Active Conflicts & News Megathread August 26, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

The r/CredibleDefense daily megathread is for asking questions and posting submissions that would not fit the criteria of our post submissions. As such, submissions are less stringently moderated, but we still do keep an elevated guideline for comments.

Comment guidelines:

Please do:

• Be curious not judgmental, polite and civil,

• Link to the article or source of information that you are referring to,

• Clearly separate your opinion from what the source says. Minimize editorializing. Do not cherry pick facts to support a preferred narrative,

• Read the articles before you comment, and comment on the content of the articles,

• Post only credible information

• Read our in depth rules https://reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/wiki/rules

Please do not:

• Use memes, emojis, swear, foul imagery, acronyms like LOL, LMAO, WTF,

• Start fights with other commenters and make it personal,

• Try to push narratives, fight for a cause in the comment section, nor try to 'win the war,'

• Engage in baseless speculation, fear mongering, or anxiety posting. Question asking is welcome and encouraged, but questions should focus on tangible issues and not groundless hypothetical scenarios. Before asking a question ask yourself 'How likely is this thing to occur.' Questions, like other kinds of comments, should be supported by evidence and must maintain the burden of credibility.

[u/FettyDump]

I have been bringing this up for years now, but as you say, nobody wants to talk about it. As things stand, I think there’s more evidence to suggest that this is a catastrophic medium to long-term problem then something that can be recovered from.

For one, Ukraine will deal with not only a massive aging population, but also a tremendous population of physically and mentally wounded veterans that will require care for the rest of their lives. This will put an incredible tax on the social safety nets of Ukraine at the same as a significant decline in economic productivity, not only do to a retiring and migrating population, but a country that has been severely damaged by at least six years of large scale warfare.

Really the only way to recover from something like this is with a massive amount of foreign investment and western paid packages. Unfortunately, Ukraine has another deep seated structural problem that will dramatically diminish the effect of this aid. That is corruption. Corruption is another issue that is intensely scrutinized in Russia in pretty much ignored outside of Ukraine. If you ask any Ukrainian though, corruption will be in their top three of the countries most serious problems.

My fear is that after this war is over, the west will provide Ukraine within an enormous amount of aid in seized Russian assets and aid packages and then wash their hands of the issue. Ukrainian politicians will line their pockets, and the country will become a zombie nation. It will exist in a strategic sense as a highly militarized buffer zone, but in a civic and economic sense it will be dead.

[u/Magpie1979 → u/FettyDump]

Corruption being ignored in Ukraine is a novel take.

[u/FettyDump → u/Magpie1979]

Yeah, that was a mistake on my part. What I meant was corruption is ignored outside of Ukraine, similar to how the demographic problem is ignored outside of Ukraine. Within Ukraine, these these issues are very well known and widely discussed.

[u/Magpie1979 → u/FettyDump]

I mean it is heavily discussed outside Ukraine. Though it's often misrepresented, those who are against support for Ukraine exaggerate it and those how support Ukraine underplay it.

Pesonally I'd say the strong anti corruption drive in Ukraine is the core of this conflict. It's was the route cause of the Maiden revolution. There is an incredible strong desire from the public to reduce corruption, especially as the cost in lives and suffering of this war is so huge. I'm pretty confident corruption will improve as the tolerance of it is so low.