?
:))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
The title of your video made me smile - is the first time in a very long time!
Of course putin is short of men, but what made me laugh is the correlation, him being a short man.
Thanks, and much love, from Lisbon.
I assumed it was a typo "Putin is short among men."
@@AstroGremlinAmerican Hey, Astro. Long time no see.
Nice to catch-up with you.
Something occurred to me while listening.
It is often said that the war in Afghanistan created a lot of unrest in society, contributing to the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Perhaps the same social dynamic is not at play in Russia nowadays because people choose to go, motivated by money. They're not just drafted and forced to go. So from societal dynamics point of view, this might just be inherently more sustainable for the regime than the war in Afghanistan was?
Another factor contributing to why the Russian population largely supports the war, is my impression at least, is a sentiment that if Russia would withdraw now all the losses would have all been for nothing. A deadly sunk-cost fallacy that locks in a part of the population into the war regardless of how they regard the Putin regime, or ultra-nationalist ideology.
If they’re motivated by sunk-cost fallacy, they’re going to be deeply disappointed when this is finally over.
In other words doubling down as your hand gets worse and worse. Seems a signature of someone unable to understand or play the game they are in.
And a recipe for systemic failure which is the hallmark of the various chapters of the Muscovy empire's disintegrations.
Dis-integrate is an interesting term in the context of a poorly run and led empire with very poor social and economic development.
Freezing the front temporarily can be exploited for mobilisation - more men will be willing to join when the danger looks diminished but incentives stay in place.
Ricky is hoping that Bobby signs up to die for the extra cash because he knows their government will come back for both of them pointing guns if neither takes the offer. Squid game war economics.
13:53 - Gambling also that #1, you survive intact enough to collect the full payout, if thats how that works. And #2 the Russian government declines to honor the contract by manufacturing an excuse to prevent paying. Such examples would be declaring a solider missing, therefore no payment can be made until status is confirmed (which it never is) and/or falsely stating that the solider did not follow orders voiding his contract disqualifying him from payment.
prejudice prophylaxis would be a good band name
Yeah, but they could only sell XXL T-shirts; to fit the name on them.😂
I wouldnt be to sure that these soldiers famelys really get that money in the end
The second half of this video was brilliant and jaw dropping
So basically the Russian army has now become a full mercenary army?
Nah. Show me a standing army where soldiers (and sailors and airmen) don’t sign contracts. Cash recruiting bonuses and signing bonuses aren’t common practice afaik, but they don’t turn an army into a mercenary army. Nor are the recruited soldiers freelancers.
Russia’s recruitment tactics are extreme and are symptoms of its difficulties, but it doesn’t make its military mercenary as we understand the term.
Mercenaries are professional soldiers that would be like calling an apprentice plumber a skilled and experienced plumber
Russian imperialists: now more expensive than American imperialists!
In a city w. population of ~ 1M the casualty rate is about 200 per month which, for awhile, wouldn't be noticeable but then you'd start to hear about people you know, more and more often.
I think the doubling of the recruitment bonus is an economic indicator. I think the value of the ruble is set to drop drastically (as the recent economic paper, written by eight European finance ministers, has asserted). I think the Kremlin knows this. So, they double the bonus in the interim, with the plan to delay those payments until the drop in value, that they KNOW is coming, hits. Then they're ultimately paying the same amount (in the real world) but can drive recruitment until it happens.
As far as your defeatist conclusions as to what is on the cards for Ukraine, I can't join you there, compadre. I'm sure you're right, because you're smarter than I am - but one russian on Ukrainian land is one russian too many, and I think russia can still make mistakes large enough to cost them everything. Unlikely, but possible, and worth fighting for. Two cents, and worth exactly that.
Hope you're feeling better, Vlad. Take care.
Russian soldiers are often paid but generals keep the money. If you go home for a holiday sure they want you to look okay but most don't get a holiday. Injured personal are kept at the front returned without treatment no point in paying for medical treatment and it'd look bad. It's possible to fool a lot of people until it isn't.
Rubles could go the way of Confederate money.
"I think the value of the ruble is set to drop drastically".The inflation rate is not even close to x2 compared to the bonus increase.
