Russia invades Ukraine

[Annetts key]

The Moscow Times​

Verified Russian Deaths in Ukraine War Exceed 100K​

From here

Verified Russian Deaths in Ukraine War Exceed 100K

March 28, 2025

The number of verified Russian troops killed in Ukraine has surpassed 100,000, more than three years after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion, according to an independent tally by the BBC’s Russian service and the Mediazona news website.

Of those killed, nearly one-quarter were volunteer soldiers, while more than 16% were convicted prisoners and over 11% were mobilized troops. Members of motorized rifle units accounted for nearly 7%, airborne forces for more than 3% and private mercenaries for over 2%.

Among the dead were more than 4,800 officers from the Russian Armed Forces and other security agencies. Their share of total casualties fell from 10% in the early months of the invasion to 2-3% by late 2023, as Russia ramped up recruitment of volunteers.

Mediazona noted on Friday that in nearly 30% of recorded deaths, the soldier’s service branch was unknown.

The outlets rely on open-source information, such as official statements, obituaries and social media posts to compile their figures. The Russian Defense Ministry rarely comments on its military losses in what it insists on calling a “special military operation.”

The highest confirmed casualties were reported in the republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, with 4,487 and 4,371 verified deaths, respectively. Moscow and its surrounding region accounted for 4,091 deaths.

At least 323 foreign nationals who fought for Russia were among the dead, while the nationality of 333 others was unverified.

Of the 85,400 soldiers whose ages were confirmed, nearly 43% were between the ages of 30 and 41.

BBC Russia and Mediazona estimate that their verified figures represent only about half of the actual death toll, suggesting that total Russian military deaths likely exceed 200,000.

In partially occupied Ukrainian regions and annexed Crimea, the tally includes Russian military casualties recorded after October 2022.

Russian losses in the war with Ukraine.​

From here

Mediazona count, updated

RECORDED NAMES COUNT 100,001
+ 2,007 14 Mar — 28 Mar

Mediazona, in collaboration with BBC News Russian service and a team of volunteers, maintains a named list of deceased Russian military personnel. This list is compiled from verified, publicly available sources, including social media posts by family members, local news reports, and official announcements from regional authorities. This list is not exhaustive, as not every military death becomes public knowledge.

To provide a more comprehensive picture of the war’s impact, we offer a second figure: an estimate of excess mortality among men, based on Probate registry data. This method was developed in collaboration with Meduza, to address the limitations of relying solely on publicly reported deaths.

About our reports​

This publication is divided into two parts:
Bi-weekly Summary. A text summary, updated every two weeks. Here we report what we’ve learned about the losses during this time and the events at the front that led to the deaths of Russian soldiers.
Interactive Infographics. The second part showcases visual representations of losses since the beginning of the war: for example, where the deceased served or in which regions they lived. We update the data for this part; the text descriptions are updated but largely remain the same.
For a detailed description of our method for calculating the estimated number of losses based on the Probate Registry data, please follow the link.
Last update of the named list: March 28, 2025
Last update of the Probate Registry estimate: February 24, 2025; estimate as of December 2024
Full named list of verified losses is available here: 200.zona.media.
The number of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine—those whose names we were able to confirm—has now surpassed 100,000.

Even according to our methodology, this figure is far from complete: volunteers have compiled over 10,000 obituaries that are still awaiting verification by our team. However, not all of these are unique, and these two numbers cannot simply be added together, as some records contain duplicate information.

Since we made the full named list public a month ago, we have received thousands of comments pointing out corrections and errors, and thanks to our readers, we have been able to rectify many inaccuracies in our database. For example, more than 100 duplicate entries were removed, and in many cases key details like dates of birth and death have been clarified.

Beyond the state’s suppression of casualty numbers, Mediazona also faces deliberate disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining its work. Both state-affiliated actors and online trolls have attempted to “poison” our database by inserting fabricated obituaries, hoping to discredit the project by making it seem unreliable or easily manipulated.

Despite these efforts, our verification process has proven highly effective. Since publishing the full list, we have identified only one blatantly fabricated obituary.

 

[brad465]

"Everything is fine."

