I don't see anything stopping Ukraine from gaining longer range weaponry and levelling Belarusian cities if they were to properly enter the war.
Well I guess the Jews should know a thing or two Statement on Ukraine by scholars of genocide, Nazism and WWII (jns.org)
We heard this dozens of times in March too. Turned out to be nothing then, hopefully the same now. Who wants to join a losing side?
I think Lukashenko is preparing for the Russian defeat and the possible spill over of the war into Belarus. Belarusians who are fighting on the Ukrainian side are openly saying that their ultimate goal is the liberation of Belarus.
I don't see how it makes any difference. They can't arm or move the troops they have in place now. Add more and the situation gets worse. Then take into consideration that they can't feed or clothe the current troops and we're heading for winter and you have a recipe for even further disaster. You'll probably see full on internal fights for food and provisions as survival becomes the most important aspect. It'll be every man for himself and you can't get a worse situation than that in an army in a conflict zone.
The Russian stock exchange was collapsing as word got around about the mobilisation and harder punishments for speaking about the war
If that order happens theres a pretty high chance that he gets overthrown in a coup. Even early in the war when Russia still had some clout the Belarussian army didn't want to know about getting involved. Its highly unlikely that they changed their mind now that Russia are getting their ass handed to them.
What?
The use of whataboutism is mostly closely associated with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and with Russia since then. A classic example would be for a reporter to raise the topic of unemployment in the USSR, to which a Soviet official would reply, “In the US they lynch” black people.
Having been described as “practically a national ideology” in Russia, this simple tactic in this case draws attention away from any wrongdoing the person being questioned may be accused of by implying that nobody’s without fault, and therefore, it leaves the individual off the hook.
Columbia University professor Dmitry Dubrovsky told National Public Radio that whataboutism is “real policy” in Russia. And he pointed to the now defunct Institute for Democracy and Cooperation: a pro-Kremlin organization that was charged with documenting US human rights violations.
But, despite the association whataboutism has as a Soviet-era propaganda tool, the term itself seems to have been applied retrospectively. An Oxford Dictionary investigation found it was first used in reference to the Soviet Union in 1996, whereas prior to this it was applied in the context of Ireland.
Whataboutism: Avoiding Topics by Raising Irrelevant Ones - Lexology
Ahh ffs not this again, how many times do we keep hearing this?
Belarus would have entered the fray long before now if Lukashenko was able to get away with it. This is just the same as before with the saber rattling to try and draw Ukrainian forces to the noth again.
No doubt that Russia may try rachet things up now with these referendums and mobilisation talk, lets wait and see if they actually go ahead and go full out on mobilisation, still a big risk if he actually starts trying to carry it out. IMO its all bluster to try and take attention away from the big losses they have suffered recently.
Talks of mobilisation are making traction, of course could be another gamble from Putin, keep attacking and I'll call mobilisation.
RBC Russia are saying Putin plans an announcement this evening on the referendums.
Again?
Mobilisation will be a dark day, I hope whoever makes the decision is comfortable having the blood of hundreds of thousands on their hands. Very depressing
Lots of talk about Putin announcement-
Heading in the right direction......not concerning at all :(
If they mobilize then the gloves are off for the EU and USA expect some serious firepower to flood in to Ukraine. Russia will crumble from internal strife if they send all their manpower to the front. All it's borders will erupt. You can be damn sure that billions are being pumped into anti russian movements all along its borders
Lukashenka might be planning to actively enter the war, the question is what is his military planning?
While the exact rational for hastily calling referenda is unknown, I think we can all agree that it is not coming from a position of strength. In fact it looks utterly desperate. Clearly Ukraine and the West are not going to respect its outcome so any talk of this being a warning to them are wide of the mark. This can only really be for domestic consumption. The only logical deduction is that this is a prelude to Putin finally calling this a War and fully mobilising which, to be honest, I'll still need to see before I fully believe it. That's kind of how I felt before the initial invasion back in February though and that happened.
I think the tension levels are definitely rising today. One idiot could do something stupid that could send this war to a whole other level.
No no, you aren't allowed to mention that around here apparently.
Repeat after me, there is no nuclear weapons, there is no nuclear weapons........
Can someone tell me how you can run a referendum in a territory whose border is not defined? How would people in the Ukrainian controlled territory vote? It's not even logical, the referendum cannot be legitimate
This really bothers me. If he feels totally cornered what is he truly capable of ? The idea of 'battlefield nuclear weapons' (whatever in reality that means) has been in the background since the start with most commentators aware that it forms part of Russian military doctrine/thinking. I really fear that between the sudden announcements today of some sort of imminent referendum in the 4 regions that they have notional control of are all part of a construct that leads to them justifying using them. If he feels support ebbing away from the likes of China as well then this all adds to the picture of desperation.
Eh of course it won't be legit, the Russians don't do legitimate.
Hilarious that you should post this just 2 posts after zv2's post on Whataboutism. In case you missed it here is a reference: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=88b95c63-6f35-412a-9786-d99c13c9e359
The question of Nazism or anti Semitism or Holocaust denial in Russia and/or Ukraine have nothing to do with contemporary Zionism or Israeli government policies.
Usually they make some effort though, try to find some rationale, they are getting lazy
Yesterday, Andrey Gurulyov (State Duma member) appeared on Russian 60 Minutes mouthing off about nuclear weapons (https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-latest-news-putins-forces-clearly-in-panic-russia-12541713?postid=4500266#liveblog-body)
"We may use them, but definitely not in Ukraine."
He then went on to say that Russia could use them against "Berlin", or that they could "turn the British Isles into a Martian desert in three minutes flat, using tactical nuclear weapons". Asked whether NATO would then respons under Article 5, he said:
"A non-existent country, turned into a Martian desert? They won't respond. We shouldn't be afraid of that."
These are delusional ramblings - the idea that Russia would obliterate the UK, and the US and the rest of NATO wouldn't respond isn't based on any semblance of rational thought. It's not a threat against the West, no more than the referenda in the occupied regions of Ukraine are. It's a distraction purely for domestic consumption.
Well, the 'oblasts' are defined - they would be something along the lines of one of our provinces, so do have a defined border with the next oblast.
The idea of 'battlefield nuclear weapons' (whatever in reality that means)
In read somewhere that they're the same as every other nuke, only difference in how they are depolyed.
Nut if they don't actively control an entire oblast how can they say that all the people had the opportunity to vote?
Some rumours it will be illegal for men over the age of 18 to leave Russia
Could be mobilisation in the works.
Putler is making a speech later.
What's the bet, mobilise or more nuclear threats?
So the idea is to make it part of Russia so that countries will respect the border of another country just like Russia hasn't.
I'd say they'll have to hurry before the retreat gets there. But then again they can skip to the end and get the result before people vote which speeds things up.
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