Sorry again, no proof, no confirmation by Ukraine Mod, just a stating that they 'may' be alive. And of course all this being dependant on Russia telling the truth.
🤦
I said this you know. The volunteering is all well and good when it comes to medical aid and food etc. But the fighting should be left to trained soldiers. Stories of men being turned away from the border because they are of military age is really disturbing and shouldn't be happening. Having untrained men and kids with guns could cause more damage in the long run and will only actually add to the Ukraines casualty count.
Yep and for them for perfectly good reasons too. To the Russian/Soviet mind, or the world at the time for that matter, Ukraine didn't even exist as a nation until it was created as a Soviet republic in 1920. Before that it was a land of near yearly shifting borders and allegiances fought over by the Poles, the Ottomans, the Russians. It was Russia/Soviet Union that gave the area its sense of nationhood, heavily encouraged that and really copper fastened things in a terrible way when comrade Stalin starved them out. Hitler added to that sense of nationhood too. To the Russian mindset they see Ukraine as an odd mix of theirs and not theirs(Georgia would be similar). Ukraine courting the EU and especially NATO for the Russian mind is hard to fathom and they see that as a direct threat to Mother Russia and the Czar that runs it.
If you allow that (1) he doesn't care about any else, and (2) he reckons he's not long for the world and playing some high stakes games - even if they do result in him taking out the rest of the world with him - before he goes would be pretty entertaining, it might not be so wildly irrational.
I think with the EU's backing they could fend of the Russians now. The longer this plays out, and we are talking days not weeks, Putin has some difficult decisions to make. Flatten Kiev or save the Russian economy.
Nothing is confirmed in that article at all. Its based on the word of the RUSSIAN MINISTRY of Defence.
I think most people see waving nuclear war around as a stick as the actions of insanity. A person can be extremely intelligent and insane at the same time.
Putin's reasons for doing what he's doing does not make what he is doing that of a rational human being. I don't think anybody takes comfort in thinking Putin is insane, in fact thats what worries me the most. A rational thinking person does not fire nuclear warheads because they arent getting what they want.
Thanks, worked purrfectly.
Ukraine don't need to "win", they just need to grind out a stalemate while the Russian economy collapses.
We aren't in the same situation as Russia. Their currency value has fallen 20%-30% in a day, their stock market plunged up to 40% (which is a record I believe), their central bank has had it's foreign assets frozen, that's over 600 billion worth. They are being heavily sanctioned by most of the key economies in the world, an economic and financial pariah. We will of course take a hit from this, but nothing like what Russia is currently experiencing and will experience if it keeps up the invasion.
Bit weird you need a peer reviewed report for that. If the WHO says it could be a possibility, how is that not good enough for you?
I distinctly remembered governments around the world putting restrictions in place due to Omicron when no one knew much about it. Where were the peer reviewed reports then?
The alt right dogs are out to praise Putin. They will support and defend his ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Ukrainian people. What sort of bullshit is it to try and deny Ukrainian nationality. Don't waste your time arguing with these people.
Yeah it'll be impossible for them to occupy it and control it when it's such a big country
Wibbs, I would not be so sure that Putin isn't a lunatic at this point. There is no rational explanation for the force of his actions.
To the western liberal mindset I would agree Tomalak. To the old style Russian/Soviet/Czarist mindset it's quite rational. The Russian economy is there to serve him and his. Him and his also have many many billions in gold and non rubles, so they can wait things out and take the long view. Their people are essentially a mass of worker bees and cannon fodder and have been for centuries, warped to that role by the propaganda of patriotism and religion, whether that be Orthodox or Soviet, or the curious mix of both in modern Russia. The Western concept of liberal democracy is for the 'Russian mind', just that, a concept.
Czar Putin the Botoxed has ultimate power and riches and he sees Ukraine as a threat and he's exercising his power and throne old style. Just because we gave up on those kind of notions(for the most part) post WW2 doesn't mean everyone else has. The dismal failures of Western overreach from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan shows pretty clearly that others don't hold our views of what nations should be.
It's worth noting that the Yanks might have an eye to China in all this, making an example of Russia will ensure that they send a message to China regarding the financial consequences of military action against Taiwan and that Europe will back them up to return the favour
The Russian economy tanking is something he cannot hide from the populace. No amount of propaganda on state telly can hide the fact that ordinary Russians can't put food on the table or heat themselves.
Maybe he'll lower the price of vodka like he did in 2015...
Do you " hold our views of what nations should be"?
What ethnic cleansing and genocide? Do you have any actual proof of this?
I think most people see waving nuclear war around as a stick as the actions of insanity.
Or very good tactics to make his enemies think and maybe blink.
Yes and the EU openly saying they want them in the EU etc doesn't help matters. You can see why Putin etc would view the west as a problem. They view the west as pulling Ukraine away from them, a country that has historic and cultural ties to Russia.
And if he uses nukes, its ok because he believes what he is doing is correct ? Destroying the world for Russia is not insane because he believes it.
Delaying armageddon!
The rouble is worth $0.10 today. Down 30% from yesterday, and 75% from 2008.
Good thing Russia is an exporter.
Edit: yep my brain isn't working this morning.
In the future, how will we know what propaganda is? We will have lost the standard measure in RT to compare against.
If all similar propaganda is filtered down and we are left with one global news source,how will we know they are not employing propaganda?
It's best to deal with a devil we can see.
It can't be down 400% and still be positive...
Or he'll frame it in again old style rhetoric of "look now, you Russians who looked to the West. See how they repay you. See how they hate us and our Mother Russia for defending our borders and our people from their warmongering and greedy capitalism and liberal ideals". And so forth. Russian elites have never cared about their population beyond keeping them subdued. The majority of them were serfs and indentured slaves until the 20th century. They revolted and killed their czar, only to continue to put czar after czar in his place since.
Of course I do, being a Western liberal. Stupid question really.
No I think it helps greatly. His great misadventure has blown up in his face. IMHO Ukraine joining the EU is the bigger nightmare situation for Putin and his junta. If the Ukrainians visibly raise their standard of living it will be noticed by the general population in Russia. If they see their cousins in the Ukraine having a better life than them then they will rightly ask "why is this?" and ask serious questions about what their leaders are up to.
It appears from the last week not only have Putin and his parasites syphoned off massive revenues from Russian State resources they even have leeched off monies that were supposed to arm the country. I wonder where the billions spend on the so-called vapourware Russian "Wunderwaffen" have gone.
Its obviously not been invested in the Russian armed forces. Maybe one of the shocked Generals at the long table yesterday has a nice fat swiss bank account?
What makes you think he will actually use nuclear weapons other than "because I reckon so"?
Nuclear weapons in the modern age are a deterrent - nobody will mess with you if they fear a nuclear retaliation. Nobody wins once nuclear weapons are used because it becomes a free-for-all and everyone gets nuked. Putin knows that, NATO know that, the Chinese know that, even Kim Jong Un knows that.
What evidence do you have to suggest Putin will actually use a nuclear weapon?
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