Should Putin have pummelled housing estates, towns and cities? I think he lost any hope of any kind of moral argument for invading when Russia changed tactics. It's almost as if the Russians spat their dummy out because Ukraine didn't fold in the way it was supposed to right at the beginning. Brutal tactics bombarding dwellings. Turning whole apartment blocks in to burned out shells. That's my take on it. I think he's done a truly stupid thing for Russia in terms of global balance of power. The Americans must be creaming themselves. Pardon for using that expression but it looks to me that Russia is a shadow of what it was before Putin invaded.
None of that happened though, Roch. Former Presidential adviser Arestovych statements over the last few days have made pretty clear the lies being told by Ukraine/NATO and their compliant media. Outside of western media, these accusations don't exist.
Arestovych admitted the lie about the Russian missile hitting an apartment block, owning up to it being Ukrainian air defence. This is the case every single time. Arestovych has had enough of the obvious lies and is openly calling them out. Russia do not, unlike Ukraine and NATO, target civilian populations. This is outright projection.
Numbers, always a good guide, give a lie to the Russian brutality-targeting civilians projection from western propaganda outlets. Reuters (itself western propaganda) gave a number of 9,000 civilian deaths since the "invasion". Most of those, by any reasonable inference, would be of citizens loyal to Russia. Ukrainians have targeted civilians from the beginning. Terror being the age old tool of Nazis. Nazis gonna Nazi! It is NATO/Ukraine who run scorched earth policies.
Take a look at the reconstruction of Mariupol by Russia, in a matter of months during hostilities, and then find me a city destroyed by NATO after "reconstruction".
It is NATO who deliberately target civilians. They even film it-give it a name(Shock and Awe) and present it as entertainment. They have forfeited any right to be seen as honest witnesses to anything.
Far from Russia being a "shadow of what it was"-Russia has demonstrated to the rest of the world that they are the pre-eminent world military power. It is NATO, in the eyes of the world, who are a shadow of what they once were.
The world is at an epoch in history. The world order is being upended and no amount of western desperation can prevent it.
NATO bet the house on defeating Russia with unprecedented sanctions, propaganda and aggression. They believed their own propaganda, some still do, that Russia is weak. They lost the bet, we are watching that play out now. The result is not in doubt and nor are the trials for western war criminals.
