Utterly depressing response. And let's not forget that Russia could do the very same to us next, or any other non Nato country and nothing would be done about it.
The May 9th parade in Moscow is going to be interesting...
Basically thoughts and prayers…
Empty "crates" used to house and transport munitions.
Are they empty missile crates?
In my world it wouldn't be impossible for "outside special forces" to be "advised" of "down for maintenance" days by the Russian military
"It would be most unfortunate if you were to attempt to neutralise a high value asset next week as we wouldn't be able to detect your incursion"
It really could be as simple as that - the situation is already bizarre - the protagonists need only be described to the Russian people as a mercenary group acting for a Nazi organisation - "told you they were real folks, look what they've done to our wonderful President". Nobody would ask questions, nobody would care. (I know, I know, China, North Korea, etc. but they haven't pulled a stunt like Putin, not yet anyway)
Depressingly I really don't think anything of the sort will happen in Russia. It's become clear that through decades of conditioning and brain washing they are all (mostly) on Putins side.
We even see Russians living outside of Russia with access to western media still entrenched in their views.
I'd love to be wrong but don't think I am.
Translation.
The scale of shots at Chernihiv, at civilians. Russia will burn in hell
Can somebody tell Me what I'm actually looking at here please?
They don't care about what people outside the country thinks though. It's all for internal consumption.
One aspect of the last few weeks is how shockingly clumsy and inept the Russian media are - they are like a relic from the 1970s Soviet Union. I guess they are so used to lying to their own people that they don't realise their propaganda won't work on anyone outside the country with even a modicum of intelligence.
He's propping up the ruble to prevent people losing the plot tbh. How long can that last
Coal ban looks like it has been delayed.
In truth, he could pull back now and claim the denazification/ demilitarisation of Ukraine. Russian population would likely row in for a while, but wouldn't take too long for reality to set in. Then he's in big trouble, having to crack down hard on dissent in his own people. He's over reached completely and over committed, question is how long till someone gives him a push.
It's actually depressing to think that nothing will be done about it apart from a minutes silence. All these special forces and navy seals, army rangers etc etc appear to be nothing more than a bag of ****.
Although it's impossible I'd love to see every civilian get out. The thought of what's happened to so many already in Russian controlled areas just fills me with dread.
Zelensky is probably relatively safer now than any point over the past 3 years.
Also
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv this week, an EU spokesman said Tuesday
Hypothetically him being killed would be a massive blow because he is a tremendous asset, but it wouldn't really change anything.
It's only 6 weeks ago the West thought Ukraine would fall in days and you would have a decade long insurgency with Ukraine Militia fighting from the forests, Zelensky was to be evacuated and lead his government in a different country.
Well the wheels have been fúcked off the Putin Fun Bus and we are playing a different game now.
NATO don't need to put boots on the ground, plenty of far more motivated boots there, they just need the tools to do the job.
Even Alexander Solzenhitzin , who was very much anti oppression in Soviet Russia was also very much anti Ukrainian independence as well. His view was that Russia would be better off without the central Asian and Caucasian republics but that Belarus , Russia and Ukraine were indivisible. I suppose his vision was a more European Russia. But he did express positivity towards Putin while he was alive too. The pre 2008 Putin. Be interesting to see his take on current events if he were around. Some of his views were often contradictory as well.
So do you reckon killing or doing worse to president Zelensky, and let's face it the longer this goes on the greater the possibility, will really make no difference in our response to Russia.
He's an autocrat of course, but IMHO less the president of a country, more the emperor of an empire*. That's what Russia has seen itself as since the fall of Constantinople(one of Moscows titles is "The Third Rome"), even after the fall of the Czar(literally the "Caesar" of Russia), the rise and imperial expansion of the Soviet Union and when it fell after a period of confusion putin took up that imperial purple mantle.
Note earlier the information around the postal adresses where Russian looters were sending their war booty back to. They're provincial imperial troops. Usually seen as cannon fodder compared to the true "Romans"/Russians. He and the Russian psyche see Ukraine as part of "Russia", another province, another oblast, one that was ruled over by one of their connected to the throne provincial governors. Like their once provinces of the Soviet Union. Just like Georgia and Chechnya, where after his troops "restored order" he installed another connected to the throne provincial governor. Note the number of mouthpieces, even Russians on the street namechack Poland as next in line. They see Poland as another province, at least the eastern part of it. And they have the niggle in the back of their heads that the Poles were one of the few invaders that successfully took the throne of Russia Rome. See how Stalin and Hitler planned to divide Poland between them before WW2.
If we view putin and Russia through this prism it starts to make more sense. The fear of invasion, of "outside influences", the huge rooms where putin conducts his business with his underlings, the long tables and all that. Yes there is paranioa on his part, but it's just as much about the trappings of imperial rule. In the West we got rid of kings for the most part and where they exist they're a figurehead, fancy relic, or tourist attraction. Our leaders are "men of the people", they have to be, or have to appear to be to get democratically elected. We see Zelenskyy in army fatigues sitting with his people as a great leader, while enough Russians, because of their cultural bias, even if they may quietly admire his resolve and courage, he's not "imperial" like their putin.
He screwed up the annexation of Ukraine. The province wasn't for taking. He annexed Crimea, but his once province rebelled and installed a leader and a system that wasn't Russian. The talk about NATO, The EU, biolabs and missile etc are mostly a sideline(though he sees and paints the EU/West as a competing empire). IMHO he's now pivoted to taking the east of Ukraine. Ideally for him all lands to the east of the Dnieper. He can sell that as a triumph to his subjects. "Just" the Donbas would be the runner up prize. Talk of Poland et al is just sabre rattling at this point and he well knows it.
*we make a similar mistake with China. It's also more an empire than a country. It literally had an emperor a hundred years ago. So when we look at their invasion of Tibet we see a country invading another sovereign nation, they see it as being part of China.
TBF they have been pretty clear what the red line is, an attack on an inch of any NATO member.
All the horror that you mentioned will not be a surprise to any western military or security agency so nothing really changes on that front.
The parameters have changed drastically though, we have gone from Ukraine being toppled in 3 days to now being probable favourites to push these scum and criminals out.
Ukranians are quite clear in what they need.
Today.
Ukraine’s foreign minister sounded more like a defense minister on his arrival at NATO headquarters Thursday morning to request military assistance in fighting Russia’s invasion of his country.
“My agenda is very simple—it has only three items on it. It's weapons, weapons and weapons,”
As much as the British mastiff and jackals are needed and they are an improvement over the last vehicles they sent 8 years ago classified as death traps by British commanders ,
They need offensive armour, IFVs, tanks and artillery,
Drones really changing war, which they can use to adjust artillery. Not sure what the second battery is hitting off in the distance but can see that this incoming fire has disrupted Russians setting up their artillery.
When you have Nukes gas and oil they let you do it. No red line exists for Russia.
Yes, the Ru central bank + capital controls taking effect.
This "grandfather" spent 20 years in prison. He stole the uniform of the Russian Federation and biscuits and documents of an officer from a tank standing in his yard.
good
then remove them from the security council and the UN all together.
then the WTO
and the WHO
then the planet in an ideal scenario.
I am just curious about so called red lines at this stage. So far invasion, slaughter, raping torturing and mass killing of civilians (imo we are not aware of a fraction of this yet) are not crossing any red lines. So let's say the Russians kill or probably worse for his sake abduct president Zelensky then is that crossing a red line?
The covering up war crimes stuff could be fairly typical Russian dissonance. Destroy some evidence, claim what evidence is there is staged, deny everything. They maybe have a deluded threshold of what "people" will believe if they're told.
You are probably right.
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