Since a long time ago, and a very long time at that, ordinary Russians do not believe a word that they hear from the state controlled media.....and all other media is banned.
Yeah, it's not just the 20 or so years of Putin, it's far longer than that. Hearing year after year about record grain harvests while shelves get emptier, friends, coworkers and acquaintances disappearing, all that stuff is in parts of the Russian psyche. Older people would've been cynical about positive change in the 90s and many were proven right.
I have answered. Nuclear war is not the only kind of war. As for why anyone would want to attack; it does not matter. Wars are not started by 'nations' fighting nations. And what most Russians want is irrelevant. Wars are started by people with power using nationalists, 'patriots', fanatics, pawns, 'useful idiots'...to do their bidding.
Who has the power? Banks, intelligence services. Putin himself might be the biggest bot of all.
@Fiery mutant Research how wall street financed the Nazi rise to power. Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler - the history of banks who funded Nazis (bastabalkana.com)
As a permanent member of the UN it's very surprising indeed.
They are basically shelling Ukraine, from stolen Ukrainian territory via proxy, and playing the victim to fabricated false attacks - in order to provoke a pretext for an invasion of that country. They really just don't give a **** about global opinion any more.
That is interesting. Would have expected opinions (behind closed doors/with people they trust?) might have changed somewhat. I did have some exposure to a few in Ireland through work but it was a long time ago (> 10 years). A fair bit has happened since then however.
At that time the small sample seemed to be pleased with Putin & his leadership. Russian economy was growing, they thought he was a good, strong leader (but not a tyrant) putting some overdue manners on the arrogant oligarchs/businessmen and bringing Russian self respect + patriotism back after chaos of collapse of USSR and then Yeltsin.
I think this was before Putin had fully established his position as a dictator (the Alpha-Oligarch rather than ender of oligarchy I suppose) who stamps on all dissent, before he took his current very negative turn against the West/US/EU eventually resulting in sanctions etc., and before onset of economic stagnation.
I have wondered lately what they think of him & his period of rule now given what is happening (if they haven't gone home).
The rest of the world doesn't "want" war in this scenario. It will drive up oil prices, markets will plunge, there will be instability, bad for economies trying to recover from the pandemic, bad for everyone, a complete headache. The inevitable sanctions will also bite the countries that have to hand them out.
In 2014, Moscow caught NATO/US/Europe with it's pants down, they completely out-maneuvered everyone via the element of surprise. This time, by pre-empting what Russia could do, it takes away that critical element of surprise. Personally I don't think Putin will invade because it doesn't make sense, but all the pieces are in place for that, all the red flags are there, all the shenanigan's in Donbas that were predicted are happening. They are literally shelling Ukraine from Ukraine to provoke them into retaliating, while a massive invasion force surrounds their country. Whether the invasion goes ahead or not, it's critical that the world is prepared for that reality, rather than unprepared and caught by surprise.
To be fair mine is a small sample size and a pretty narrow age demographic with it. There are no younger Russians in the mix really. The people I'd know would also be fairly religious and very socially conservative on top. One of them believes Chernobyl was a CIA plot to bring down the Soviet Union.
‘Positive change in the 90s’ 🙄
If only you knew what went on.
A few years later Putin was Leveling cities , towns and villages in Chechnya
And apartment blocks in Moscow.
Latest Ukrainian population statistics are now out. Both themselves and Russia are in a complete demographic collapse:
Ukraine
2020:
Births 293,457
Deaths 616,835
Natural increase -323,378
2021
Births 271,984 (-7.32%)
Deaths 714,263 (+15.79%)
Natural increase -442,279
Could somebody who knows about the following sort of stuff please clarify.
What nuclear weapons are in Europe, where exactly are they, and how are they delivered?
From a quick internet search, it would seem that the US has six sites in five countries in Europe where nuclear weapons are stored - in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the southern part of Turkey. All these locations are over 2,000 kilometres from Moscow.
