They seem nice.
Note how you have no evidence of anything. All it takes is for China or Russia to make suggestions (neither have evidence). This is how this type of propaganda works, it feeds on people's conspiratorial thinking, "there could be something going on". It's very effective.
The invasion of Ukraine by the Russians is against International Law - if the Russian are seriously concerned about sticking to the letter of it. And of course no one would never believe the Russian would simply make up shite no?
"I think I saw Russians"
"You didn't see Russians"
"I di..."
"YOU DIDN'T, BECAUSE THEY AREN'T THERE"
They have very low debt, so while in one sense this was sensible given they were planning the invasion, it might have been better to have been loaded up to the eyeballs in debt to western banks. A Russian default is not really something that western banks are too worried about at the moment. The have a debt to GDP ratio of something like 20% and their economy is relatively small, so it would be small beer compared to the financial crisis.
I see some of the armchair war cheerleaders are here
The American narrative is that those are Soviet era BioLabs they're helping to convert.
It's a country with a GDP about a third less than Italy's. The main thing is oil/gas exports and others like grain/fertilizer, it will be tough, but the world seems to be taking steps in the right direction to reduce dependence on it's exports.
Have you no fcuking shame to be pushing Russian propaganda BS posted on the Russian Mission in Geneva twitter account via the Russian Embassy in the UK?
Russian Mission in Geneva
You honestly expect that shite to be truthful in any way? Like the crap they Russians claiming the footage of the bombed children's hospital and maternity hospital was fake. Like the way the Russians invaded an entire country allegedly because of a tiny number of neo nazis. The same russia who are using Russian neo nazis to carry out murders of Ukrainian people. The same Russian forces who couldn't lie straight in their beds?
Where the fcuk do you expect defending forces are going to be but on the streets of the city they're defending against the Russians? Do you really believe Ukrainians are going to have their children in a playground when the murdering Russian bastards are attacking their city? Seriously. Cop yourself on Comrade.
How would I know what is going on, I am not in the CIA or Russian military. It could be perfectly innocent and above board. I have no idea.
I find it suspicious that they denied there was anything there and then in a senate committee said there were labs. And that China is also asking for information on it. That's all. We will probably never know. I don't think its too far fetched that the US could be up to something in Ukraine. Don't know what it is though. Could be complete lies from Russia side either. We don't know.
is Russia too big to fail? When their economy collapses will it send shockwaves around the world or will it be all priced into the market with a calculated guess? if its not too big to fail then the Russian calculus is off and they will have to recalculate to avoid anymore miscalculation
Just last week the press were saying a collapse was not likely
Russian money in London,party donations etc. Most likely a lot of business links between oligarchs and people in power, be they direct or indirect.
Thanks for the years of cash, we'll give you a little bit more time to clear your assets while we'll portray a picture of coming down swift and hard.
Appears the sanctions and oil/gas bans are rattling the Kremlin:
Vladimir Putin has claimed the west is trying to blame Russia for its own mistakes with the US ban on oil and accused countries of deceiving their populations.
Reuters reports that the Russian president has said that sanctions on Russia are not legitimate and pledged to resolve problems that arise.
He said that Russia is adhering to its obligations on energy and pointed to rising inflation in the US, citing its ban on Russian oil.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ministry of finance, known as Minfin, said it has taken measures to limit outflow of capital and that it will work with the Russian central bank to ensure the financial system’s stability.
Its priority, Minfin said, is to stabilise the financial system."
For 10 points: which country is Mariupol is located in?
I thought the flight attenadants were more entertaining.
Any word from Jerusalem today???
'I don't know what I was thinking'
You'd love the Russians, they'd do all that for you.
Your weekly UBI payment has been reduced to EUR12.50 for systematic, deliberate, and persistent abuse of your rational faculty in public. The Committee for Beatings Will Continue 'Til Morale Improves will convene on June 27th, 2025 to consider any further action. Next!
Is there something "going on" at these labs? If so, please point it out. If not, then your fears are baseless.
I'm just saying you can't bring any charges or decry a civilian building being hit if there's military activity. My guess is that the Ukrainians are evacuating civilians from tower blocks for example, and then using these as ambush points - which I think is a legitimate tactic. Using the maternity hospital as a command & control post (allegedly) with pregnant mothers still in the hospital, would constitute a war crime.
Ukrainians need to fight within civilian infrastructure, because they need to defend their cities. You can do that without much loss of civilian life if they're moved into bunkers first.
I have a scientific research background and I always try to remain aware of my own biases, normally I try to question why I am thinking in a particular way, it is important part of my work.
In normal situations I agree it is good to keep an open mind, but when it comes to Russia, practically nothing they come out with is true. It is a symptom of continuous lies, little green men in 2014, denying they are invading now for god's sake! They have been so disingenuous over the years that I find it hard to believe anything that comes out of them. They continuously want to bring focus onto this Azov battalion as if it is some justification! If I was looking out the window on a sunny day and Lavrov told me it was daytime, I would think my eyes were deceiving me and they have only themselves to blame for that!
Sadly this will be the reality of fighting in the urban areas of Ukraine. 😔 No target will be off limits on either side. It's the nature of urban warfare. When every building, roof, window or basement or overpass of every potential hiding space can hide your enemy, everything becomes a target for everyone. I fear that the maternity hospital won't be the last such example to come along.
Yes, sorry, I forgot for a second that everything the US says is true and everything that Russia says is false. I don't know what I was thinking.
Those aren't the options.
We can (and have) condemned the invasion. We have sent millions in aid. We have opened our borders up to refugees. We have joined in global bans and boycotts. We don't need to be dicks on top of that, do we?
Here are the labs
The fact that you are worried about these demonstrates how potent Russian propaganda is.
That would be perfect imo
No i didn't.
Didn't miss it at all. But I would be interested to see the reaction of that news on Russian media rather than seeing western media's reaction to it.
I agree. I would let Russian news air, but with a permanent notice on the screen to remind viewers they're watching Russian government-run news.
Why bother citing "international law" when it clearly means nothing to the Russians?
First of all, you have no idea if these are azov or regular troops. Second, they are Ukrainian, this is their land, they can be wherever they see fit to defend their nation. Do you want them to stay out in the fields, where it will be safe?
Show us where the Russian trips are. Sure as **** they are not in Russia!
need to brush up on the Nunn-Lugar treaty work.... there are still active programs in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Georgia (Kazakhstan?) ...
Basically when the USSR fell, a lot of Nuclear and Biological labs suddenly found themselves outside of Russia....
While the dust settled on the new nations, treaties were drawn up to safely remove, reduce, or convert the labs...
Russia pulled this stunt during the Georgia conflict also (it's amazing how short people's memories are) accusing the west of collaboration in the development of chemical weapons in the region...
If the State Dept pulled the mention of it, you could find a cache of it quite easily (if what you say is true).
They recently destroyed a load of weapons grade anthrax from the Uzbek labs under this treaty...
Fun fact, a spin off from this treaty was the Budapest agreement in 1994, which the US, UK, China and Russia signed up to (also partially France in a separate agreement)... which guaranteed Ukraine's sovereign state and boarder in return for getting rid of the worlds 3rd largest nuclear stockpile....
Funny that.
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