so then what's putin's next move after the capital is "acquired to be kept"?
Comment on When Posts Say "Russia Took [City]", What Does This Mean?
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 3 years ago
I would assume they mean active fighting is over, and they are doing staging, resupply etc
As for country.... has anyone ever taken a country ? Its a stupid question, but the US could not 'take' Afghanistan permanently. It 'kept' it for 20 years. I think its impossible to 'take' a country forever
I think temporarily occupying a country would mean at least 2/3rds is dominated by physical force of one party. E.g Syria is considered 'taken' by Assad, but has several regions under different rebels.
I think its a example of why local govt and representation is more important than centralized bureaucracy, like Soviet Union, EU, US Fed govt. Faraway central authorities tend to not represent local interests.
squashkin@wolfballs.com 3 years ago
iamtanmay@wolfballs.com 3 years ago
The goal Putin has been repeating like a broken record for years is to keep NATO off Russia's doorstep. He has given enough warnings, moved troops around to scare people and now invaded.
How would taking Kiev achieve this ? Who knows. The battles of Stalingrad, Warsaw, Chechnya and Mosul show Kiev will take months to fall. The longer the war goes, the worse for Putin, and indirectly us.
The war made Finland think about joining NATO. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia applied to EU. Not sure if Putin accounted for this. Or if there was a plan, other than bomb Ukraine till it surrenders.
Most sane people would be happy if Putin got what he wanted - NATO banning Ukraine, and the war ended. That's waaaaaay better than driving him into a corner.
squashkin@wolfballs.com 3 years ago
yep so our warhawk leaders it sounds like want to corner putin and potentially create massive conflict
sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net 3 years ago
Really, the moment a country is "taken" would be the moment the established government ceases to claim control of the country.
That doesn't mean the country will continue to be held. Even in a dictatorship, government only functions with the consent of the governed, because otherwise you're constantly dealing with uprisings.