@user-nl6zv6hz6x ...yet.
First of all: "inflation isn't 200% yet" is a hilarious thing to say. Thank you.
Secondly: I'm suggesting that the Kremlin knows something is coming that the population of russia does not know is coming. Meaning - in the future. Not yet.
They've either decided that an untrained warm body is suddenly worth 2x to the Kremlin (which is bad news for the state of the war) or that the ruble will be worth 50% less in the near future (which is bad news for the state of the economy).
Take your pick.
They're in control of the economy. What foreseen but unavoidable future event do you have in mind? This sounds like village thinking from the video.
From a forecasting strategical standpoint, 2022 border seems to be the baseline. You can't let it ends in a scenario where Putin's "SMO" ends up with any measurable territory gain for them. Such precedent can't be made.
You seem to be against Fascism?
Thanks for more pithy and trenchant insights, Vlad. Always glad to develop a new synapse or two. cheers from Canada
Earlier I feel you reflected on the war with a strong knowledge about Russia and Russian attitudes - I found this interesting and valuable. Please go back to that.
How do You make an informed decision when there is no valid information. Gambling your life, health and family for a fistful of Rubles ?
Tiny little putin
Tiny little man
Super massive ego
Made an evil plan
Tiny little conscience
Tiny little prick
Tiny little friendships
Tiny little clique
Tiny little stature
On a shrinking world stage
Using lies and hatred
From a bygone age
Tiny little putin
Gone too far
Tiny little ruler
Would be Czar
Tiny little putin
Tiny little name
Met his match and ended,
Ended with Ukraine.
🇺🇦🇬🇧💛💙
Doesn't matter doubling the signing on bonus if they never actually get paid😅
If I singed on before it got doubled I would be pissed.
It is the same as with the grape workers in the Bible. They have no moral base to be pissed.
Imagine you're fighting in useless war, seeing your buddies cripple and die, officers scamming and scheming, you've been on the front line for far too long and still receive less than new recruits. Must be quite demoralizing.
The numbers you quoted assumes the Russian government pays them out.
1. They may not pay these recruitment bonuses up front, waiting for people to be KIA and writing them off as a "no show".
2. When soldiers get killed or injured, they may not write them down as injured or killed. The Russian Army is already sending people with untreated wounds back to the front. If the soldier gets killed, at best they only pay out for the soldier being KIA, not for the wounds.
That's a wrong understanding of Russian bureaucracy or how Russian state works overall (or any state, for that matter).
They do pay these bonuses up front, but it might not reach the recipients because of corruption and every link in the payment chain trying to get as big a slice of it as possible. Russian state absolutely hemorrhages money while every person in a position of power tries to scam it. Just a reminder, during Holocaust people paid money to smuggle things and persons in and out of death camps. A country wide conspiracy doesn't and cannot exist. If it did, purely from a logistical point, it would be so effective that by now Russia would have the biggest economy, army, and most advanced science in history.
Some of the very elevated sign up bonuses of late have been connected to payment in instalments scheme. The total amount would only be paid after a year of service. To me this appears to be a scam, few would live for so long and many would probably not even see the first instalment.
Another trick seems to be to connect payments to various administrative details which the are falsified, like never actually registering the soldier in the war zone (“sorry, in our papers your husband is assigned to a mortar training unit outside Moscow”).
@@jaazz90stop with your foolishness
@@hmmm2564 you're the fool that assumes that Russian state doesn't pay out for its recruits. Reality is the opposite. This is the highest possible number of recruits, and number of recruits is likely lower.
@@jaazz90 foolishness 🤣🤣🤣🤣
It's very bold to assume that they actually pay people, in my opinion.
Sometimes people actually get paid, in the same way that sometimes slot machines actually make someone playing them instantly rich. You have to do it often enough to sucker the rest. It's a loss-leader.
(I'm saying this as someone whose tribe has profited well by using casinos to make paying reparations fun.)
I remember a video of widows getting furs that we taken back.
