Summary

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 160,000 more Russians aged 18–30 be drafted from April 1 to July 15, amid U.S.-brokered ceasefire talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the Kremlin is preparing a major offensive in Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia, accusing Russia of stalling negotiations to gain territorial leverage.

Over 100,000 Russian soldiers are confirmed dead. Ukraine reported 46,000 dead and 380,000 wounded.

  • Denixen@feddit.nu
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    2 days ago

    Let’s just imagine what it would look like if Europe mobilized and armed 160,000 soldiers. The fact that it sees undoable for most tells us how badly situated we are…

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      1 day ago

      With Italy having 338 000 active military personnel, France 304 000 and Spain’s 199 000, it really isn’t that hard to imagine.

      • Denixen@feddit.nu
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        1 day ago

        Where did you get these numbers? I cannot find any sources to support them. Active personnel of mentioned countries is half to 2/3 of mentioned numbers. And this tells us nothing about these countries ability to produce new personnel.

        Also, that’s all on paper. When UK and France discuss a ‘coalition of the willing’ to act as peace keepers in Ukraine they are able to scrape together no more than a few tens of thousands, even though it is believed that 100-200K is required to be a deterring force.

        We are talking about a force of several hundreds of thousands to be trained, armed and moved to a front to fight within a few months or at least within a year, in addition to already existing forces, a large part of which are unavailable to train new recruits because they are deployed.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Europe has 450 million people. It will be easier for them than Russia with 146 million people. Stop spreading FUD.

    • lumony@lemmings.world
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      1 day ago

      Pretty much the only Western-aligned nation that’s ready to fight a war is Israel.

      War, for Americans, really is just all fun and games right now. Most people haven’t seen friends die. When that starts happening and the reality of war sets in, I don’t think most Westerners will stick around. They value their lives too much.

      • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        Isnotreal can barely hold their own against hezbollah and hamas. They cannot fight an actual country that doesn’t have a postcolonial arranged military.

      • gabbath@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        You think Israel would help the West fight Russia? I kinda doubt it. They don’t seem the type to fight real wars, only massacre innocents they fanatically hate.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        Most people haven’t seen friends die.

        And they didn’t learn the lessons from their grandfather’s experience.

      • Denixen@feddit.nu
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        1 day ago

        I don’t know that it is quite that bad, I think people will surprise you. Europeans stuck with Ukraine even though it costs and while some are turning their back they are a minority and they consider Ukraine none of the their business.

        I think when another NATO or EU country is affected Europeans will see it very differently. It is an existential threat then. Russia wants to paint Europe as decadent and lazy, but Europeans stand firm when it really matters. We’ve proven that with Ukraine.

        The bigger problem for Europe is to produce armed forces in the hundreds of thousands within the next few years. Making the hardware and training the soldiers in that small off a time will be difficult.

        As for Americans… I don’t really know where we have them. I do think there is a non-negligible chance they will be in a civil war by the end of the decade or the start of the next.

        • lumony@lemmings.world
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          1 day ago

          Europeans stuck with Ukraine

          I mean, giving weapons is different from sending soldiers. This is what I mean by “most people haven’t seen friends die.” It’s a completely different ballgame that most of us in the West do not have experience in and are not prepared for.