Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Sunny Disposition

Not an expert on Russia by any means, but I find their behaviour on the world stage chilling. Plus Putin is a thug on a personal level.
It seems to be a very different culture. Through business I've encountered a few Russians and find them very different to westerners, tougher, less sympathetic.
Guys I know who did business in Russia hated it, very high level of corruption, can't get things done in the same way as in western countries.

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Russia has serious issues. Their population is declining by almost a million people a year. Demographically this will weaken them massively, on the other hand this may also make them take more aggressive actions.

Gatling

Aniya Inexpensive Tweet wrote: »

Russia has serious issues. Their population is declining by almost a million people a year. Demographically this will weaken them massively, on the other hand this may also make them take more aggressive actions.

They also have an increasing Chinese population ,in Siberia locals are concerned that China could well pull a Putin and send troops to protect this citizens (not ever likely to happen).
But look at the last 100 years of history in Russia , despot leader's who killed tens of millions of their own people in various purges to hang on to power ,and a security service kgb (fab) keeping any decent to a absolute minimum , near 100 years of paranoia about the west wanting to surround and invade them ,
Corruption is rife in daily life , from average Joe on the street to putin himself,
There's people in Russia who want Eastern Europe to Berlin back under occupation ,

randd1

It should be renamed from the Russian Federation to the Russian Legitimate Businessman's Federation.

Their government is little more than a ridiculously well armed criminal enterprise at this stage.

You need only look at the HSE hack. Not the first time either, other countries, corporations and bodies have been hit by Russian mobster. It can't have gone on this long and this successfully without Government assistance.

The sooner they fall off a cliff the better.

Hasschu

According to Le Monde (French newspaper) Russia has brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan which was finalised earlier today Nov. 16th 2021.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118178614#Comment_118178614

They broker multiple peace deals with their own forces and Ukraine multiple times which they went on to break themselves .

Shao Kahn

Beautiful country. I've met many cool Russian people, with a great underrated sense of humor.

Not perfect by any means, but they get unfair treatment from western media at times.

It's becoming pretty clear that they had nothing to do with the US election result. I wouldn't be holding my breath for anyone to issue an apology to the Russian people for this (apparent) deliberate slandering of their nation.

Does Putin not seem eminently sane whenever you see him talk?..

SupplyandDemandZone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118178948#Comment_118178948

Agree fantastic people and country. The propaganda directed at them over the years is pathetic.

As for people wanting them to fall off a cliff yeah that's what we want a nuclear armed country falling off a cliff. That'll end well 🙄

Jequ0n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118178972#Comment_118178972

Unlike counterparts in most western countries he knows what he is doing and doesn’t need excuses. Unsurprisingly this scares the masses and explains the obsession with finding shocking newsworthy stories that happen in the largest country in the world.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118178972#Comment_118178972

I agree he does seem very sane and refreshingly sentient. But then his actions are jarring. Like the troops build up in the Ukraine. Or the cyber attacks on the West. Or his apparent tolerance for the Belarus nutjob with his weaponised migrants scheme.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118179603#Comment_118179603

But like, haven't the west being trying to destabilise the Ukraine for a while?..

He flat out denied that they were behind the cyber attacks in one interview I saw..

I don't know about Belarus..

Mad_maxx

Russia was never a democracy, it never went through a liberal transformation like western Europe, culturally it's very different, Russians have always liked a "strong man " leader .

It's less of a threat to the world than China by a distance

Gatling

The question that has to be asked what happens when putin is gone ,can't see anyone else coming through thats as dangerous as he is ,

Look at Ukraine as above ,close to 100,000 russian troops on the border ,now according to Russia they are not involved in Ukraine ,yet 2 weeks ago the Ukrainian army blew up an artillery gun that was in an area of Ukraine firing at Ukrainian military ,they used a drone to hit it , fairly quickly an artillery bombardment was launched inside of Russia again targeting Ukrainian military ,

This nonsense he needs the 100,000 troops to stop an invasion by nato needs to be publicly called out ,or call he his bluff and move NATO forces in big numbers into Ukraine and let NATO take control of security for Ukrainian airspace and borders

Hello 2D Person Below

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117509190#Comment_117509190

A truly dismal summation of Russia, its history and its people.

Russia's 'paranoia' goes back a lot longer than 100 years. They have good reason to be wary because they've been fighting off invasions for 1,000 years, from west to east. As for your aforementioned 100 years; they fought in World War 1, World War 2, had a half-century long Cold War that could have ended humanity at any moment and recently have seen the increased circling of NATO on its borders. "Paranoia"?

Corruption is rife among the average Russia...a scurrilous accusation.

There's people in USA who want the return of slavery.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117508934#Comment_117508934

Source? Wiki tells me that although deaths exceed births it’s compensated for by immigration. Not unlike most of the west. The population has increased since 2010 but did decline 2019-2020. Not by 1 million though

i’ve noticed that even though there’s a huge omerta about fertility levels in the west (which are dire) it’s only used as an attack on China and Russia.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118179829#Comment_118179829

They have a growing population of foreign nationals living and working there in some cases illegally ,the Chinese population is supposedly several times the official figures ,in Siberia there has been calls to limit the number of Chinese coming out of fears they could do a Putin and send troops to protect their citizens ( doubt it would ever be possible )

lenny palmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118179787#Comment_118179787

Most countries have been invaded over time on many occasions. The whole map of Europe has changed numerous times as I'm sure has most of the middle East and the far east. Even over the past 20 years maps in Eastern Europe have changed, the Western part has settled down it seams. Most of Western Europe are not paranoid about being invaded like the Russian seem to be. Or as the countries around Russia seem to be, but these countries are worried that Russia will be the invaders

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118179633#Comment_118179633

But what does Russia fear exactly with regard to Ukraine? "Destabilising" Ukraine by giving them moral support and encouraging democracy is a long way from threatening Russia.

