Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Monday, October 20, 2025

The Economist has calculated that if the Russian offensive continues at its current pace, Russia would need until June 2030 to completely occupy Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, and it would take another 103 years to capture the whole of Ukraine.

More

Alternate links: Google News | Twitter

Russia does not appear to be winning the war on the battlefield. It is advancing only slowly, with little hope of a breakthrough and at a cost that is unsustainable in manpower and materiel. My latest on the war: www.economist.com/interactive/ ...

[image or embed]

-- Sondre Ulvund Solstad (@sondreus.bsky.social) Oct 20, 2025 at 1:28 PM

Comments

Admin's note: Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

The Economist has calculated that if the Russian offensive continues at its current pace, Russia would need until June 2030 to completely occupy Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, and it would take another 103 years to capture the whole of Ukraine.

Didn't I tell you that Putin is a savvy genius?

~ Krasvov Fats ~

#1 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-10-19 11:24 AM | Reply

Vlad is like Trump; he depends on fear and hatred, not competence and strength.

#2 | Posted by Corky at 2025-10-19 12:11 PM | Reply

Meanwhile our esteemed and morbidly obese POTUS merrily cavorts along not only with one, but TWO, murderous ICC-indicted war criminals.

A Trumpf-Putin summit in Hungary would be a "great humiliation to the EU," which has sanctioned Russia for its Nakba against the Ukrainians. Hungarian supremo Viktor Orban is a pro-Putin anti-Ukrainian fascist.

And another political enemy of Vladimir Putin was stabbed to death in Istanbul, Turkiye. Abakar Abakarov (49) was on Russia's international wanted list, accused of inciting anti-Kremlin riots in the tinderbox region of Dagestan. This poor guy took steps to avoid detection, but got whacked anyway.

news-pravda.com

#3 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-10-19 01:17 PM | Reply

Russia doesn't care about completely occupying all of Ukraine. Their goal is to bully and scare their neighbors by creating perpetual conflicts with any of them that don't bow down to them.

#4 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-10-20 07:44 AM | Reply

... if the Russian offensive continues at its current pace ...

That may be why Pres Trump is pushing (I'll be kind) to dismiss Pres Zelenskyy's pleas to assure Ukrainian sovereignty.

Pres Zelenskyy is fighting for the survival of Ukraine.

And the best that Pres Trump is willing to offer seems to be an italic, bold-faced "meh."


Why?


#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-20 10:29 PM | Reply

@4 ... Russia doesn't care about completely occupying all of Ukraine ...

Pres Putin has stated that Ukraine should not exist.

Peace is impossible while Vladimir Putin denies Ukraine's right to exist (2023)
www.atlanticcouncil.org

... Recent comments by Ukraine's commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, claiming that the war with Russia has reached a "stalemate," have sparked fresh calls for a negotiated settlement. While this desire to end the bloodshed in Ukraine is perfectly understandable, anyone advocating a peace deal with Vladimir Putin must first reckon with the genocidal reality of Russia's invasion. Putin himself has repeatedly made clear that he denies Ukraine's right to exist and is determined to extinguish Ukrainian statehood. Unless he is defeated, any compromise agreement would merely set the stage for the next phase in Russia's campaign to wipe Ukraine off the map.

Putin's obsession with Ukraine and his rejection of the country's historical legitimacy were on full display recently during a November 3 address to Russia's Public Chamber. "There was no Ukraine in the Russian Empire," he declared. The Russian dictator went on to repeat many of his most notorious historical distortions, including the claim that Ukraine had been artificially created by Vladimir Lenin and the early Soviet authorities "at the expense of southern Russian lands."

Such arguments are not new. Indeed, Putin has been weaponizing history to delegitimize independent Ukraine for nearly two decades, with this trend escalating dramatically during the build-up to the current full-scale invasion. ...


#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-20 10:36 PM | Reply

Of course, that then seems to raise a major issue regarding discussions ...

If Pres Putin states that Ukraine does not exist, then how might he apparently lower himself to negotiate with the President of a Country that he says does not exist?


#7 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-20 10:39 PM | Reply

Ukraine will never have peace or sovereignty as long as blood thirsty Putin lives!

#8 | Posted by danni at 2025-10-21 08:16 AM | Reply

"At the pace of the past 30 days"

Now show the math calculating the pace after a collapse in the line.

#9 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2025-10-21 08:25 AM | Reply

Assuming Ukraine executes a perfect elastic defense indefinitely.. it's not really how that works.

#10 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2025-10-21 08:26 AM | Reply

My money says orange ---- becomes a war criminal before a Nobel prize recipient.

