Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Denmark will close airspace (also Finland announced it). Looks like we may get an EU wide ban

They could do horrendous things to Ukraine, then focus on LNR and DNR (and keep some sort of Crimea landbridge) and then withdraw from the rest of Ukraine to claim victory in their "peacekeeping" mission on state TV.

Here's a very interesting analysis/explanation of the current state of the Russian military and why things aren't going so well for Vlad the Invader. It's a combination of corruption, incompetence, wishful thinking and stupid decisions. I would have found it hard to believe but snippets coming out of the Ukraine seem to bear it out. In short, the Russians appear to have taken every possible precaution against running a successful operation.

What chance of a kind of propaganda retreat? i.e. Putin essentially gives up on the rest of Ukraine, concentrates on Donbas, and says that was the entire goal all along? That pressure on Kyiv etc was to force Ukraine to give up the region.

No they cannot but I would expect that will change or at the very least we will offer to take about 5,000 to 10,000 refugees.

Everyman and their Dog knowing should have lead to contingency planning. But no that never happened because Germany have a needle in their arm and need their fix from Russia in the form of gas.

Wow, Germany just announced it's going to spend 100 billion rebuilding it's military, so it begins..

Eskimohunt. We've been through this before. Your solution to every problem can't just be just to stream more gay porn

The last thing Europe needs is a psychotic Russia trying to reform the Soviet Union.

156k refugees already in Poland. Massive queques (20 km) on the Ukaranian side as they have some flow problem as some of the board guards were delegated to fight. Polish side simplified procedures to get them in. People from different parts of Poland drive to border crossings to pick up random Ukrainians and take then home, take them to rented accommodation or a shelter. Hotels are offering hundreds of rooms. Some companies are renting houses to get the families of their Ukrainian employees. I know that one large company rented 200 houses.

Ukrainian cavils stopped a tank by gathering on front of it.

Polish volleyball team refused to play in Russia or against Russia/Belarus.

There are votes being gathered in Russia to start impeachment of Putin.

Poland also waived any visa requirements for Indian students caught in the war, so they can escape to a safe place.

I'm not sure what's the situation form the football World Cup qualifiers, but there are voices that Russia should be kicked in and Ireland taken instead :-)

This is not the 20th century, the Germans like the EU and are happy within NATO. This is a recognition that Russia as an actor cannot be trusted anymore.