Putin begins biggest Russian military call-up in years

Russia calls up 160,000 men aged 18-30 as it moves to expand the size of its military.

www.bbc.co.uk

President Vladimir Putin has called up 160,000 men aged 18-30, Russia's highest number of conscripts since 2011, as the country moves to expand the size of its military.
The spring call-up for a year's military service came several months after Putin said Russia should increase the overall size of its military to almost 2.39 million and its number of active servicemen to 1.5 million.
That is a rise of 180,000 over the coming three years.
Vice Adm Vladimir Tsimlyansky said the new conscripts would not be sent to fight in Ukraine for what Russia calls its "special military operation".
However, there have been reports of conscripts being killed in fighting in Russia's border regions and they were sent to fight in Ukraine in the early months of the full-scale war.
The current draft, which takes place between April and July, comes despite US attempts to forge a ceasefire in the war.
There was no let-up in the violence on Tuesday, with Ukraine saying that a Russian attack on a power facility in the southern city of Kherson had left 45,000 people without electricity.
Russia also claimed to have captured another Ukrainian village, at Rozlyiv in the Donetsk region.
Russia calls up conscripts in the spring and autumn but the latest draft of 160,000 young men is 10,000 higher than the same period in 2024.
Since the start of last year, the pool of young men available for the draft has been increased by raising the maximum age from 27 to 30.
As well as call-up notices delivered by post, young men will receive notifications on the state services website Gosuslugi.
Quite apart from its twice-yearly draft, Russia has also called up large numbers of men as contract soldiers and recruited thousands of soldiers from North Korea.
Moscow has had to respond to extensive losses in Ukraine, with more than 100,000 verified by the BBC and Mediazona as soldiers killed in Ukraine.
The true number could be more than double.

 

[DustyBin]

Here's a less downbeat take on the situation (lengthy article but a good read!):

Finland’s president: ‘I just met Donald Trump. Russia is running out of time’

After meeting the US leader, Alexander Stubb is guardedly optimistic about Ukraine and the strength of the Atlantic alliance

www.telegraph.co.uk

Finland’s president: ‘I just met Donald Trump. Russia is running out of time’

After meeting the US leader, Alexander Stubb is guardedly optimistic about Ukraine and the strength of the Atlantic alliance

The president of Finland is towering, lean and athletic and holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics. So I am not entirely convinced when Alexander Stubb tells me that he is struggling “to put sentences together” after an overnight flight from Florida and a day spent with Donald Trump.

Sure enough, Stubb has lost none of his verbal fluency as he describes his encounter with America’s president, and how it has left him guardedly optimistic about the next moves in Ukraine and the strength of the Atlantic alliance.

Instead of fretting about Trump, Stubb believes that Europeans should “calm down, take a nice bath, take a sauna, take a deep breath” and “engage rather than disengage”. He is in town presumably to pass on just that message to Sir Keir Starmer.

Stubb’s advice is worth listening to. Back home, he leads a country fated by geography to engage with a deeply threatening neighbour. Finland has Europe’s longest border with Russia – running for 830 miles through a vista of pine forests and frozen lakes – and only 5.6 million people, barely 4 per cent of Vladimir Putin’s 144 million subjects.

Despite that perilous combination and a bitter history of 30 Russo-Finnish wars, the frontier remains quiet and Finns sleep soundly in their beds; in fact, their country has been ranked the happiest in the world in 2025 – for the eighth year running.

As I go to meet him at his London hotel, I want to discover how Finland has managed to crack the problem of living alongside Russia without being invaded. Now that Putin is forcing every European country to study this conundrum, what can Europe learn from Finland?

As he greets me, Stubb introduces himself as “Alex” but throughout our conversation I feel more comfortable calling him “Mr President”. Behind his oval glasses, cheery demeanour and diplomatic finesse, there is steel and determination.

He is quick to describe his meeting this weekend with Trump. He went to see the American on his home ground: Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “I had the opportunity to spend almost the whole day with the president,” says Stubb. “We had breakfast, we played a round of golf and then we had lunch afterwards. A good opportunity to get to know each other, to socialise, and then discuss a little bit of shop.”