#11 | Posted by 2020Rocks at 2025-10-21 08:33 AM | Reply

Assuming Ukraine executes a perfect elastic defense indefinitely.. it's not really how that works.

#10 | POSTED BY SITZKRIEG

The Civil War was 159 years ago. We still have not defeated the Confederacy and its hateful ideology. Confederates stormed the US capitol and it appears now they have completely regained their strength and have taken over the entire U.S. government.

#12 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-21 11:10 AM | Reply

It's all about a buffer zone between Russia and NATO, as promised by James Baker to Gorbachev when the Warsaw Pact fell apart.

#14 | Posted by morris at 2025-10-21 04:06 PM | Reply

Are you sure?

When Putin first attacked the reason given wasn't NATO.

It was Nazis in the Ukraine.

Then it was about rebuilding Mother Russia.

Of all the things Putin has said, the proximity of NATO has never been one of them.

#15 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-10-21 04:08 PM | Reply

#14

Sort of, apparently:

www.google.com

#16 | Posted by Corky at 2025-10-21 04:12 PM | Reply

After WWII, Finland and Austria were mandated to be neutral and a ground war buffer zone existed between the USSR and NATO. To the Kremlin, the Warsaw Pact satrapies were part of the buffer zone protecting Mother Russia from the West, as they have been historically invaded by the Teutonic Knights, Sweden, Napoleon, the Kaiser, and then Der Fuhrer.

After the USSR fell, Ukraine began shifting towards the West and away from the Kremlin, which angered the Russian Old Guard because it eliminated a potential buffer zone between the West and Mother Russia. The realignment also deprived the Kremlin of lucrative businesses and resources for their kleptocracy.

#17 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-10-21 04:19 PM | Reply

Daddsyfist, have you found a diaper big enough to contain your goatse?

#19 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-10-21 05:39 PM | Reply

is prolapse painful? It looks painful. Was it worth it?
#18 | POSTED BY FISHMARKET

Who are you directing your comments at, the mirror?

Best of luck with that.

#20 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-10-21 05:44 PM | Reply

#21 POSTED BY DADDYSFIST

Your telescoping -------- was the stuff of legends at PWZ.

#22 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-10-21 09:47 PM | Reply

PWZ reject, why haven't you offed yourself yet?

#25 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-10-21 09:56 PM | Reply

" PWZ reject, why haven't you offed yourself yet?"

He's hoping to get accepted into his local Young Republicans chat group.

#26 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-21 09:58 PM | Reply

PWZ reject, why do you change usernames as often as your child-raping idol lies?

#28 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-10-21 10:10 PM | Reply

"What is PWZ?"

Puzzies With Zits.

Basically, a Young Republicans chat room for inbreds who kept getting temporary bans from the DR.

It disintegrated in the first year over an internal fantasy football league.

The founder's signature moment on the DR was when he drunkenly posted for hours one night from the toilet, giving a plop-by-plop commentary.

#29 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-21 10:20 PM | Reply

The founder's signature moment on the DR...

Does not really need to be revisited.

#30 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-10-21 10:33 PM | Reply

The founder's signature moment on the DR...

"Does not really need to be revisited."

True. It really was a summation of all things Rex.

#31 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-21 10:49 PM | Reply

" The founder's signature moment on the DR was when he drunkenly posted for hours one night from the toilet, giving a plop-by-plop commentary.

#29 | POSTED BY DANFORTH AT 2025-10-21 10:20 PM | FLAG: "

That actually happened?

#32 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-10-21 11:05 PM | Reply

"That actually happened?"

It sure did.

But, after rereading my post, I do have a correction: it should read:

" ... giving an excruciating plop-by-plop commentary."

Think lots of dots. Over pages and pages.

#33 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-21 11:13 PM | Reply

Over pages and pages.

And apparently still has not wiped.

#34 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-10-21 11:22 PM | Reply

" I honestly wonder, if the twink/incel/homo path has any regrets."

Once again, Scatberg screams from the closet.

#35 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-21 11:37 PM | Reply

#33. I haven't decided whether it's funny or disturbing although I'm leaning toward the latter.

#36 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-10-21 11:40 PM | Reply

Hearing about it is kind of funny. I'm guessing witnessing it firsthand was likely disturbing and gross.

#37 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-10-21 11:41 PM | Reply

"disturbing and gross."

Sums up Rex's psyche.

#38 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-21 11:51 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

We still have not defeated the Confederacy

#12 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-21 11:10 AM | Reply | Flag:

You really skip the critical part of a thinking. By that logic, we didn't defeat the Nazis either, nor Imperial Japan. Nobody has ever defeated anybody without a complete extermination of the ideology.