I really don’t think that Ricky and Bobby will look at it that way, I believe that one of the first questions may be when will I get this payment. In my opinion the payment will be paid in retrospect and when in a trench in Ukraine the neitherRicky nor Bobby will be in a position to do anything about it. In the end I think the incentive is great but will not materialise and families will be left without their male supporters and rewards promised.
Hi Vlad, thanks for your analysis and example of the two families. I have a small addition. Three weeks ago I got my hair cut in Helsinki (I'm from Denmark), the wife (who clearly owned the place) was from Ukraine and the man who cut me from Russia. When the conversation finally got around to talking about the war (it was my first visit there) their conclusion was that both places were run by a crazy man. This point of view I could feel was something I should not interfere with. I got a nice haircut and left the place with a smile, but also a wonder that the two who had lived together for almost 15 years had come to that conclusion. It was easier to see it that way without digging deeper into the wound, it was like a way of dealing with it. Thank you for sharing.
@@M2008tw that's wild!
Thank you, Vlad. I hope you are managing ok. Love and hugs to you
Part of me doubts russia will pay everything they've promised
Evidence given by surviving Russian prisoners of war tells us you are right!
Thank you for the perspective. I have long wondered how Russians can accept this crazy war. You pose a believable picture of why village people could involve themselves in this.
Slurp all you want man- that's kinda your sign-on signature anyway!😄
Bit never go full Zlawoi Sizek
@@ballenboy * SNIFF !
I thought he said slap 👋
It's what happens when you try to fight wars the same way previous governments did. The Red Army conducted its business by throwing bodies at problems, without regard to casualties and I would offer that that had long term effects on the Russian nation. The Russian Federation is NOT the Warsaw Pact. The supply of men is not endless.
Military historians here talked about a lack of institutional knowledge. The Red Army of 1944 is an entirely different quality than the Red Army of 1920. The Red Army of the immediate post-war decade was probably at it's height.
As I've said before, economics will ultimately have more effect on Russia's ability to continue with this war than military considerations. The way that Russia's economy is now set up is unsustainable, especially given Western sanctions, the slow draining of Russia's financial reserves (due to war spending and loss of government revenue), and the effect on Russia's population and general economy (high inflation, rising taxation, reduced social and civilian infrastructure spending etc).
Its funny when you try to set a value to Rubles since they are not internationally traded and are worth nothing at all
Some caveats to the Bonuses. There is lots of info out there that Russian soldiers often have to spend a lot of this sign up bonuses for buying there own equipment or better equipment then what is given to them, plus even food and water. Some complain that they even purchased vehicles, fuel and ammunition by pooling money. And another thing with all this payments might be that masses of soldiers are not classified as dead or wounded but as missing. If you are missing, your family gets nothing.
I love all your conversations about all these things.
putin is short...of stature, brains, time, friends.
And vlad, they aren't talking about the kremlin like it's a colonizer. They're talking about it like it's their feudal leadership and they are the peasant levies. This is how people thought about where they lived before nationalism. 'It's just a place with some rules that I follow'.
“I am algorithmically incentivised to tell you things are bad for Russia. Be careful what you read on the internet.” God bless you Vlad
Time is not on Putin's side. I doubt he'll be in the Kremlin in 5 years. Whether his MoD becomes his successor depends on economics. And that's looking grim.
Unless americas Sullivan gets his traitorous finger out and allows Ukraine to strike inside Russia,Ukraine may not be here in 5 years.
Given historical precedent, the current economic situation for Russia, combined with Putin’s age, the collapsing demographics and the dilapidated Russia infrastructure, and the destructive forces of the war plus sanctions and positive feedback loops paired with accumulative effects make it increasingly unlikely that the Russian Federation will win the war or survive this decade as a unified state.
I mean replace the word Russia with Ukraine in that sentence and you wouldnt be wrong also. We dont know whats going on or whats gonna happen. I dont think stuff like that helps.
So they are increasing the sign in bonus by alot. While on the other hand increasing interest rates due to inflation, making it harder for business to take loans.
So in short:
people get more money = higher consum demand
Business gets less money to produce and expand + sanctions = lower consumer goods production
Somehow i feel like this wont last many years
This reminds me of "Patton" where he's talking about the Germans using carts because they were running out of fuel.
