The great thing about accusing others of whataboutery and deflection is that it avoids the need to ever place events in context.
The problem for him is what happens after this, presuming he stays in charge.
Are the west just going to forget what he got up to?
A very cynical part of me says a lot of people on both sides would prefer to get back to business as usual.
This could be the prelude to something bigger.
This thread is about the Russia and has become the defacto thread for the Russia/Ukraine war. If you want to talk about other stuff, cool, I suggest opening up a thread, e.g. "Virtue signalling and why human suffering is a competition" or whatever apt title.
If this is true, it's pretty surprising considering how weak the Ukraine airforce is in comparison to RU forces
It was a result of a G7 meeting in the 80s to tackle money laundering I believe.
Wonder what would happen if the UN went in rather than Nato?
Ruble is being dumped
Russian veto in the security council makes any binding UN action impossible. Even if the Russian ambassador got locked in the toilet or something during voting it would still be the US implementing it so what is the difference?
Disappointing to see Emirates and Qatar planes still flying in and out of Moscow.
I hope the public at large starts boycotting any businesses that are still doing trade with Russki.
I see Microsoft are the latest to pull out so maybe more to follow..
It's not hard to retain air superiority when the opponents air force is notably for the most part missing.
Russian press are spreading claims that Zelensky fled to Poland. Seems to be just deliberate misinformation though and being mainly retweeted by the army of Putin bots on Twitter.
And herein lies another problem which I've mentioned several times in the thread, if the UN actually followed it's own charter then Russia can't veto anything regarding the conflict, even as a P5 member there is no power of veto over any conflict to which the member is a party to, there is a history of this being overlooked, even now surprisingly.
Will be worried when they start arriving in numbers though, if the Russians get air superiority will be horrendous. That said, there are reports of up to 3 Russian fighter jets being shot down today.
But we know where it is coming from, much of it is transparent marxist ideology ie. our society will always be tainted and illegitimate until it is made ideologically pure. That's what gets us from utopian ideals to mass graves. The most obvious example was the complete denial among the hard left about the genocide in Cambodia, dismissing the lucky ones who escaped to warn the west as being anti-communist stooges. I'm just sick of it at this point.
"Seems to be just deliberate misinformation though"
You can say the same about pretty much anything which comes from the Russian press regarding the invasion special military operation, or indeed anything regarding the west.
I don't see either as likely tbh.
My read is that this will continue as a medium intensity conflict for the next two three weeks before the Ukrainian state apparatus is sufficiently destroyed. Kyiv falls and what remains of the government goes into exile.
A guerrilla war then begins in earnest, with the west continuing to supply arms to the rebels. This could go on for years. There is no short path to peace visible to me.
Short or long war, Europe is going to turn it's back on Russia, and end it's dependence on gas. I think we shall start to see serious reconsideration of nuclear energy for decarbonisation. Political energy is likely to be diverted away from the soft stuff, emerging social and identity politics and back to the serious, geopolitical and defence.
I get the impression the Russians are actually being restrained so far when it comes to air bombardment and that when they do decide to switch that tap on, it'll be a totally different ball game.
Old WW2 German joke in Normandy: "If the plane shows up white it's the Americans; if it shows up black it's the RAF; if it doesn't show up at all it's the Luftwaffe."
Putin probably fires a missile at UN Headquarters given his previous rhetoric. And sadly I'm not even kidding.
The Ukrainians have a theory about the origin of the "Z" motif being used on Russian vehicles:
I get the impression both sides now know that the other lot have anti aircraft assets in place and are avoiding risking it, Ukraine air force staying very low when they do fly missions, apparently
Russians are still losing a lot of planes though, a lot of photos of downed Su 25s on Twitter.
Some of the ordinance used on Kharkiv
Historically he is correct. West Ukraine or East Poland as it was once known
That lad definitely had his Weetabix to be holding that up
Jesus, they even walk like they have the worlds' biggest balls
"Series"
TBH we have under funded our defence forces for years with the understanding that "sure the brits will cover us if anything happens". Which is the case when Russia send planes in that violate our airspace.
I was heartened to see that report but I fear that after all the promises the politicians made on its publications the reality will be that nothing changes. In the new Europe we definitely need to increase our spending on defence. I have also said that we should have the ability to intercept any incursions into our airspace so a modest fighter capability should be at the Air Corp (sorry Air Forces) disposal.
[Edit - added]Here's an article on it here https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2020/07/13/irelands-air-force-badly-needs-fighter-jets/
Seems the Grippen is the bird for us!
Any news on that rumoured declaration of martial law?
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