Since the beginning of the Ukraine war U.S. media has promoted the narrative that Russia’s economy will be wrecked by the conflict. Now — seemingly all of a sudden — the IMF says:
Russia’s economy, hit by sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine, has proved sturdier than expected, too: The IMF’s forecast foresees Russia registering 0.3% growth this year. That would mark an improvement from a contraction of 2.2% in 2022. And it’s well above the 2.3% contraction for 2023 that the IMF had forecast for Russia in October.
Point being: If you thought Russia is going to lose the war because its economy is weak or because the production capacity of its military industrial complex is remedial, it may be time for you to begin thinking differently.
Just to illustrate the nature of this particular challenge to Western assumptions, disarmament specialist Scott Ritter mentioned in a video I saw today that Russia produces 40 new T-90 tanks (their best) per month. In contrast, we learned from recent news stories that the U.S. is unable to produce 31 new Abrams tanks (our best) in less than nine months.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
I see lots of videos on YouTube that give me optimism that Ukraine can succeed. Also, you seem to rely on people that seem to be shady.
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One day at the King’s court, the King turned to Nasrudin and said, “Mulla. Since you are constantly reminding us of how clever and wise you are, tell me this: can you teach your donkey to read?”
“Absolutely,” replied Nasrudin. “A task like that would present me with no problems whatsoever.”
“Don’t mess with me,” said the King. “Seriously, can you do it?”
“Yes, I mean it,” Nasrudin replied, “and I’ll tell you what: just give me fifty thousand dollars right now, and I’ll guarantee I’ll have this donkey reading within eight years.”
“OK,” said the King. “But that donkey isn’t reading by then, I’ll put you in prison and have you tortured daily.”
So they agreed, and Nasrudin left the court.
The next day, Nasrudin’s friend asked about what happened.
“Are you out of your mind?” he said. “You can barely teach your donkey to stand still, and now you’ve guaranteed that he’ll be reading within eight years. Nasrudin-I don’t see how you’ll be able to escape a long prison sentence for this.”
“Listen,” the Mulla calmly replied, “several years from now, our King will probably be dead or out of power. And even if he manages to last as our King for that long, odds are my donkey will have passed on by then. And in the unlikely event that neither he nor my donkey is gone by seven years time, I’ll still have an entire year to plan my way out of getting punished.”
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Cheerleaders don’t win games.
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Motivated fighters do.
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Sometimes
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Motivated fighters of the right kind in sufficient numbers, adequately equipped, reliably supplied and properly led.
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That certainly does NOT describe the Russian forces. The Ukrainian forces are much closer to your standard.
Also, the Patriots of 1776 had issues with 3 of the 4 and thy held their own until the French provided the rest.
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RE: “That certainly does NOT describe the Russian forces.”
So you say, but not believably.
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“So you say, but not believably”
You are a real sucker for Russian propaganda. Whatever you want to believe about the long-term outlook for the war, denying that Russia has fielded a corrupt, incompetent, under-trained, and demoralized army is just plain goofy.
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“So you say, but not believably.”
So what? You don’t believe anything that isn’t said by one of your “trusted” sources. Most of which are fertilizer spreaders
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RE: “Whatever you want to believe about the long-term outlook for the war, denying that Russia has fielded a corrupt, incompetent, under-trained, and demoralized army is just plain goofy.”
Your so-called “corrupt, incompetent, under-trained, and demoralized army” has maintained an unbreachable 800-mile defensive line for four months.
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RE: “You don’t believe anything that isn’t said by one of your ‘trusted’ sources.”
My trusted source today is the International Monetary Fund. Do you think the IMF is a fertilizer spreader?
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