I like the half-motorized Europe. Owning a car in Europe was not guaranteed. There was civilian trucks and cars.
This is a problem in Hearts of Iron. You can add motorized components but fuel for them needs to appear.
Thank you. Always good to hear your calm and rational thoughts on these matters.
oh, the pleasure of hearing you say 'mentallist'
In other news, the first few F-16 jets are confirmed to have now arrived in Ukraine. How they are used will depend a lot on which missiles Biden has permitted them to be supplied with. If it's the very longest range missiles then this will have a big impact on Russia's ability to launch glide bombs into Ukraine (which they do a lot), as Russian planes could potentially be hit deep into Russian air-space, far beyond the distance to the Ukrainian border from which glide bombs can be launched.
Here’s the thing about the long range missiles. They are long range when launched at high altitude. There is less air resistance and a longer glide path to target. If the F-16 take the time to reach the ideal altitude, they are much more likely to get shot down. If they don’t go for altitude, their missiles won’t have the range to hit the Russian bombers staying in Russian airspace.
So currently, these missiles wouldn’t be of much use.
The most obvious use now, with a limited number of planes and pilots, is as enablers for other sorts of attacks. HARM munitions can be used to suppress and degrade local Russian air defense, which could enable more Stormshadow and HIMARS to reach their targets. (And I imagine many of those targets will be the air defense systems themselves.)
And when they begin to use the F-16 in this manner (or for any operations at all), there’s a pretty good chance that Ukraine won’t announce it. Why should they?
@@MarcosElMalo2I assumed they would not see field use right away. Like previous systems, there will be a training period.
The press gang is surely next.
"...and then things got worse." Russian history in a phrase.
I have been following your chat channel for about 1 year now but could never comment due to a technical issue. I take this opportunity to thank you for your amazing work. You have a great talent to put complexe things in short messages! I'd love to hear you on the follwing point: what is sport (miss)used for now and when Putin came to Power.
ahw geez Vlad, I used to hang on your every word, but today,… you slurped!!!
Hah ha! Luv ya man, you’re looking great! What is your signing bonus?? 🌻
But isn’t it this way? Compensation for casualties are paid when the bodies are recovered but we see a lot of videos of bodies left on the front so this way they don’t have to pay for the families.
Dear Vlad, Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf. The interesting question regarding Putin's ability to maintain troop levels, is two fold; a ) How long can the government continue to fund troops at these levels, b ) How long can the government rely on "The Regions" for troop replacements without "Politicizing" those same regions? Since 2023 6% - 9% of total Russian GDP is being spent on the war with Ukraine. How long Putin and the Oligarchs can maintain this level of spending is dependent simply on the price of Oil. Should the Per Barrel price of Oil on the markets drop to some value half or more than its current valuation, this would change Putin's long term strategy on the war drastically. Currently he can afford to pay the prices for both troops and for materials, because he has turned Russia into a Banana State, this solves his problems now, but he is mortgaging future Russians economic lives. For Putin, the Politicization problem is more worrying. He can NOT acquire troops from the Educated Elite young elite, many of them have left Russia already ( a difficult brain drain problem for the long term ), so troops must come from less urban, less educated, less "Russian" regions. As the payouts become greater and the death tolls stay the same or higher, at some point his recruitment numbers are going to flatten or diminish.
Interesting thought about sign on bonuses. Why didn’t the rest of the world come up with the idea of paying the death benefit early? All these years we have had life insurance for our military if they die. Now with the money up front they can spend it before they die in Ukraine.
It’s not anything new. What seems to be new is the “extravagance” of the bonuses, and what is troubling (for the Kremlin) is that they’ve needed to increase the bonuses to this level, despite the poverty of their recruitment pool.
It probably took just as many of me to get through your last q&a as it took of you to make it, but it was great.
I am sorry about that!
More meat for the grinder… madness
Nobody is seeing any of those rubles either
Thank you for this. I always wondered what must be going through someones mind accepting these deals.
Thanks Vlad,
World War 2 had its setbacks also but ultimately liberal democracy prevailed over dictatorship.