On this mission, Stubb had one key advantage. As a young man, he was a prodigiously talented golfer, so much so that he secured a golf scholarship at Furman University in South Carolina. “When I was young, I had a dream of becoming a golf professional – that’s why I went to study in the US,” he recalls. “But I quickly learnt that I wasn’t good enough.”

His abilities may not have run to turning professional, but they were good enough to put the US president in a fine mood.

“Just played a round of golf with Alexander Stubb, President of Finland,” Trump noted on his Truth Social account. “He is a very good player, and we won the Men’s Member-Guest Golf Tournament at Trump International Golf Club.”

“We did our best and did well,” was Stubb’s modest summary of an evidently successful bit of “golf diplomacy”.

Alexander Stubb's role as leader of the country with Europe's longest border with Russia puts him in a unique position

But if, by Trump’s account, the golf was a joint triumph for Finland and America, what about the diplomacy? Is Trump now listening to Europe on Ukraine?

“I think so,” replies Stubb, “and mainly because he has close connections with Prime Minister Starmer and [French] President Macron. At the same time, I have a sense that time is running out for Russia. There is this sense of urgency on the American side. Remember that the Americans brokered an overall ceasefire which was accepted by the Ukrainians and the Europeans – but then not accepted by the Russians.”

On March 11, Ukraine accepted an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, declared: “The ball is now in Russia’s court.” Yet Putin responded by proposing a far narrower ceasefire, limited to energy infrastructure and Black Sea shipping, and only if new conditions were met.

Stubb believes that Russian intransigence is now registering with the US. “I think we’re very much in a situation whereby the Americans are running out of patience with Putin for understandable reasons and I think that’s good news for the peace process.”

I ask how America should respond if and when Putin exhausts their patience. “What we need is a very clear deadline for a full ceasefire,” replies Stubb. “In my mind it would be useful to have it on April 20, when President Trump’s second term has been in force for three months and it’s Easter.

“If that ceasefire is either not accepted by the Russians, or broken by the Russians, then there should be colossal sanctions coming from both the United States and from Europe because the only thing that Russia understands is power. I think many of our American friends are starting to see that as well.”

What sanctions would he recommend? “I’m not going to give any advice to the United States except look at the sanctions which will be put forward by Senator Lindsey Graham in the Senate next week,” replies Stubb.

Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, is expected to propose a bill containing what he calls “bone-breaking sanctions” on Russia. As for what those measures might include, Trump said on Sunday that if Russia failed to make a deal on “stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine” and “if I think it was Russia’s fault” then: “I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia.” This probably

means that America would try to cripple Russian oil sales by imposing punitive tariffs on any importing country.

Trump was speaking shortly after Stubb’s visit, suggesting that the Finn’s message had struck home.

Stubb has no doubt that Russia’s economy remains Putin’s Achilles’ heel. “We have to understand that the Russian economy is actually hurting and we need to continue to hurt it as much as we possibly can because that then becomes an incentive for Putin perhaps to join the negotiations,” he says.

That raises the question of whether Europe should seize the €230 billion (£190 billion) of Russian assets lying frozen in the continent’s banks. “Definitely,” replies Stubb, noting that most of the funds are held in Belgium. “But unfortunately the president of Finland doesn’t decide on behalf of Belgium. But I do think that there are two things you do to maximise pressure on Russia: one is sanctions and the other is using the frozen assets.”

When it comes to maximising pressure on Russia, Finland has consistently been hawkish, despite its long border with its neighbour. I wonder how Finland has the confidence to challenge Russia so robustly. So I ask Stubb how quickly his country could prepare in the event of advance notice of a Russian attack.

“We are prepared,” he replies simply. After “having access to all key information”, Stubb says: “I sleep my nights well, I’m not worried.”

So how quickly could Finland mobilise if necessary? “Put it this way,” he replies with an air of assurance. “In Finland we have obligatory military service for men, voluntary for women. We have 900,000 men and women who’ve done it, including myself in 1988-89 and my son last year.

“We have 280,000 men and women in reserves that we can mobilise within weeks. We have 62 F-18 fighter jets, we just bought 64 F-35s. We have long-range missiles – land, air and sea. We have the biggest artillery in Europe together with Poland. And we don’t have these things because we’re worried about Stockholm.”

