Ukraine has proven that they know how to defend their land.
20% of that territory, 19% of which was taken initially when the Ukrainians were still denying that Russia was doing anything beyond training exercises.
Since fall 2022, Ukraine has taken back far more territory than it has lost (All of Kherson and most of Kharkiv oblasts).
I don't think any level of rebuilding their armed forces is going to get Russia any closer to taking over Ukraine. They are woeful at combined arms and they can't fly their planes near the border without risking them getting shot down.
All they can do is literally inch along while blasting shit with inaccurate artillery fire and flamethrower TOS systems.
Yes, Russia hasn't made many territorial gains since 2022, but that's because of the support Ukraine has received, not in spite of it. Dropping it would be disastrous. This war started in 2014, not 2022, and we shouldn't discount what has happened before 2022. Ukraine has been fighting this war for a decade. The world fucked up by letting Russia waltz in in 2014, and we're seeing the fruits of our lack of labor. It's a fucking powder keg in Ukraine, and Putin has no intentions of stopping his territorial ambitions in Ukraine and elsewhere. It's loose cannon shit, I've taken a deep dive into this guy. He's on a Manifest Destiny kick and it won't stop until he dies, and even then it could conceivably get worse. Let's not make that mistake of letting more shit happen before it gets out of hand. Russia needs to be neutered or they need a revolution.
I hope we all realize that many great disasters have been avoided over time because of people and efforts that keep them from happening. It is nearly impossible to gauge ROI on the security measures that have prevented things from happening. Climate science, surgeon general warnings on cigarette boxes, COVID transmission protocols, etc, they all fall under this umbrella. Real warning signs present themselves, people do something about it, the thing that we were warned about doesn't present itself to the extreme. That's a GOOD thing, not evidence of lies, conspiracies, or anything of the sort. Shit happens, we hopefully catch it early, and shit gets taken care of before a head gasket blows. That's fucking progress and it's the right thing to do for the future. Of course the process isn't going to be perfect all the time, and there will be questions, but we can't let perfect be the enemy of good. This is a long haul, not a drag race. Global security is a very real thing that is essential. This quagmire in Ukraine qualifies as essential. Trust.
