Since this is a sports related thread I was only admiring this Polish girl's excellent lung capacity meaning she is able to run long distances without getting tired. I wonder what some of you naughty people thought I was referring to ๐
The fact that the Russians have progressed slowly now and last year and the year before last does not mean that they will progress just as slowly in one year and two years from now. When the forcibly mobilized become the majority in the Ukrainian army, it will be a general collapse.
Russia has launched a new initiative to combat the white plague. The fertility rate in Russia is 1.45. Much lower than the 2.1 needed to sustain the population. Peskov said that the low fertility rate is the biggest and most terrible problem in the world today. Russia has created a "Demographic Council" headed by Valentina Matvienko who Putin placed to be in charge. The council's goal is to implement the demographic so-called "Action Strategy". The strategy is being implemented in two stages. The first from 2025-2030 and the second from 2030-2035. Some of the measures of the first stage that have come into force are an increase in maternity leave, financial rewards for grandparents, financial assistance to female students aged 18-24 who will be paid more than the Russian average salary each month if they have a child, and the provision of many tax breaks for families with three or more children. Another measure is the promotion of a "family lifestyle" through schools, media and advertising. A ban on "propaganda of a childless life" has also come into force, with those found guilty of it facing fines of 400,000 rubles ($4,100) for individuals and 5 million rubles ($51,000) for legal entities.
Also, starting next school year, all Russian elementary and secondary schools will start a program and subject called "family studies" that will teach about the importance of family values, large families, marriage, and chastity. Nina Ostanina, who heads the committee of the program's authors, stated that the values โโof family life are constantly and systematically attacked by destructive ideologies that children and young people are slowly succumbing to.
The new subject "Family Studies" will be divided into 5 topics:
1. Individual, family, and society: Why children are important for both individuals and society.
2. My relatives: The importance of relationships with siblings and grandparents and how to explore one's own family background
3. Home: Why it is important to have a stable home and how to achieve it, and the advantages and disadvantages of young families living with their parents.
4. Home atmosphere: What creates a healthy home environment and what keeps families together (according to the program's authors, the answer is children). Why a healthy lifestyle is important. (Encourages students to discuss topics such as love, loyalty, and honesty)
5. Modern family and their rights: How marriage works in Russia, what social benefits, financial assistance they are entitled to, and the rights and responsibilities of parents and children. The course will also discuss topics such as: What does it mean to be a parent? Divorce and its consequences.
Furthermore, the authorities have tightened abortion procedures. Advertising and promoting abortion is prohibited. Many private clinics have stopped performing abortions. Abortion pills can now only be purchased with a doctor's prescription. State television has also started advertising anti-abortion content, and the Russian Orthodox Church has spoken out against abortion much more frequently and vehemently.
Demographic experts in Russia have praised all the measures but have reminded us that the main problem with demography is cultural and spiritual in nature, not economic. Changing perceptions of motherhood and fatherhood is key and will take time to change, but with significant state support, they expect positive developments, predicting fertility in Russia at 1.6 by 2030 and 1.8 by 2035.
It is said that if Ukraine rejected the peace deal, Russia would go on ahead even further and claim all of Novorossiya, including Odessa, Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov
the "road of death" in the Kursk region, through which the Ukrainian army retreated to Ukraine. You can see a lot of destroyed Ukrainian equipment, especially armored vehicles.
the third captured howitzer M777 near Sudzha
the American Abrams on its way to Moscow
well, this doesn't look like a retreat, but a total rout.