What about other European countries, what nukes do they have?
How many nukes are in the Baltic countries, Poland, Hungary, Romania etc? Is it a correct assumption that it is 0?
What about Russia? What nukes are in Kaliningrad? Where are the rest of them stored and what is the delivery method?
I see Belarus is staging a "referendum" (deliberate use of inverted commas) next Sunday. From what I can see, the main upshot of this will be that Belarus will be used to host Russian nuclear weapons.
it would be interesting to see the emigration statistics on top of those - as that would paint an even bleaker picture
It’s simply not true that Stalin was catatonic or drinking himself to death for the first two weeks of the German invasion. He retreated to his dacha for 2 days following the fall of Minsk. Likely as a ruse to determine if he maintained the support of the party.
The Soviet leadership did certainly drink excessively during the war but Stalin was in the hapenny place compared to Churchill’s drinking.
The only one who didn't drink of course was Hitler.
Not sure what conclusions we can draw here!
Yes, emigration is destroying them too. Hard to get accurate statistics on the levels though.
I'd agree with some commentators that what we are seeing now is partially due to a closing window of opportunity in terms of a viable young healthy demographic being available for war.
Ukraine really has to stop all these continuous provocative attacks and incursions into Russian controlled Ukraine, it's almost like they want to be invaded by a nuclear-armed superpower that also happens to be surrounding them by land, sea and air, with a massive invasion ready force ;)
the majority of nukes are on submarines. Where in the world those submarines are is anybody’s guess.
So that would seem to render null and void any so called Russian "concerns" about NATO?
Im not sure. What’s their problem with nato again? 😂
Suppose Putin doesn't want to read Americans new stealth bombers went into production today
There certainly can be elements of just what you described alright, down to the quackery. And these would be bright and educated(there and here) people. Though they know quite the number of people back home who have done well, in some cases very well and above board with it. From what I can gather there are at least two Russias. Moscow and outside Moscow(and other big cities) being one example. It's such a huge nation with so many sub cultures it's far too complex to put in boxes. Like the US of A. In the latter you have bright lights, big cities, Hometown Square State, the American Dream(TM) and in other places levels of poverty that wouldn't be out of place in the third world and the American Nightmare(TM).
dont post this on any Russian sites, they will have too much inside information
They haven't made any credible case as to why they would have a legitimate problem with NATO.
All the choreographed nonsense out of Russia today seems to indicate that the final stages of the pre-war checklist are being ticked off, one by one. The Americans likewise seem quite adamant that Putin has decided on war.
Obviously I hope I'm wrong...I think we're now in the final countdown though.
It would seem that it is Europe that should be furiously demanding security guarantees from Russia, not the the way around. Kaliningrad is at the heart of Europe.
A few journalists are reporting that their sources are saying the picture is grim and it's only a matter of time.
I agree. They really, really, really have a bee in their bonnet about Ukraine. Are they just jealous of them making new friends or what?
“NATO has added new members eight times since its foundation, in 1949, with a current total of 30 members. Twelve countries took part in the founding of NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1952, Greece and Turkey became members of the Alliance, joined later by West Germany (in 1955) and Spain (in 1982). In 1990, with the reunification of Germany, NATO grew to include the former country of East Germany. Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums for regional cooperation between NATO and its neighbours were set up, including the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. In 1997, three former Warsaw Pact countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO. After this fourth enlargement in 1999, the Vilnius group of the Baltics and seven East European countries formed in May 2000 to cooperate and lobby for further NATO membership. Seven of these countries joined in the fifth enlargement in 2004. The AdriaticStates Albania and Croatia joined in the sixth enlargement in 2009, Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020.”
What I find incredible is when I hear interviews from citizens of The Ukraine is how calm they seem about the whole thing. I know if it was me I'd be terrified but the people of The Ukraine seem to be getting on with daily life. Hopefully they know something we don't.
We were in the final countdown last week, sure Wednesday morning at 4am was to be the invasion
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