Russian lawmakers authorize Putin to use military force outside the country, Part II

[Labster]

Ultimately the invasion into Kursk (which Ukraine does not want) and Belgorod (Ukraine kind of wants this, there are Ukrainian speakers here, but would prefer its own land) is a big problem for Putin.  The stability guy has seen two invasions in a year, one from Ukraine, and the other from Prigozhin.  It's a military failure, because the border was unprepared for people to cross it.  And it's an intelligence failure, because thousands of people managed to invade with the element of surprise -- in the era of satellite imagery. 

But most of all, it's a political failure.  It's a signal to people who oppose his government, both internal and external, that Putin's Russia is very weak right now. 

But the invasion into Kursk continues.  And as I write this, there have been some explosions near the Kerch bridge... here's hoping they did the funni!

-- For the most part, Russian conscripts are not being sent to the front lines in Ukraine, but those are "volunteers"
---- Including "volunteers" tricked into coming from other countries, Dubai-style
-- Conscripts, at least those who are well connected, are sent to the border regions, like Kursk and Belgorod
---- People who don't want to be there seem to be surrendering much faster
-- Yesterday the commanders of a division deserted, and 100 men surrendered to Ukraine at the same time.
-- If the invaders are Orcs, and Russia is Mordor, does that mean the F-16s are the eagles?
-- Just to Mordor things up, Russians start a literal tire fire in Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant tower (don't worry, it's turned off)
-- Ukrainians deploy hydrogen bomb against Russians, improvised from a Toyota Mirai.  Finally, a real life use case for fuel cell cars.
-- Russian military announces that there are no Ukrainians in Sudzha
-- Literally one minute later, livestream begins of soldiers taking down Russian flag from Sudzha city hall
-- Russians don't bother with medevac for wounded troops: the lightly wounded can walk out themselves, and the heavily wounded aren't worth saving.  This also allows them to amortize their losses over time by leaving the dead out in the field, which is what amortize definitely means.
-- Germany names the Ukrainian man who cut the Nord Stream pipeline, "Volodomir Z.", last name redacted for privacy.  Hmmm...
-- Russia sends 447 goats to North Korea in exchange for weapons
---- But also suspiciously lights are on a lot longer into the night now, almost as if Russians are giving the DPRK fuel instead of just livestock.
-- Russia is doing this war to defend itself against NATO
-- Russia also transferring troops away from Kaliningrad to the front lines, because NATO is not actually threatening them
-- Literally not one other country condemns Ukraine's invasion of Ruzzia.  But why?

CSTO, "Russia's NATO":
- Kazakhstan would like out, but exports everything through Russia, Black Sea pipeline threatened by Russian navy
- Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan actively want to kill each other
- Armenia has lost territory due to Russia ignoring the call to arms twice.
- A coalition of the unwilling.
- It's basically a power bloc, not an alliance: TL;DR everything Russia accuses NATO of being, CSTO actually is