And the Russian army will be stuck there until they eventually give up and leave. Even if at full strength they could do anything to Finland when it would likely bring in _at least_ Scandinavia, they will be completely incapable of any similar operation anywhere else for years
Valuable yes, but whether its valuable to Ukrainians doesnt mean we have to believe it. I agree re fog of war, you think in this day and age that things would be clearer but the amount of shite going around is worse than ever. The first week was full of videos from years ago reposted as if it was now. Videos from Donbas, drone strikes from Syria, the works. Its a mess.
Yeah I don't see how we can ever go back from this. How can Putin ever turn up at G7 meetings etc.
Boris called him a dictator. Even if they pulled out of Russia now, how can they even unwind the sanctions? "Hey Vlad, good man yourself, all about the invasion is forgotten and you can have all your assets back now"
Either that or FIFA gets disbanded. Their choice.
Fantasy stuff. They can't even take Ukraine, never mind the Finish, who gave the Russians a bloody nose in the past.
Unless the EU and NATO says Ukraine will never join, and abandons it to the same corrupt serfdom as Belarus, Putin isn't going to back off.
Saying Ukraine could join in 1 year, 5 years or 10 years is irrelevent to why Putin is there. He is there because that is the trajectory Ukraine are on.
It's about giving hope to Ukraine and a message of European solidarity.
It's hard to believe anything you seen on social media.
The amount of rubbish coming from both sides is ridiculous - even though a lot more seems to be coming from the Ukrainian side.
I don't think the Russians are even trying to compete on the propaganda side of things, they know they won't win that battle against the western media.
We're 4 days in. You haven't got a clue.
Would you not even dig a hole in a garden and put a bit of a corrugated iron over it?
Russian in the chair in thd UN just said they control Chernobyl because they were concerned about a 'dirty bomb' in Ukraine's hands. Atomic agency from Vienna is monitoring the site and the radiation remains low.
🙄
Well, that's where you're wrong, because I don't necessarily believe every piece of propaganda or stat coming out of Ukraine. I can, as I think most of us can, understand the phrase 'fog of war'. It's certainly been bandied about enough lately to really read up on it, anyway. My point is that if the story of the Ghost of Kiev rouses the Ukrainian side, it is valuable whether strictly true or not.
This is an escalating crisis with a potentially irrational actor on one side. There will (maybe) be time afterwards to look over the data and see who really did what, where and when. For now, we have to get off the fence.
We've already seen what he does to non-NATO members, so they better hurry up and join NATO then
What in the name of god, having seen the invasion of Ukraine, makes you think Russia is remotely capable of doing similar there?
This seems to be spiralling something serious. This amount of measures being taken and the rapid alignment of countries is like the start of section of a history book just after the introduction.
They look like people that could get the wheels in motion to start conversation around something. No doubt, very intelligent people in their own right. Body language is clearly saying WTF.
Right now, they are looking at it from the perspective of their own portfolios, but also they are asking questions internally of how it's at the point it's at. That's all on Putin.
Go on....ask me if I'm paid in Rubles or Rupees.....you know you want to, you comedic genius.
Another individual story:
"Until this week Daniel Mediakovskyi was a history student in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. Since Sunday, however, he has been sticking rubber bands and plastic tops on to home-made bombs. “It’s practical history. It’s time for this right now,” he explained, loading another molotov cocktail into a crate.
Around him, about a dozen students and young creative professionals stood around a makeshift table. All wore masks and washing-up gloves. Each had a role in a busy production line. The basement bomb factory smelled strongly of petrol and paint remover – two molotov ingredients, along with polystyrene and silver dust.
Mediakovskyi – who is 20 – said his mother had woken him early last Thursday to tell him Russia had invaded Ukraine. “I knew it was going to start. My hands started shaking,” he said. After spending a day doom-scrolling on social media, he decided he would try to help.
“My parents know I’m volunteering. I haven’t told my granny. She’s worried enough about things already,” he admitted. He acknowledged that a molotov wouldn’t stop the mighty Russian army. But he stressed: “It will break Russian soldiers mentally, and show them they are not welcome here.”"
Sky News reporting that FIFA are about to suspend Russian indefinitely
Russia has already said Finlands security and stability is tied to their stance on not joining Nato. If Finland go to join Nato, Russia will do similar there.
The reason they invaded is because the pro Russian government was toppled and they've been getting closer to the west.
The threat of Ukraine joining the EU isn't going to get them to back off, if anything it'll be worse because if they signed on the dotted line then they could bomb Ukraine into the 3rd world and leave the EU to pay for it.
I think it's a great move to show solidarity. Other European countries are next on the chopping block if Putin succeeds in Ukraine.
If you are annoyed with that stance from the EU, fine. We know for sure that weakness only encourages Putin, the only alternative is to be strong.
Well, I can only speak for myself but no contingencies can be made, because everyone gets wiped out - and there's an argument to be said you're better off going instantly in the initial nuclear blast than surviving during the fallout period.
His username suggests he has at least built up some useful survival skills for a postapocalyptic world...
Wonder what is the best Ukraine could accept in any deal because they are going to be slaughtered if this goes on .Waiting for Putin to be replaced looks like a long shot at the moment .Seems to me there is no way they will hold them off .
No worries - just thought I'd missed something. It will be big news if/when Turkey deny access to the black sea. No doubt there'll be retaliation on Turkey's Eastern border with Syria through Russian proxies.
The Russian subs are lurking near major targets all over no doubt in their state of heightened readiness, nothing unusual though. US ones do the same, as do the circling bombers over Poland and the Arctic. That's just what they do, sit there waiting for an order that never comes.
As one poster has already mentioned, you are indeed embarrassing yourself. You are posting with the glee and new-found wonder of a teenager excitedly playing Call of Duty all day while searching for soundbites on Wikipedia and, oh my, Galway Beo ( that pillar of Journism run by the same fantastic folks that run the bastion of hard hitting writing, Dublin Live).
Do give it a rest. We all know that the thoughts of needless destruction due to WMD's gives you a little stiffy but, as someone who has seen the wanton destruction of Russian forces from the wrong end, its not all the wide-eyed fascination you imagine it to be.
The majority of posters on this forum are well educated in the technicalities of the military arena without having to be 'educated", by yourself. No offence, like.
So the EU gets nothing out of it? Why are they so desperate for them to join then?
North Macedonia applied in 2004. Serbia applied in 2009. Not accepted yet, but Ukraine hasn't even applied and EU members are saying they should be allowed join?
Ukraine does not currently meet any criteria I can think of for membership of the EU bith societal and economic, it would take probably at least 20 years of development to get anywhere close.
They all know it's not realistic.
The EU are attempting to provoke a withdrawal of Russia from Ukraine without directly getting into an armed conflict.
Whether or not the EU will actually engage a fast-tracking process is a different discussion. But if starting to build such a process can force a Russian withdrawal without dragging anyone else into the conflict, then it should absolutely be looked at.
I don't see why the rest of the planet should take kid gloves with Putin at this stage and avoid trying to piss him off. Whatever can be done to push Russian forces back with minimal loss of life, should be done.
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