re: Russia is now taking out Wheat Fields in Ukraine. By the balls he holds the world

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By the balls he holds the world

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Regardless of the results in Ukraine, Putin will have no balls left after this war. Russia will be crippled economically and his own people will hold him in contempt. No one in the world will fear Russia anymore, and NATO and the EU will be stronger.

I would be surprised if Putin was in office 4 years from now or alive in 10.

stiff sentences should be given to those hardened war criminals.

We can grow enough wheat here to feed the world if there’s a profit in it for producers.

Love Stoli

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Putin is outsmarting Biden at every turn

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I just don't get this sentiment, except that the pro-Russian folks are blinkered when it comes to Putin.

Putin amassed a $630 billion war chest anticipating sanctions, and then left half of it parked in Western banks as his troops rolled into Ukraine.

Reuters - reserves frozen

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. . . The sanctions froze around $300 billion of Russia's $640-billion gold and forex reserves, its finance ministry said earlier in March. . . .

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NYT - Cites to where reserves were kept

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. . . Putin saved up over $600 billion in gold, foreign government bonds and foreign currency, earned from all of Russia’s energy and mineral exports, precisely so he would have a cushion if he were sanctioned by the West. But Putin apparently forgot that in today’s wired world, as is standard practice, his government had deposited most of it in the banks of Western countries and China.

According to the Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center, the top six nations where Russian central bank foreign currency assets are stowed by percentage are: China, 17.7 percent; France, 15.6 percent; Japan, 12.8 percent; Germany, 12.2 percent; U.S., 8.5 percent; and Britain, 5.8 percent. Also, the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund have 6.4 percent.

Each of these countries, except China, has now frozen the Russian reserves it is holding — so around $330 billion is inaccessible to Putin, according to the Atlantic Council’s tracker. But not only can the Russian state not touch those reserves to prop up its crumbling economy, there will be a huge global push to tap this money to pay reparations to rebuild the Ukrainian homes, apartment buildings, roads and government structures the Russian Army destroyed in Putin’s war of choice.
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Russia's GDP is around 1.48 trillion, so that $300 billion or so amounts to over 20% of a year's GDP frozen because of that blunder.

Agriculture makes up 5% of Russia's GDP, so that gaffe amounts to 4 years of Russia's entire agricultural output gone simply because Putin didn't think the reserves would be frozen (given we didn't go that far when Russia took Crimea).

Wiki - Economy of Russia

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. . . Russia's agriculture sector contributes about 5% of the country's total GDP, although the sector employs about one-eighth of the total labour force. . . .

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It's hard to overstate how stupid Putin was leaving 20% of a year's GDP in his enemies' laps when sanctions were obviously going to be the response by the West.

It's like he's playing the card game war, and everyone else is playing checkers.

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I was wondering where Russian had gotten off to.

When he returns from his forays, hopefully he'll rejoin the board.

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If you are talking about me, then I have not disappeared. I just do not have enough letters on the keyboard to refute the nonsense of the crazy media. I alone against the army of liars can not cope.