• flandish@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    hot take: trusting a gov to provide war stats is silly. govs have got a documented history of fucking stats or downright lying.

    • Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 hour ago

      True, but Ukraine has had a very good track record of providing correct information, usually backed up with video too.

      Could they go rogue and start lying? Sure, but as it stands now (they have been reporting the truth for many years), it needs IMO something showing they actually lie. And that proof just doesn’t seem to exist.

    • Burstar@sopuli.xyzM
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      11 hours ago

      It’s not so much ‘trust’ as ‘acceptance’ that they are the best source available keeping realtime track of, and reporting, what they are doing. The MOD reports are understood to be the upper bound of what actually happened, not the gospel truth. Nobody will have even remotely accurate numbers until years after russia has withdrawn and the war is over, Fog of War being what it is.

      Until then, saying “I don’t trust these numbers” is noise. We work within the limitations of what is available. As such, the trend of an increase in reported numbers is itself a noteworthy change and supports the articles message regardless of whether it is only 75 or actually 77.

      • flandish@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        i can see that. sure. fair. but knowing that we wont know real numbers puts a clamp if distrust on all of them, to me i suppose.

        knowing now that the US lied about the gulf of tonkin, back then, doesnt help me trust what they say now. they also lied about the casualty numbers and operations. (in vietnam)

        anyway i appreciate the actual reply. my rambling is irrelevant. thanks!