But hey, Putin kept NATO away from his borders, and that’s what matters.
And he kept NATO from expanding it’s membership. Or something. Sort of. If you squint.
A fascinating story. Not going to comment further since it might be somewhat tangential. But worth your time, I guarantee.
Paywalled. Can you post a synopsis (assuming Russian aggression against Ukraine’s allies counts as part of the invasion)?
Sorry, longish article hard to summarize. This may be more accessible.
The prosecutors, back to whom the case is being referred, will probably seek a 3-year prison sentence, which will be more punitive than the US$1300 fine.
A very long article. It’s worth a full read. I quoted a short section.
Length of service without rotations has to be solved. The most patriotic and determined soldiers defending their homes still can’t serve front line duty for many years. The stress and mental toll is too much. Exhausted men make mistakes and it can get them killed or horribly maimed. Maimed or dead soldiers can’t fight and defend anyone. Although Putin might disagree about his superior forces. 
A post was split to a new topic as it had no business in this thread: Is their a danger that Ukraine could eventually be overwhelmed by the vastly larger population of Russia?
Perhaps Ukrainians might want some short, stubby Russian sausages to feed to their pigs?
The brutal things that happen in war no longer surprise me. These photos look real too me. YMMV
Russian bomber base is on the target iist. Perhaps the same air base partisans bombed last month?
Link Russia shoots down 35 Ukrainian drones as both sides step up attacks | Russia | The Guardian
I almost posted this in the Zelinskyy’s Zeroes thread.
Russian troops celebrate shooting down a jet before realising it was one of theirs (msn.com)
Russian troops celebrated shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet – only to realise it was one of their own planes. The Su-25 jet is suspected to have been shot down by a Buk-M3 surface to air missile system – and initial Russian reports celebrated hitting a Ukrainian plane
The Bank of Russia lifted its policy rate to a staggering 16 per cent last Friday in response to inflation running at a rate of about 7.5 per cent.
Next year it is budgeting to spend about $160 billion on its military, more than three times its defence budget before the invasion of Ukraine and, at about 6 per cent of GDP, nearly 40 per cent of the government’s entire budgeted expenditures.
Wasn’t pouring so much of their budget into defense one big reason the USSR collapsed?
As I recall, Reagan kept on about the ‘Star Wars’ impenetrable shield, which caused the Soviet Union to spend gajillions of monies to counteract it… And then it turned out ‘Star Wars’ was a bluff. The USSR collapsed shortly afterward.
So now not only is Russia pouring huge sums into its armed forces, this time around it’s also burning through large numbers of military-elegible men and materiel stockpiles while being hobbled by economic sanctions, having to sell its oil and gas at fire sale prices to the few buyers willing to ignore the sanctions.
Way to go, Supreme Leader Putin!
very off topic post hideen
A bit off topic, but that is a rightwing myth..
Another common refrain among conservatives is that Reagan simply “outspent” the Soviets. But Soviet defense spending remained flat throughout the 1980s. More significantly, Gorbachev was unalterably opposed to increasing military spending; he fought a relentless campaign by the Soviet military-industrial complex to spend exorbitant sums in response to Reagan’s buildup.
Very off topic, don’t do this again in this thread.
Moderating
Hidden.
To all, no more on the USSR remembrances.
Interesting and scary profile of a Ukrainian traitor and collaborator. Saldo the former 3 term mayor of the southern city of Kherson was under criminal investigation for criminal gang activities before the war.
Putim made him of ruler of the occupied territory. He’s created quite a ruthless fifedom there. He has an important Telegram propaganda channel.
Sometime the 
rises to the top.
The Guardian investigation is pretty impressive considering that this is inside Russian occupied territory. It’s even more relevant today because the stalemate could make this a permanent life for Ukrainians.
Link Mr Fifty Percent: the former Ukraine mayor doing Putin’s work in Kherson | Ukraine | The Guardian
The thread ban on @Velocity has been lifted on appeal. Also noted in the OP.
There have been many reports of Russian atrocities, but actual evidence would be better. Now, will it result in any arrests someday? Who can say? He also says he knows the story behind the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.