mtutiger

Wow...

Cutting off flights is drastic, but we probably need to start looking at that

Ugh

The conventional wisdom is that it probably is tight enough to survive. Domestically, aside from the people, the other question I have is about the oligarchs... at least a portion of his grip comes from them. An individual oligarch who crosses Putin may go off a third-floor balcony, but there may be power in numbers should some of them turn en masse.

That may be the hope, but it seems delusional

Something like that. A demilitarized puppet state would risk rapid collapse the moment Russia pulled troops out. Think Ashraf Ghani's Afghan government

I have a handful of acquaintances (both on the left and right) who have made excuses or been fans of Putin over the years. Just seeing what they have posted on Facebook at times. I wonder if any of this is opening their eyes... or (gulp) if this is just part of the appeal

Heroes... all of them

I really hope this man comes out of this alive. That's leadership

In other words, he's Colonel Kurtz.

JFC

Here's what I don't understand: In terms of their stated objectives, clearly Russia has the resources to take out the government in Kyiv and install a puppet. But we're talking about a country of 43 million and, while early, there is little to no indication of Ukraine soldiers laying down arms. How does this work without a long counterinsurgency that will result in a lot of loss of life for the Russians? And does that counterinsurgency, seeing the tepid response by the oligarchs and the much larger-than-expected protests, cause additional domestic problems? The whole thing kinda looks like an overreach, but he may not care.

That seems like a big deal....

Also that he doesn't think Putin's done. Considering that our intelligence has been pretty accurate so far, that's grim.