- Russia plans to increase its troops along its border with NATO, Lithuania’s prime minister said.
- Ingrida Šimonytė said Russia is returning to a Cold War posture and Europe needs to be prepared.
- Estonia also warned that Russia may double its troops along NATO’s border compared to 2022 figures
Surely they are running out of troops. How many people do they have to toss at the grinder?
They drew up draft orders for Moscow. Which they haven’t send out since the start of the war. Shoigu said he wants a army of 10 million… Which is possible and would outnumber all of Nato combined. Now if they can afford it and keep it fed is another issue…
Maybe it is theoretically possible, but that would be 1/4th of their population ages 18-44. They would have to dedicate their entire economy to just supporting the army, no ither industry would be able to survive.
Out of curiosity, how is this ratio relative to some place like North Korea?
They won’t even have enough shovels for 10 million soldiers. Guess we’ll be seeing meat waves of guys with pointy sticks, then.
Probably around 80 million, give or take
russia has proven to be toothless save the one big fang of nuclear weapons.
this idea that troops on the border of nato matters to literally anyone is kinda of comical. clearly optics for ignorant russians.
I mean, it’s easy for someone in the US or Western Europe to say but I’d be far less enthusiastic if I was in the Baltics, they’re the ones in the crosshairs.
that is a good point. just being near human killing devices increases your chance of dying by them.
I get your point though, Russia is in no position to reasonably threaten NATO at the moment. They should be closely monitored to keep it that way
“Is returning”?
Here’s my prediction for historical purposes:
- In the next 10 years the three Baltic nations will be invaded
- it’s done via North West Russia, Belarus and Kaliningrad simultaneously
- This leaves only the tiny border with Poland to defend for those states if it’s successful because subs are gonna sub any coastal attempt at a D-Day
- Tactical, low yield nukes will be used to deter future responses because NATO has shown a strategic weakness on their desire to avoid escalation
- It’s coordinated with an invasion of Taiwan to spread the West thin
That’s it. That’s my prediction based on having lived through the cold war and being interested in history.
I really fucking hope I’m wrong.
I am woundering when russia decides to use tactical nukes in Ukraine. - the way they are gonnna spin the last terrorist attack( assuming its not an inside job…prob is.) sure does not give me warm fuzzy feelings about their desparation…
It doesn’t matter if you’re pro Murica or pro Russia. It’s a bit disingenuous to say Russia is arming the border! When the border has literally moved thanks to the Nordic countries getting into NATO and no longer being neutral.
For example if Russia and Mexico formed an alliance, then the US lined the Mexican border with guards, tanks, anti aircraft, etc… That would make defensive sense. It also would not be fair to be portrayed as “USA returning to Mexican American War of 1848 posture, tripling troop counts on the border”. No it’s a very predictable and publicly shared outcome of a very predictable and publicly occurring series of events.
When the border has literally moved
The last time that border moved was back at the Winter War, when Russia attacked Finland.
the border has literally moved thanks to the Nordic countries getting into NATO and no longer being neutral
angrygoose.jpg Why are they now in NATO? It couldn’t possibly be because:
- After decades of ‘status quo’ Nordic neutrality was respected by all sides, Russia upsets that balance by…
- Invading Ukraine in violation of the Minsk treaty, having guaranteed Ukraine’s independence if it gave up the leftover Soviet nukes
- Russian rhetoric from the highest level of government has regularly consisted of nuclear Sabre rattling and talk of ‘reunification’
Given how Putin has gone complete clown show into revanchist ideology and is trying to restore the Russian Empire, it’s completely logical for the Nordics/the world to seek alliances for protection.