The last words come with an ironic smile. But Finland’s relentless focus on national security originates in a traumatic history. In the 18th century, Russia’s wars in Finland were so ferocious that they were known as the “Years of Wrath”. In 1808, Russia conquered Finland and kept it within the Tsarist empire until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

When Stalin tried to extinguish Finland’s independence by invading in 1939, the Red Army encountered ferocious resistance in snow-bound pine forests. Finnish forces, led by their superb commander, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, overcame formidable odds and halted the Soviet advance. One Finnish sniper, Simo Hayha, dispatched about 500 Russian soldiers.

This tenacious resistance preserved Finnish statehood, but the Winter War ended in 1940 with the loss of about 10 per cent of the nation’s territory. Stubb’s family felt the consequences: his father and paternal grandparents were born in the area relinquished to the Soviet Union.

During the Cold War, Finland retained its independence but not sovereignty. The Soviet Union effectively prevented Finland from joining Western organisations such as the European Union or Nato. The term “Finlandisation” entered the lexicon to describe a country whose freedom of action was strictly circumscribed. Only after the Soviet Union’s collapse was Finland able to join the EU in 1995 and Nato in 2023.

So Stubb reacts with grim amusement when I ask him whether Europe needs to become more like Finland. “The positive Finlandisation of Europe!” he exclaims. “Why not!” He adds: “I think [Europe] has woken up and smelt the coffee and it’s because of two things: one is the world political situation and the security situation in Europe. This already started in 2022. And the other reason is, of course, a changing transatlantic partnership. Both of them are incentives for us to take care of our own defence, or our own security more.”

The new imperative gives Britain a vital role in the defence of Europe. “Britain is back,” says Stubb emphatically. “We’re seeing a closer tie between the United Kingdom and the Continent proper. It’s a very pragmatic relationship which has to do with security, defence, it has to do with intelligence sharing, which of course we’ve always had. It has to do, hopefully in the long run with closer economic and institutional ties. So this is certainly not a lost opportunity for having Britain back in Europe in a good kind of a way.”

Stubb has a personal connection with Britain: his wife, Suzanne, comes from Solihull in the West Midlands. “She now has dual [British-Finnish] nationality and actually speaks both of our national languages – Finnish and Swedish,” he says. “She’s obviously much more popular than I am in Finland.”

Stubb, 57, met his wife when they were studying at the College of Europe in Bruges in 1994. He later took a doctorate in international relations at the London School of Economics before working as a fonctionnaire at the European Commission.

Stubb was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 as a member of the centre-Right National Coalition Party. After one term as an MEP, he was appointed Finland’s foreign minister in 2008, rising to become prime minister in 2014. In January last year, he was elected the country’s 13th president, with 51.6 per cent of the vote.

Stubb’s British parents-in-law came to stay in Helsinki last year for what turned out to be an eventful Christmas. “For Finns, Christmas is on the 24th, so we celebrate and eat in the Finnish style on Christmas Eve, as you would say, and then we celebrate and eat in the UK style on Christmas Day.”

The Finnish half of the celebration went without a hitch, but on the 25th “as we were finishing the Christmas pudding” Stubb was suddenly alerted to a tanker called Eagle S, laden with Russian oil, dragging its anchor along the Baltic seabed and cutting vital cables. “The messaging was a little bit on the heated side, so I had to excuse myself for a while,” recalls the president.

After talking to the relevant authorities, he gave permission for the tanker to be intercepted and placed under investigation. “Fortunately the Finnish authorities sorted it all out,” is Stubb’s laconic summary of this brief crisis, adding that he was able to rejoin his family for their evening festivities.

But future emergencies could be far more dangerous. Finland joined Nato shortly before Trump’s second election challenged the future of the alliance. I ask how Stubb would respond to future historians who might conclude that Finland joined Nato at exactly the wrong moment.

“I’m not a historian, I’m a political scientist,” replies Stubb bluntly. “And as a political scientist [with] a PhD in international relations, I would have preferred Finland to have joined Nato in 1995.”

But he adds: “I think there’s never a bad time to join Nato. It is the most successful military alliance in the history of mankind and I hope it continues to be so.”

