PikaPilot

The real "fuel" in warfare since the biggest attritional conflict on Earth has proven to be men and artillery.

Unfortunately, Russia has plenty of both, but the winter should heavily deplete the russian forces of the former since infantry equipment has been in shortage.

On the other hand, Russia is a nation of people who are used to cold winters... e.g., it shouldn't be too hard for families to find enough winter jackets lying around the house to keep their sons alive.

Russia is nowhere near the "tipping point" of total collapse, but they lost the offensive initiative months ago. It will likely be a slow, painful series of months until Ukraine can retake all their territory back.

Russia will only give up when Putin cannot politically afford the conflict. If it reaches that point, he'll either be dead or in a Venezuelan exile.

I heard that a couple of years ago during the civil war, utilities like water and electricity were rationed, even in the cities. Was this true? Is it still the case? Has the civil war died down since?

The government of Congo is the entity selling this cobalt, companies are just forced to buy it because the Congo has 90% of the world's supply, and cobalt is the most expensive material by weight in modern batteries because of this. The DRC pockets the money from the cobalt.

You and everyone in this entire thread may care about havIng no Congolese cobalt in the products you buy, but 90% of people want to buy a phone with as much battery life as possible without having to pay more for a heavier, bulkier, and inferior product.