Thread by @JBelcourt73

The Ukrainian drive to liberate her people and her lands continues unabated. Putin's illegal annexation and the speech that translates a declaration of war against the world be dammed. In fact, part of Ukraine's efforts were a deliberate counter-troll by Zelensky with the

announcement that Ukraine would seek fast track approval to join NATO. This puts a serious a kink in Russia's plans to escalate to de-escalate in order to achieve a frozen conflict that Putin can spin into some semblance of victory. Now he has to worry that Ukraine has its own

umbrella because the West did not back down. It puts him in a box that a prideful man will have a hard time escaping. Sunken costs fallacies are a bitch when you are trapped in them. The smart move is to take the loss, but he can't. He might be willing to burn the world over it,

but given how he had to address the Russian public over the snafu-ed mobilization he is likely facing some serious internal pressures to fix this shit in a way that doesn't destroy Russia. Victory is impossible and more and more of his inner circle will begin to see it now.

with battlefield losses (dead) over 58K and men fleeing of between 200-500K Russia's long-term demographics just took a major hit. Thise men will never father children. Russia's birth rate was already an unsustainable 1.5 children per woman and now that is going to drop because

those lost men are prime fathering years. Add in how many Russian men already die early because life in Russia just grinds them down with poverty, alcoholism, violence etc and the situation is that much worse. In 10 years or so there will be at least a million fewer children born

there would have been. Unlike previous wars, I don't think Russia will see any sort of major uptick in birth rates among those who remain. There is going to be enough mechanization and urbanization that extra mouths to feed won't be offset by the extra labor they provide too the

family farm. It's a pickle Russia is going to have a hell of time fixing and when the Russian population finally twigs to it woo boooyyyy! The ethnic groups will probalby twig first, they see the streets devoid of men in general and young men in particular. Putin's speech about

Russia being a nation devoted to religions won't wash well. Where are the Buddihist in his inner circle, among the oligarchs and generals? They know its all claptrap meant for "white" Russians. Ditto those parts about opposing colonialism. Russia is the world's oldest and most

enduring colonial power and she began her empire before Columbus set sail from Europe looking for a way to Asia. In fact modern Russia stretches from sea to shining sea and she maintains that empire by force. Putin's war was never about NATO expansion, but about reversing Russian

imperial decline since 1991 and once more bringing her captive populations under the imperial yoke of Moscow. Georgia, paratroops in Kazakhstan, backing Armenia, provocations in the Baltics, separatist movements in multiple countries and of course the war in Ukraine are all aimed

at reversing imperial decline and defusing the demographic time bomb that Russia is. Luckily, the West finally found the courage to say no more and has been supporting Ukraine in her war to chart her own destiny. This support must continue and is why I write my elected leaders

everyday. @JohnBoozman, @SenTomCotton, and @RepFrenchHill know where I stand and what I demand of them. Do yours? In case you haven't noticed, Russia has pulled out all the stops to try and flip public opinion against Ukraine. its up to us to make sure our leaders understand

that we support Ukraine and they must do so as well. it is also up to us to promote Ukraine and Ukrainian voices into the other parts of our lives and too battle Russian dis-info. #NAFO #FELLAS are a great way to do this. Join us, expansion is non-negotiable. Plus the donation

helps support the @georgian_legion. Countering Russian trolling requires more than memes though. It requires good information. You can find that 24/7 at @MriyaReport a space dedicated to all things Ukraine or touching on the war there. It also a supports @MriyaAid a worthwhile

charity dedicated to Ukraine. We must all do our part to end the #genocideofUkrainians. If not that charity there are others, @UkraineAidOps, @U24_gov_ua and others. With the Russian army encircled in #Lyman and the front lines having pushed them back to #Kreminna now is the time

than ever to act up and speak up. Until Ukraine wins on Ukraine's terms: Slava Ukraini! #RussiaIsATerroristState #UkraineWar #nuclearwar @mfa_russia <--- still losing because Ukraine won't stop, can't stop.

@threadreaderapp unroll please