Right now Pudin is looking a bit shakey, hopefully there is a latter day Batitsky lurking around the corridors of the Kremlin that might bring things to a quicker conclusion. Otherwise its the long haul.
You could be an actor in a theater honestly, you would be quite good I think :)
Regarding the algorithm bias, I would not agree. Duran, Col. Douglas, Mearsheimer, WIlly oam etc are more prominent in my feed than Pro-Ukraine channels are. Even those channels that could be seen as "Pro Ukraine" are gloomy and realistic ones. The only "super optimistic" Pro-Ukraine (obviously unrealistic) channel I'm seeing is Times Radio and to some extent Silicon Curtain and Konstantin's channel.
It’s interesting that you describe pro-Ukrainian channels as “gloomy and realistic.” Or as “optimistic-unrealistic”.
@@user-nl6zv6hz6x I guess that's my sentiment
Most of the Russian 'patriots' have already become casualties. Who's left are the internal mercenaries. Poor Nabiullina has her work cut out for her.
Wow so many lies
Wow so many lies
@@hmmm2564 if a patriot didn't jump in two years ago, why does Putin have to give him $21k ?
@@daviddelgado6090 do you have common sense? They started with 150 k soldiers in Ukraine. Now they have have over 500k according to Ukraine.
@@daviddelgado6090 @daviddelgado6090 do you have common sense? They started with 150 k soldiers in Ukraine. Now they have have over 500k according to Ukraine.
Thanks Vlad!
Well, not everyone gets paid. Not everyone comes back, so as time goes on, this becomes a progressively hard road to follow.
The vibes in the village remind me a lot of Kafkas Schloß.
Thank you
Vlad, i could listen to you talk for hours
We are so hungry
The Ricky / Bobby village scenario could have equally played out in mediaeval times, warlords drumming up meatwave material ... Drone replaces crossbow or axe, plus ca change ...
I think the channeling you did was probably pretty spot on.
As a Finn have been suprised why there are no more Ukrainian troops in the front. 1939 Finland mustered 500 000 men to front with population of 3,5 million and 1941 we had even 600 000 men on the front. Currently Finnish army is so organized that we have 900 000 reserve with population of 5,5 million. Ukraina could easily get 3-5 million men to frontline with population of 40 million.
40 million is only on paper. These 40 million include separatists from Donbass, Crimea and refugees.
@@user-nl6zv6hz6x with 30 million population you could easily form army of 4 million.
@@kallekonttinen1738 I don't think the population is even 30 million at the moment, but I understand your position.
@@user-nl6zv6hz6x as an Finnish army reserve officer I counted months how much it would take to train 2 million men. Figured out that this would have been September 2022. September came and went and nothing happened. Conscription of all people age 18 to 40 and to the frontline if you don't have a good reason and females have children, would be the answer.
Who knows if Russia pays anything to anybody?
I Think Vodka and male drunken “superiority” has a lot to do with who takes the bait. And dept over someone’s head.
For the algorithm
At least Ricky didn't get eaten this time.
Well Vlad, I'm not sure I really understood all of that, but I'm sure there is a good reason that Russian Roulette is called Russian Roulette.
Vladislav Wechsler is talking about the Law of Lemon Markets: If you are unable or not allowed to judge what you get for your money, you are only willing to pay a very small price (somewhere close to zero). Respectively, you don't know or can't know which risks and tasks await you in an offered job, which wage do you expect in return, to play safe?
Thank you 🙏
Khelou Vlad. Always glad to get a chat at the end of the day :) All the best
the reference to the algorithm at the 5th minute should be done for every video by Vlad.... truly remarkable
hello BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITY
Looking good, Vlad. Stronger. More color in your face. I like it!
The risky business part broke my heart but actually it is true! You can see it even for other forms of broken social interaction in different countries, like accepting money for voting for a party. At the end, the problem is the social communication and lack for attempt for development of the society.
I'm wondering if these payments are actually being made. We k ow there's an issue with corruption with highers ups taking their subordinates' pay. We have also heard reports on failures to payout casualty checks.
Thanks!
Thank You Vlad! 🙏🏻❤️☮️