The author being interviewed alludes to it @6.45
In context he greatly advanced the USSR away from being a global threat. Even Russia today is not as big a threat (although not fully known how big a threat) in some part down to Gorbachev not acting like previous Russian rulers - especially in the hand over of power. He may have been the head of the politburo, but it's likely he didn't have it all his own way re taking a hardline with other Russian satellite countries.
He did agree with the invasion of Crimea which led to loss of life (although obviously well out of power by then). But, on the whole he did more good than bad. Ask the Germans.
Days since the Germans and French were at it again: 0
It's had sweet FA transformative effect up until now, but these lads don't care.
Earlier, I mentioned that the attacks on the airbase in Crimea may have been the results of Ukraine back-engineering an adaptor to mount an AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missile on a Mig-29.
You can pre-program co-ordinates of known Russian assets into the missile before launching the aircraft.
Sure enough, here is footage from way back in March mind you but released today, of a Ukranian Mig-29 firing a HARM in "fire and forget" mode.
https://youtu.be/n67ZNZ4raW0
Do they have a point?
We can't, on one hand, lament the reluctance of Russian citizens to contemplate the Western viewpoint whilst, on the other hand, denying them an opportunity that has the potential of changing their perspective.
It may indeed be beneficial to offer incentives to Russian citizens to encourage them to travel.
Since EU made it easier for Russians to get visas they invaded Ukraine and Georgia, something in Russian political or social “culture” is resistant to civilising influences
Germany and France better be careful as they are risking the fracturing of Schengen as half of the EU is dead set about blocking Russians especially since Russian “tourists” have already murdered Europeans (and their own) on multiple occasions up to and including the use of chemical and nuclear poisons
Only a matter a time before someone connected or from Russia commits yet another murder or puts security at risk
Border checks went up for Covid, Russia on other hand is literally an existential threat to several states from Finland to Romania
I think this reply to the tweet about Pol Pot sums up about having a point:
Well they're the guiding lights of the EU, so they surely they must be right in some way 😂
If you want the Russian economy & society to collapse then surely allowing citizens to leave and facilitating the "brain drain" is a good idea
This is about blocking tourist visas only not humanitarian, work etc visas
Anyways on unrelated note
Surprisingly restrained comments from Olga Skabayeva on Gorby's passing (I sometimes get the impression she's not as unhinged and downright nasty as Solovyov over on the other channel).
Yes, but he was a "particularly sick puppy" so possibly not representative of the wider pack ???
Yes he was, but it takes many more people to support a leader, keep them in power, and follow their orders.
But it's those very people that the French & Germans are referring to.
No one was talking about offering a nice holiday to the tyrant at the top, that's a red herring.
Those they can afford to travel internationally probably have already and know what life is like outside of Russia. Stop them travelling to western countries as they are part of the problem keeping Putin in power. People have to rise up in Russia to change their counties destiny and free them to travel again.
And ayatollah khomeni too. Actually raised his profile moving to Paris in 1978 because of the superior media technology there he was able to whip Iran into a frenzy before his big return.
Hitler didn’t have any change of heart either after his tour of Paris in 1940.
That doesn’t really happen, though, does it? This thread from around the start of the aggression is full of People’s anecdotes from our lives (I was a contributor as well) who know Russians or some other prorussia-inclined nationalities living in this country or the West for decades, still retaining their Putin sympathies and taking a definite side with Russia in this. I actually know quite a few of them in my life, as I know some Russians and some Serbs living here.
Coming from an ex-communist country myself, I’ve said it many times: from my observation, the ideology (especially a strident one) one grows up with is programmed into most people, they don’t give it a second thought, they live their lives in the West as workers/consumers and are very happy with that, but retain their childhood and young person programming blindly and unthinkingly. Because hatred is blind, they seem to be unable to grasp the hypocrisy of the position of benefiting from western freedoms while being bitterly anti the western “hegemony”. (BTW, the Serbs are still mightily sore about 1999. Completely pro-Putin and his expansionist ideology - but of course.)
If you think this can be solved by rewarding the Russians with trips to the west - well, I think it’s a very naive view. To put it mildly.
But there's a difference between pre-war travel and current travel.
Of the two, only current travel can act as a vehicle for the dissemination of information regarding the war.
So no one ever experiences a more open, and better serviced, society and thinks "this is good" ?
Russians know quite well there is a war, they chose to ignore it at best and cheer for the barbaric acts at worst as it doesn’t impact them directly yet for most part
Not being able to travel impacts them directly and nothing Putin can do about it unlike closing businesses which could be replaced with lesser local substitutes
Here is a thread from a Russian which will give you insight into Russian psyche and why a tourist visa ban might do more to stop this war than any number of military equipment
They sure do, That’s why they are here or are desperate to get here. What they don’t think is: “Ah life is so much better in the west, we back home are really doing something very wrong and I’d better go back and spread the word. Also, Putin is a monster.” I quite deliberately used the word “unthinkingly” in my last post. They are programmed into the hateful Western (US, NATO) hegemony vs the Eastern (Russian) “world” narrative and that sticks and sticks and sticks. No matter how good their life is now compared to back home.
And not just travel for tourism, all of the Russian top ranks and oligarchs (and even Putin himself) send their children to west to study and live, before eventually “retiring” in an Italian villa or yacht with millions looted from motherland
That is the Russian Dream, not make Russia a normal country but extract the most and not get sanctioned and then escape
Cant get any worse
I wonder how many of the Russian TV hosts and propagandists that could do with a Psychiatric Evaluation.
Russian state TV's reaction to Gorbachev's death
Very little information coming through in regards to the Kherson offensive, seems Ukrainian forces want to keep information very tight in case it compromises their positions.
Seems this source may be showing a breakthrough of Ukrainian forces but im not sure how reliable it is.
Lots of untrustworthy information coming throgh so far, Russian propaganda saying that they have repelled all Ukrainian attacks and that Ukraine has taken massive losses. But you would expect them to say that.
Looks like the Russians as predicted have stopped the IAEA inspection of Zaporizhzhia,
For some reason the russians want the inspection team to travel to Donbas and then though other occupied territory
Looks like states bordering Russia are gonna go with visa ban whether Germany or France like it or not
Should be a simple case of no vehicles,trains other modes of transportation from russia, if people want to apply for asylum let them do so at the various border checkpoints, anyone else stop and turn around
Good news, if true. Even better if all of EU could come together on this. It’s a war. It’s beyond high time ALL of the Russian public started to realise the ever harsher implications of wartimes in Europe, not just the cannon fodder parts of it.
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://we.vanillicon.com/v2/e050b53be62f0ae2404c620976170938.svg)
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://we.vanillicon.com/v2/eedacf599b4135dfd56d6fdbddcbd867.svg)
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://wc.vanillicon.com/v2/c635d680d76ce16e490d61f21d7a1353.svg)
