@process @Render just a thought, but perhaps from Putin's point of view he's got this badass army that will march in and take the territory without problem. The west will react the same if he grabs the two parts of territory or just go for the whole thing. Why stop if the reaction will be the same? Now he's in it to win it, and can't turn back due to ego/pride/stubbornness/fear of power loss.. Starting to look like it will be impossible for him to make a "graceful" exit.
@jordicusmaximus That's almost certainly what will happen, pending the ongoing negotiations.
Which the Russians are saying will be concluded in two or three days.
@Render @jordicusmaximus @process
So what does Putin do with the foreign fighters he brought in. He can let them loose and disavow them?
@_Ms_J @jordicusmaximus @process
Assuming he doesn't fly them right back out again, he'll probably fold them into the current group of neo-nazis and foreign volunteers currently in the breakaway regions.
The Middle East and sub-Saharan volunteers are going to fold up like a cheap suit when they realize just how cold it actually is.
There may very well be another civil war within Chechnya, whose warlord Putin pet has expended most of his best fighters in Ukraine...
@Render Jeez this is such an obvious point that as a cold climate person, stupidly I never considered about the shocking climate difference for people who may never have never experienced weather colder than 40-50 Fahrenheit. @_Ms_J @jordicusmaximus @process