Fixed the links in my previous comment. In the afforementioned RUSI podcast they essentially say the same thing as you say Sept. 4th but also predict withdrawal 2 months later at best. We’re 4 months in and they’ve made a second push (though nowhere near as hard or effective afaic see).

Point is, ~50k troops were pulled from the front line and the artillery imbalance favouring russia reduced to a quarter what it was previous to the counter-invasion. That level of redeployment alone causes disarray and fosters opportunities to take advantage of the confusion which, IMO, explain the high level of losses seen of late. If you look at how the front line moves from Toretsk and northward russian advances come to a halt (while admittedly southward/Prokrovsk is bad the whole time) for over a month before resuming at a pace nowhere near that seen during Bahkmut offensive.

We can armchair general all we want, but Kursk happened and continues to do so. Even with NK reinforcements cracks in russia’s assault are showing and Kursk went a long way to making that happen which makes it a ‘good’ thing not even including the political and morale implications.

Side note regarding UA sourcing bias: I find you can practically modify numbers by 20% and that usually brings them to within those provided by other ‘neutral’ sources, so when UA says 60k russian troops moved 50k is the number I hear in my head. Other than that they are usually reliable and far better than RU sources.

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citation needed on this

Here which is a day newer than RUSI’s last podcast about Kursk (which Ukraine vastly exceeded the guest’s predictions at this point). Supported by this article a month later.

But - was it worth it?

Ukraine thinks so considering they’ve doubled down with a new assault.

How many of this comment do I need to respond to?

As many as it takes to get you to understand censorship is a worse means. UM can ‘evade’ all he wants but he can’t take away your unsubscribe and block buttons. Did you know they aren’t single use? Amazing!

but a Ukrainian counter-invasion was unseen because… it didn’t make sense.

The counter-invasion makes sense for several reasons: It demonstrably shows how weak russia is, acts as a bargaining chip in potential negotiations, proves russia won’t go nuclear for something even as ‘egregious’ as boots on the ground in the motherland, and it did relieve pressure on other areas of Ukraine’s defence. It would have collapsed other russian fronts had it not been for NK reinforcements being brought in. An argument for NATO boots in Ukraine if ever I’ve heard one.

IMO Kursk is critical to Trump’s reversal on forcing peace immediately. He doesn’t want to appear to support weakness and so won’t be caught standing next to a bully that just had pants pulled down around their ankles.

As for Ukraine not reclaiming territory? That isn’t their strategy. They are fighting defensively to their advantage. This way it maximizes russian losses while minimizing their own. Don’t expect any territory to be liberated unless there is a huge weakness in russian lines that begs to be taken advantage of like with Kharkiv.

Nah, this whole trend to censor anything and everything that isn’t exactly what you want to see is worse for the community.

I say leave him alone. I don’t have him blocked. I don’t ever see his content unless I actually do search to see what he’s been up to (spoiler: he was a far right nutbag all along the end). Even IF he is spamming articles, that behaviour can be modded by communities he isn’t modding for, and those he is modding for can be blocked. Hell if he pisses you off specifically you can block him yourself already! This isn’t a community needs to step in issue.

It’s a controlled burn though 🙄

It might help if you don’t infer anger or argumentation.

Autism is more than just social difficulties. There are repetitive behavioural problems that can be downright harmful to the individual if particularly severe. To me it sounds like you are or know someone with autism that isn’t particularly severe and are pretty comfortable with it. That’s great, but what about those suffering from the disorder that aren’t responding to treatment as well to the point their communication deficits are causing problems with their education and future prospects? What do you say to those whom a cure could vastly improve their life? I have a hard time understanding how treatment is ‘good’ but cure is ‘hate’. Wanting a cure to be available isn’t the same as expecting it be mandatory.

I think the issue is you are assuming some level of judgment or condescension because of the condition and that is not the case. A person with autism is a person and absolutely be treated as such.

Because most are saying that

So, not ‘pure hate’. There’s some impurities in there apparently.

There are more issues with autism than ‘it breaks social norms’ and seeking treatments for the condition is looking to improve lives, not being hateful.

I really don’t need reasons why killing is bad :P

TBH all vegan’s ethics can be countered with ‘check your privilege’.

The mods disagree with her apparently.

1. Didn’t say anything about imprisoning them. They can free range all they want in this example.
2. The method employed specifically prevents fear. Assume a method that doesn’t induce fear. They exist.
3. This is a stretch of the definition. Discontinuation of happiness without knowledge before or after is not suffering.
4. Prevent socializing completely after birth. Got it. Or, more reasonably, the grief of loss is inevitable and a small price to pay anyways to feed a family for the winter.

Edit: Also, I’m not really trying to justify eating animals. TBH I’m ironically more sympathetic to Vegans due to me being a hunter. Frankly I think meat eaters should have to participate in the harvesting of an animal you eat at least once before age of majority. That would at least confer appreciation for some of what is involved.

So if I understand correctly, a cow can be killed with a gun to the back of the head painlessly and its death prevents hunger for an entire family for the winter so killing it is ethical. Got it.

It isn’t necessarily ‘pure hate speech’ and shutting off the discussion is what is leading you to come to this conclusion. If a pill were developed that allowed someone diagnosed with autism to live more like the general public without a lifetime of current therapies, and no side-effects why is me suggesting they consider this option ‘pure hate’? Can you see how one-sided your stance is?

Thanks for expressly stating a huge part of what is wrong with LW.

Lemmy is ‘supposed’ to be for discussion. Getting moderated for “just asking questions”, even at the annoying levels of sealioning does nothing to further that goal. It simply creates echo chambers.

FTR I am not excusing attacking vulnerable groups. I’m saying sealioning is easily dealt with by the community directly and in a civil manner, instead of getting mods involved. “I have answered your question. Ignoring the answer is sealioning so I will not be continuing but if anyone else wants to they are welcome”. Reporting instead is being petty, and catering to those reports is being heavy-handed.

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But conquering a collapsing russia is not something he cares to do…

Isn’t Reddit the same?

No, as it is not federated the underlying problems are different. There is less stress on moderators and dialogue is naturally constrained by the possibility of permanent banishment from the platform. I haven’t been there in months but in my decade of using it previously I was never banned presumably because moderators aren’t on a hair trigger or have oversight focused on the preservation of the platform above all else.

Is there stupidity and over-moderation on Reddit? Ofc. But, it is not the Wild West that Lemmy is.

Edit: FTR I’m not pro-Reddit either.