As for Finland’s unique posture towards Russia, Stubb says: “I think that everyone, all of our allies, knows that Finland is more of a security provider than a security consumer. The Americans understand that. And one of the main aims of our conversation with the president – who was very well briefed about Finland – was to make clear why it’s quite useful to have one of the largest militaries in Europe bordering Russia, especially after the alliance has just doubled its border with Russia.”

But Trump has repeatedly questioned America’s commitment to Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty, which binds Nato allies to defend one another. I ask bluntly: does he trust America to come to Europe’s defence as per Article V?

“I trust our alliance. I trust the Americans,” says Stubb. “I have seen no indication of other things coming as far as Article V and Nato is concerned. The fact that Trump is correctly putting pressure on European states to increase their defence expenditure doesn’t mean that they’re withdrawing from Nato. Quite the contrary. I think we need to ask for a reverse-Kennedy: ask not what the Americans can do for you, ask what you can do for America.”

I remark on how sanguine he seems about Trump. “I am an avid transatlanticist and I want to maximise American engagement in Europe,” replies Stubb. “At the same time, I’m a realist in the sense that I understand that when things are changing, you need to do something about it. So I’d say: talk less, do more. Whine less, engage more. And that’s what I’ve tried to do in my relationship with the United States. It’s our job to make sure that America stays engaged in Europe.”

In that task, the golf diplomacy of Finland’s president has its vital place.

 

[Russel]

Extra tariffs on Russian Oil... Will that just drive up the global price of oil?

That's just what the global economy needs when it's already on it's knees.

 

[aavm]

Thanks @DustyBin , interesting article.
I think Trump's not as crazy as he appears, he just has a ridiculously aggressive negotiating style in bullying both sides to compromise.

 

[357]

Extra tariffs on Russian Oil... Will that just drive up the global price of oil?

That's just what the global economy needs when it's already on it's knees.

First world problems.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Extra tariffs on Russian Oil... Will that just drive up the global price of oil?

Not really. This is more about making it clear that if you buy Russian oil above a certain price (right now, 60USD/barrel), then you can expect secondary tariffs to be applied. The idea is that no country really wants to risk tariffs just for the sake of buying cheaper Russian oil, and it forces Russia to sell it well below what they'd expect to earn from it.

So, if it turns out that Russian oil is essentially destroying OPEC's business, then it will force them to cut prices too. Combined with Trump's "drill baby drill" approach, it's very possible that we're going to have a massive glut of oil on the market, especially if electric cars keep selling.

 

[Giugiaro]

... especially if electric cars keep selling.

And more non-fossil sources and energy storage are installed.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Extra tariffs on Russian Oil... Will that just drive up the global price of oil?

That's just what the global economy needs when it's already on it's knees.

OPEC is awash with oil as most countries are holding back production to keep prices high so can respond but Russia is largely selling direct to less salubrious countries already so not sure how tarriffs affect those sales anyhow.

 

[Bald Rick]

Russia is largely selling direct to less salubrious countries already so not sure how tarriffs affect those sales anyhow.

He’s proposing secondary tarriffs, ie if your country buys Russian oil, you can expect even higher tarrifs on anything you sell to the US.

 

[brad465]

Stock markets are not the only thing crashing thanks to Trump's trade war, the price of oil has crashed too and is now around $60 a barrel, having been $75 before his speech. This is bad news for Russia, whose military spending was already unsustainable, but lower oil revenues will only accelerate this (bearing in mind India and China are able to get their oil even cheaper as, to coin a phrase, they have Russia over a barrel):

Brent Crude Oil Last Day Financial Futures (BZW00) Future Contract Prices & News - Google Finance

Get the latest Brent Crude Oil Last Day Financial Futures (BZW00) real-time quote, historical performance, charts, and other financial information to help you make more informed trading and investment decisions.

www.google.com

(Graph of Brent Crude price over the last year, with live value of $60.17 per barrel)

 

[AlterEgo]

Petrol and diesel prices down several pence in my area - the lower oil prices already trickling down a little.

 

[ainsworth74]

Glad I had the foresight not to fill up on Sunday, reckon waiting until this Friday might have been wise!

