Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Exactly and they're only militarily effect as long as the US and NATO choose to let them be. Once they pull the plug on intelligence and weapons the gig is up. So there's no way you get a NATO supported Russian invasion.

Russia do have a very pressing issue however. As the gas purchases drop and their own stores fill then the wells must be shut down. Many will never be salvaged and others will prove difficult to get going again. Their ability to supply anything close to what they were will diminish even if China or Indian do a deal to purchase off them.

I'd imagine Zelensky knows that we have a tiny military so he's not gona try and convince us to join forces or send in weapons, tho I do have a feeling he will invoke the spirit of 1916 and Northern Ireland and make comment on our history and say real Irish men fight or words to that affect! Most likely will focus on the humanitarian response we have shown and maybe address his diaspora who will be watching. Then Michael Martin with reply with similar words again about our history etc. Will the other leaders speak? Marylou? This kinda feels like political theatre, Like you see Ukrainian TDs with guns and uniforms then compare them to our lot we kinda look so out of depth with dealing with an actual war and invasion.

Apart from the cabinet and opposition leaders what has been the response for the rest of the TDs? I'm in the Roscommon constituency and havent heard from our representatives for most of lockdown!

@Wibbs

The public and news media gave Covid nearly two years worth of its undivided attention before it was put on the back burner. If the war in Ukraine were to be the same, it would be given far more possible time and attention than any expert predicts it all to last for. Far from that being cynical, I think it sounds quite hopeful.

As for industry slowly filtering back into Russia - well, yeah. But that's not necessarily unqualified. Well run businesses want to mitigate risk. A stable, reasonable political establishment is easier to do business with than whatever Putin's crew is becoming. That's a risk. Another risk - continuing damage to brand image in Western markets by participating in the Russian economy. Realism goes both ways on this. The realism of the Post-WW2 world order, where business was supposed to dominate world affairs, says these kind of sh*tty wars are untenable.

You really come across like you are fascinated with him or even admiring him.

There is nothing to admire. He is running the largest country, with so high population and natural resources yet with quite poor economy. I don't see any smartness or skills in it. And people with KGB background can very easily climb the ladder because they have "files" on others, so they are way ahead of any competition. And match such knowledge with a lack of conscience and you will get results. At the end at the top there are not so many people. So organise cronies net and you are set for years in undemocratic setting without checking systems in place. Also it is not a biggie to rule people with washed up brains. And no, Russians are in any way "different" in that matter. All this 1000 years of obedience is b***t. People can be very easily brain washed very quickly as it happens in any sects. It just lays in human's nature.

He is a psychopath, a ruthless murderer with no qualms. He will use any dirty trick to get ahead. Other people achieve less in such a race simply because they are humans. They wouldn't be able to sleep blowing up apartment blocks with innocent people to further their career. He is "winning" because he is an animal, who should be eliminated at all cost.

Tbh im hoping for that, they should absolutely butcher the Russian troops in Ukraine, no prisoners they either leave or are eradicated personally i think there troops are scum they know well what they are doing targeting cities and civilians i hope when NATO does intervene they are merciless in killing them.

Ive little sympathy for the Russian people either supporting the war and out cheering at Putins Nazi tribute rally it ll be good to see if there still cheering when its there loved ones coming home in caskets or should i say refuse bags.

Id love if NATO had a way to stop Russian nukes and just marched all the way to Moscow and dragged that scumbag Putin and his likes out. They need a serious good kickin.

Does anyone have a recent Satellite pic of either Ukrainka or Engles air bases? It would be interesting to see have any of heavy bombers have been forward deployed. They're definitely not in Kaliningrad, or we would already have intercept pics. I know that TU-160 Blackjacks were firing cruise missiles from Russian and Belarusian airspace without crossing into Ukraine. If these heavy bombers are still at their home bases, it would be a clue to NATO that Putin's talk of a Nuclear strike is all hot wind. However, if they have been scattered around to Forward Bases, then the opposite could be true. Much the same way that the USAF wasted no time in forward deploying B-52's and B-2's to RAF Fairford. ( my brother lives beside Fairford and he has seen B2's taking off at stupid-o-clock some mornings.) Here's some pics I screenshotted from Earth of Ukrainka. Full of Bear Bombers.

Unfortunately, the Russians do not just have all their nukes stored in one location. They're dispersed across many places in a variety of different delivery methods. U.S intelligence seems pretty good, but I doubt that even it would know where all of Russia's nuclear devices are at any one time. It seems to me that if you were to target Russia's nukes, you'd want to do it in one highly coordinated, simultaneous and all-encompassing way where the aim was achieved pretty much without the Russians even knowing what had happened. Anything less would run the risk of making the Ruskies trigger happy.

I mean aside from anything else the territory of Russia is absolutely enormous. Who would be willing to bet that we knew the location of every single ICBM silo, every single nuclear capable submarine or ship, or even mobile ICBMs sitting in caves buried in the sides of mountains somewhere?

Let's just try to sort Ukraine out if we can and take the rest as it comes; hoping that the Russian people find a desire to engage with the world without having to constantly threaten everyone and anyone.

If the Ukrainians are now destroying Russian ships, as seems very likely....the humiliation is complete. There isn't a single branch of Russian military that can operate freely a month into war. No sir superiority, ground troops being minced up and navy being hit. FFS Vlad pull out now before they actually chase you out.

I respect your position and you also explain yourself, etc. it’s refreshing when someone like you give different perspectives as to what might/ has happened. But, IMO You are basing your position/ arguments on president. Eg It took years for the South African sanctions to be effective The current situation is totally, totally unprecedented. WHY . Because :-

(1) when was the last time one sovereign country invaded another sovereign country and for no obvious reason. Yes Putin has come up with loads of reasons but he can come up with any reason to justify his actions no matter how silly/illogical they are. A senior Russian official , recently said , in response to all the lies about no intention invading Ukr in any shape or form, that the reason was due to changed circumstances was that the Ukr was building up forces to attack Donbas and it had to head it off - even though , during the period of all the lies - from ambassadors , etc- it was building up a massive force on the UKR border

(2) the attacked sovereign, so far, has not fired even one bullet over the border

(3) the quality/ quantity of sanctions are UNPRECIDENTED this time and are being ratcheted up as time goes on . US , etc, reviewing current sanctions re loopholes to increase their effectiveness

(4) The ‘coming together of the international community , in an active way And with all types of military/ non military aid is UNPRECIDENTED eg Soverign countries being very proactive re housing refugees, EU, NATO

(5) this war and all of the above is being played out in real-time precisely because of ICT and how advanced it is. Previous wars were at a time when ICT was not as developed.

(6) most SPECIAL OPERATION MISSIONS /wars ‘ slowly develop over time, THIS ONE developed so fast and the way it developed that we have all been taken aback with the speed of things eg the number of refugees/ displaced people, the multi pronged attack Size of build up of RU army on border., number of deaths - All being done in real-time and in front of our eyes

So it’s hard to know how it’s going to pan out as there is NO PRECIDENT to help us to get a general direction

Hard to believe we're a full month into the invasion of Ukraine,and ukraine still controls the majority of the country