... not really how that works.

#39 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2025-10-22 10:45 AM | Reply

What a wildly genocidal concept. They're not really defeated if you don't exterminate their belief system.

#40 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2025-10-22 10:46 AM | Reply

You really skip the critical part of a thinking. By that logic, we didn't defeat the Nazis either, nor Imperial Japan. Nobody has ever defeated anybody without a complete extermination of the ideology.

... not really how that works.

#39 | POSTED BY SITZKRIEG

What a wildly genocidal concept. They're not really defeated if you don't exterminate their belief system.

#40 | POSTED BY SITZKRIEG

Which was basically my point.

Genocide wasn't necessary. Being firm and unwavering in support of the Constitution and holding them accountable to the law as we tried with the Nazis would have gone a long way to dampening down the damage.

Not sure about Imperial Japan. I don't see their ideology being spread on the internets. Maybe I just don't hang out in those dark corners like you. Seems to me we did defeat that ideology. Though it may have a resurgence thru nostalgia or some such.

And yes. We did defeat the Nazis but not Nazi ideology. That is correct. Apparently it escaped to Argentina and is now all over the internets and even in the White House.

No. We did not defeat the ideology of hate that the southern man has for the black man. Jim Crow proved that. And now the confederate flag and its ideology is being paraded proudly around in the White House and the traitors statues are being cleaned and restored.

Reconciliation was a complete failure.

The biggest mistake we made was not hanging JD and a few of the southern "generals". And as maga has discovered education is the key. Teaching Americans our history and how to behave as civilized humans is imperative. And they will not allow any more of that nonsense.

#41 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-22 11:14 AM | Reply

Here is the real point.

Russia cannot defeat Ukraine unless it kills all of the Ukrainians that are able to fight back.

Or else they will become either rebels or the resistance.
So 109 years from now they will still be fighting with them. Either politically or physically.

Just as we are still fighting with the confederacy. Politically and physically. Hell they may actually regain power at some point and take over the country again from Russian imperialists just as the confederates have done to the Union Federalists.

#42 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-22 12:29 PM | Reply

No. We did not defeat the ideology of hate that the southern man has for the black man. Jim Crow proved that

Reconciliation was a complete failure.

#41 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-22 11:14 AM | Reply | Flag:

You're not coming off as well read. Northern States had their own version of Jim Crow laws in housing, schools, employment, public accommodations, policing, and voting. "Jim Crow without the signs". There were more sundown towns in the North & Midwest than the South. Jim Crow doesn't prove the North lost the Civil War, that's retarded. What happened was a recession and the North pulling funding from their own restoration efforts.

Russia is mostly successful in its genocides and the resistance doesn't exist, deported, resettled, purged, all of the above. Eventually the line will fail, Russia has deeper reserves and good allies. Ukraine has shallow reserves and some good allies and some wafflers.

#43 | Posted by sitzkrieg at 2025-10-22 02:14 PM | Reply

What happened was a recession and the North pulling funding from their own restoration efforts.

Nice try at rewriting history. Yes there was fascism in the north too. But it was not the north "pulling funding".

But it was President Andrew Johnson was one of the main reasons reconciliation failed. He sabotaged it from the start. And was nearly impeached for his hateful attempts at undermining the nations attempt to return to normalcy.

Because you see. Normalcy for the south was imbedded in racism and they refused to accept that their defeat in war meant they had to change the way they treated blacks.

That attitude has survived unchecked until this day.

And appears now to be ringer than ever.

US Grant won the civil war but he could not win the peace.

The assassination of Lincoln ended any hope of reconciliation right from the start just as the confederates had hoped.

#44 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-22 02:32 PM | Reply

history. Yes there was fascism in the north too. But it was not the north "pulling funding".

"Fascism" should have been racism.

Thanks Siri!

#45 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-22 02:33 PM | Reply

"Ringer" should have been stronger.

I guess I am done for now if I have to re edit all my posts.

#46 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-22 02:34 PM | Reply

The Union Army victory in 1865 abolished the physical Mason-Dixon Line of slavery, but America never abolished the meta-physical Mason-Dixon Line of white supremacy.

#47 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-10-22 02:46 PM | Reply

The following HTML tags are allowed in comments: a href, b, i, p, br, ul, ol, li and blockquote. Others will be stripped out. Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

Anyone can join this site and make comments. To post this comment, you must sign it with your Drudge Retort username. If you can't remember your username or password, use the lost password form to request it.
Username:
Password:

Home | Breaking News | Comments | User Blogs | Stats | Back Page | RSS Feed | RSS Spec | DMCA Compliance | Privacy

Drudge Retort