https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/ukraine-war-momentum-shift/687444/?gift=hVZeG3M9DnxL4CekrWGK339Ii2SkHlPWX0PobpYV_fQ
yes but for #russia the attrition is people, and for #ukraine the attrition is drones
it's not that if you get an "F" at university you get sent to the frontlines, it's that if you don't bribe your professor to get a good grade you get sent to the frontlines
there is also a quota of employees placed on businesses for drafting into frontline service
businesses have responded by "hiring" people to immediately send to the frontlines
@TimFinnerty @pgiulan @anneapplebaum
no argument, i did not phrase it effectively
what i intended to say is that ukraine values human life, while russia is a sterling example of not valuing human life
@benroyce @TimFinnerty @pgiulan @anneapplebaum
Russia also seems indifferent to the population bottlenecks created by their wasteful military practices.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/24/russia-ukraine-birth-rate-fertility-rate-war-women-children-demographics-economy.html
https://www.codastory.com/armed-conflict/teens-making-drones-russias-demographic-collapse/
https://geographical.co.uk/news/why-russias-demographic-decline-could-threaten-its-future-power
https://www.iwm.at/publication/iwmpost-article/the-coming-age-of-population-wars
It stagnates their economy & leads to depopulation. What family chooses to have children destined to become cannon fodder?
@michaelgemar @benroyce @TimFinnerty @pgiulan @anneapplebaum
It's a reminder of the real agenda behind the natalism of White Supremacy & Christian Nationalism: Warfare.
As Gwynne Dyer points out in his documentary "War" every imperialist regime begins with removing the civil rights of women.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOox7MHR9Xw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zH_DbVqFp5c&pp=0gcJCUACo7VqN5tD
It's to supply bodies for wars of conquest.
They ignore the fact that nuclear wars or hybrid wars don't care about demographic policies.

@Npars01 @michaelgemar @benroyce @TimFinnerty @pgiulan @anneapplebaum I've been thinking lately how the Trump immigrant detentions facilities have a lot in common with Serbian rape camps.
@Npars01 @benroyce @TimFinnerty @pgiulan @anneapplebaum I've read that Russia has about half the population it should have due to all the wars and killing there. Stalin didn't care either.
One thing that postwar Russia did right, given they were short of men: unconditional state child support for unmarried women. The surviving heroes had a lot of fun and Russia had a baby boom.
Nations that did not do that had a lot of women emigrating. Russia wouldn't allow that.
@mister_shade02X2 @pgiulan @anneapplebaum
i think that in a society where there is no avenue for expressing discontent, discontent still exists, but you raise the threshold before it becomes apparent. and at that higher threshold, the discontent becomes quite fucking venomous
so it's not a matter of the resistance is not there, it's more a matter of a pressure cooker that will explode
i think
it would be quite sad if people are just fed to their senseless death to the last person meekly
@mister_shade02X2 @benroyce @pgiulan @anneapplebaum
Unfortunately Russians are much like the GOP, lost in a world of propaganda. American media is becoming Russified and soon we'll all be under the thrall of that kind of media too unless we actively seek out independent sources of news.
@mister_shade02X2 money. Ridiculous amounts of money. Like a few million rubles just for signing contract + 300k per month, while average salary is around 40-50k
....but usually those money go to commanders as bribes, to not end in useless meatgrinder battle, and if your relatives try to get payoff for your death...well, it would be a real challenge.
Also criminals have option to sign the contract and get free after (if they don't die in process)
source: I live here and see war ads everywhere
@mo @mister_shade02X2 @benroyce @pgiulan @anneapplebaum Did they actually let the criminals go? Or do you just get assigned to the suicide squad shortly before your contract runs out?
The Rus-Uk war has been good for the yacht industry. Mass corruption on all sides.
@mike805 I mean, there're multiple cases of trouble caused by ex-criminals with additional war PTSD, so they let at least some of them go
Usually its not for long, because criminals are too traumatized to live in normal society, so they commit crimes again, and cycle repeats...