Nobody is going to be thinking of invading Russia anytime soon so why the paranoia of "the West"?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118179918#Comment_118179918

Take a look at their borders, and then look at western nations. We have buffer states between us and most trouble. Russia covers a huge area with many unstable nations nearby.

As for fear, the US has allies and bases all around Russia. Their strategy of containment gives plenty of reasons to be fearful... especially for Russians who have no common trust in the US the way European nations have. There is no historical friendships, or alliances. No commonality between cultures. And they've seen US aggression across the globe, and the near constant propaganda coming from Western nations about Russian behavior (whether real or not). They've as much to fear from the US and it's allies, as China does. Which is reasonable in my mind.. considering that the US is a warmonger with a huge reliance on it's military production to keep it's economy afloat.

Look at the US and European behavior over the last four decades, not as an European or Irish person.. and you'll appreciate that there's plenty to be wary about.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118179953#Comment_118179953

It is when they want Ukraine returned to Russian control. Do you think the US would tolerate Texas being independent on their borders, or demand that it rejoin the union, because of historical borders, and the resources it contains? You know well that the US would do anything to retain control over its states, including warfare.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118179787#Comment_118179787

Corruption is rife among the average Russia...a scurrilous accusation.

It is commonplace... however, I would point out that while Northern Europe is relatively clear of corruption, both the US and our Southern European nations are very corrupt. Italy, Spain, Greece. Anyone crying out about Russian corruption is obviously ignoring them. Just as the US is a wealth based culture with the power firmly in their control, with voter fraud, and manipulation of voter districts... There could hardly be the systematic discrimination directed at African Americans, without there being ongoing corruption. Hell, just look at the personal wealth of US presidents between entering and leaving office... oh no, that must all have been acquired legally and without any compromising efforts. Remember the Clintons with their Charity efforts? Oh, no, that's not an indication of corruption in the land of the free.

I've noticed a willingness to ignore the corruption/negatives within western nations, while doing everything that can be done to show the corruption/negatives of non-western nations. Double standards abound when we compare western nations to those who are on the **** list.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118180926#Comment_118180926

Are you equating Ukraine being in the USSR to Texas being in the USA?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118178972#Comment_118178972

Controversial, but I like him on a lot of issues. Not everything.

Listen to some of his interviews with Russian media. Really insightful, direct, addresses questions, hates this modern Western wokeness, The interviews can last for 3-4 hours at a time. I can't imagine any Western leader, Martin, Biden, Johnson etc. being able to do anything similar. He's also unapologetically pro-Russian, something I would be stunned with if any Western leader came out and said about their own country.

I'm aware he can be criticized on a number of fronts as well.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118180926#Comment_118180926

But yet nobody in Ukraine wants to be forcibly returned to Russia, Crimea barely had a russian majority ,who previously ignored a free russian passport drive,

Russian military takes to the streets a sham election where in most places 110% of the population voted to join russia,

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118181101#Comment_118181101

Yeah, that's what I'm saying..

Seems completely reasonable, intelligent, and understanding of the realities of diplomacy..

My views on Crimea are totally biased because I know someone there very well and they were very happy with it. There was a pretty big ethnic Russian population there. Historically, it's Russian only leaving it in 1954. The people I know were not particularly pro-Ukraine at all.

I think Putin is a pretty abhorrent man but he does come across very well as a leader. There was a famous video of him talking about American installations in eastern Europe and the effect it was having on relations. You'd be hard pushed so find such an honest and forceful dialogue in many other leaders, who say one thing and do another.

As always, when you live in one of these places and see how normal everyone actually is, the scaremongering becomes tiring. I'm surrounded by three tables of "commies" as I type this and they're having more craic than most groups of people in Ireland would be having on a Wednesday night.

My best friend moved to Moscow recently and says it's great. I can't wait to visit St. Petersburg and Moscow in the next few years. Some of my older colleagues studied there, and some people in my girlfriend's family, and they all have good things to say.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118180926#Comment_118180926

The time to sort that out was 30 years ago when the USSR collapsed. Ukraine gained its independence along with several other states. The case is closed. There should be no need in this day and age for aggression in that part of the world. The Cold War is over. Time for everyone to move on.

Yeah, Northern Ireland was done and dusted a hundred years ago. Time to move on.

Or does it become more complicated when 65% identify as from another country.

I tend to base most of my impression of Russia on mid 19th century literature I've realised..

Communism probably hardened them and made them more cynical, but I get the impression the old Russian spirit is on the way back for some reason..

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118181083#Comment_118181083

Not really. Its more to do with how the nations concerned would react, and their perception on things. To Russians, Ukraine is part of Russia.. the same way that Americans would look at Texas.