Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Many of his claims can already be demonstrated as being false. That should be a good indicator that he shouldn't be listened to if you want reliable information.

All the Kremlin propaganda in the world won't cover the fact that they are being systematically cut off. Most are going to see the differences in their daily lives, and certainly with the economy and their savings. When things are really bad maybe they'll see the differences between themselves and their dear leaders who have 100 million dollar yachts and 1 billion dollar holiday houses on public salaries. Maybe then it will start to sink or, or maybe it won't. We'll see.

As I said, no one is obliged to allow an enemy to speak. But they should at least be honest about the authoritarianism rather than pretending to be a free society. No "society" has common values. All societies have a ruling ideology that enforces the ideology from the top down. The ideology might change but dissenters are treated the same around the world.

Christ, the USSR led the field in characterising their internal critics as being either foreign agents or mentally ill. Now it is the status quo.

Twitter and Youtube being blocked in Russia apparently. Eventually the Kremlin will cut off most of the internet (this has been years in the making). I wonder if they'll target VPNs also

Apparently the arms and weapons are arriving in Ukraine

Funny thing about the Ukrainian airforce are still flying , radar stations are gone but thanks to big brother in the sky they can still direct and target Designate for Ukraine ,but where are the dreaded russian S400 missles that can take down 20 + aircraft over 600 miles which would wipe out the very limited Ukrainian airforce , but we're seeing the complete opposite the Ukrainians are downing more aircraft than they are losing

Sky reporter Stuart Ramsey car ambushed.

This is going to be for a more sustained period with no light at the end of the tunnel. It's not bouncing back and has no chance of bouncing back. Couple it with the other sanctions, and the lives of Russians is going to get tougher but I don't believe will lead to a 'collapse'.

Just seen that on sky a few minutes ago. Incredible.

Okay - lets say Russia cuts off Europe from its gas, oil, wheat and fertilizer supplies. When you are freezing in your home, reduced to travelling by horseback and cannibalising your neighbours (sounds a lot like The Road actually) would you then crawl back to Putin to accept whatever humiliating terms he might demand from you? No? You would spit in his face even then?

Okay, but you think your Russian equivalent will unconditionally surrender because he cant get access to US porn sites? Be serious.

Since at least the 1930s, there has been the misguided belief that if enough civilian suffering was caused by external factors (aerial bombing then, sanctions now) then the civilians would overwhelm the state regime and force a change of course. It has never happened. If the suffering (to the extent that loss of access to porn sites is suffering) is external then it just encourages the belief the enemy is external.

Very, very lucky people.

It's not a binary thing. This is the problem - bad actors these days chat sh*te, get censured/censored and then start crowing about, "So much for a free and open society!" We live in a society where we can criticise our governments and lead a fairly wide range of lifestyles without fear of reprisal, but our freedom is not absolute and never has been. You tell lies about someone, you can get done for slander, for example. You stand on a stump somewhere and start talking to passers-by about why the age of consent should be lowered to 10, you'll probably get people wanting to fight you. This second example would also be one where it's not enforced from the top down. It's a thing that the vast majority of people find reprehensible and is therefore taboo.

If we say that every society has a ruling ideology, then it comes down to which one we prefer to have. I for one am not against the censorship of RT, preventing giving Russia an easy conduit to undermine the relatively liberal society we enjoy. I would certainly prefer what we have to what's going on in Putin's Russia. Do not forget that privileges can come with responsibilities attached, and in my opinion the privilege of freedom of speech comes with the responsibility not to act in bad faith, as Russia Today is doing.

It doesn't seem like they are attempting to go for air superiority, which would have been top of any militaries invasion plan , in Syria they would only use 2-3 aircraft on bombing raids instead of something like 8-12 to provide cover ,it's like they are afraid to commit large numbers of aircraft but in the scheme of things losing 30 + aircraft in a single week is a substantial loss ,and as more manpads get deployed that number is going to increase rapidly .

It doesn't make to me at least they are happily to keep losing 30 aircraft a week for how long ,