 

[iwasyoungonce]

He’s proposing secondary tarriffs, ie if your country buys Russian oil, you can expect even higher tarrifs on anything you sell to the US.

Looks like the countries buying cheap Russian oil will only be "punished" by a 10% tariff (same as the UK) and still no condemnation from Trump regarding lack of a Russian cease fire.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Trump didn't even confirm the missile saying they made a mistake.

 

[brad465]

Trump didn't even confirm the missile saying they made a mistake.

He also reportedly said he opposed Zelensky's offer to buy weapons from the US. Note not receive them in aid, actually buy them, even though it would help the US economy in one form or another.

 

[Annetts key]

He also reportedly said he opposed Zelensky's offer to buy weapons from the US. Note not receive them in aid, actually buy them, even though it would help the US economy in one form or another.

If true, what further proof is needed to persuade the people that still believe that Trump wants the war to stop for the good of the Ukrainian people?

How long has it now been since Russia was supposed to have agreed to a ceasefire? Yet, Trump hasn’t done anything to apply any real pressure on Russia. No extra sanctions. No extra restrictions. Nothing.

I believe Ukraine is waiting until the weapon and ammunition transfers from the U.S.A. that were arranged under the Biden administration run out. Then, I think they will continue to fight Russia while ignoring Trump.

Europe may not be able to fully take up the slack in replacing all the weapon and ammunition supplies from the U.S.A., but Ukraine has vastly increased it’s drone production. That, along with artillery and guided bombs should be enough to at least enable them to continue defending.

Russia may be preparing for a summer offensive, but apart from lots of infantry, how many MBT, IFV and APC vehicles will they be able to muster?

In the last 12 months, their losses have been huge, but since November they have been finding it increasingly hard to gain any significant amount of ground.

It is possible that this year there may be a turning point in this war. If Russia completely exhaust themselves (keeping in mind that their economy is not at all healthy and the price of oil is falling), it may give Ukraine opportunities to take a significant amount of ground from them. Maybe not enough to make any big difference on the battlefield, but enough to change the political narrative.

 

[YorkshireBear]

He also reportedly said he opposed Zelensky's offer to buy weapons from the US. Note not receive them in aid, actually buy them, even though it would help the US economy in one form or another.

Well he's annoyed because Zelensky didn't buy the weapons before starting the war.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg5q0mev07lo

Trump says Zelensky shares blame for war dead

Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelensky shares the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin for "millions of people dead" in the Ukraine war.

The US president was responding to reporters' questions during a meeting with El Salvador's leader at the White House.

"When you start a war you got to know you can win," he said, also blaming former US President Joe Biden for the conflict.

Trump's comments come after widespread outrage over the deadliest Russian attack on civilians this year, when missiles struck the north-east Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday.

Trump said earlier the Russian attack had been a "mistake".

"Millions of people dead because of three people," Trump said on Monday. "Let's say Putin number one, let's say Biden who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelensky."

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, but not "millions", of people have been killed or injured on all sides since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Questioning Zelensky's competence, Trump remarked that the Ukrainian leader was "always looking to purchase missiles".

"You don't start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles," Trump said.

Tensions between Trump and the Ukrainian leader have been high ever since their heated confrontation at the White House in February.

In an interview before Russia's latest attack, Zelensky urged Trump to visit Ukraine before striking a deal with Putin to end the war.

"Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead," Zelensky said in an interview for CBS's 60 Minutes programme.

Russia's attack on the city Sumy killed at least 35 people and injured 117 others.

Moscow said it had fired two Iskander missiles at a meeting of Ukrainian soldiers, killing 60 of them, but did not provide any evidence.

Trump insisted he wanted to "stop the killing" and signalled there would be proposals soon, but did not elaborate.

 

[Killingworth]

It's very clear that the Trump/Vance presidency loathes Biden and anything he and his son Hunter touched. Ukraine's role in his impeachment rankles, and some.

We know Trump holds grudges. Until now we might not have believed that would include siding with Putin and Russia. He did warn of all his disruptive intentions. Vance seems carried away with the power he's been handed.

Where do we go from here with half the US happily lapping it all up? Chaos is public policy and thats official.