Russia - threadbanned users in OP

No, it is a propaganda arm of a now openly hostile + aggressive state (which neither FOX or CNN are...). I suppose it could be tolerated under aegis of allowing "freedom of speech" pre Feb of this year, but not post. It's not like the Russian internal TV either. It is/was aimed towards somewhat gullible and confused Westerners, receptive to the messages.

Not a viewer either but from what I have read about the content + how it operat(ed), it was a seemingly "normal" news channel but stories will be picked and presented to always give views that the Kremlin wants to put across in the West or achieve its goals on a given day. Afair that was mainly just nihilism, promoting chaos and internal divisions in what Russia/Putin believed were its "enemies", spreading FUD about the place.

Very similar IMO to how Soviet outward-facing propaganda about the US/West etc. used to operate during the Cold war, but much more effective (a slick & modern TV station + website etc. vs some odd-ball grotty shop run by Soviet sympathisers perhaps flogging pamphlets and newspapers to "useful idiots"!).

Russian artillery conducted 4 missile strikes and 27 air strikes, conducted over 75 shelling with MLRS against 45 settlements across Ukraine, including Pechenihy, Pryshyb, Yarova, Spirne, Vesele, Bakhmut, Maryinka, Krasnohorivka, Kostyantynivka, Neskuchne, Poltavka, Yehorivka, Bezimenne, Kryvyi Rih, Bilohirya, Zaporizhzhia, Bilohirka, Pervomaiske, Mykolaiv, Ochakiv, Vysokopillia, Sukhiy Stavok, Myrolyubvika, Novohryhorivka, - General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine says in the morning report

no ghosts being given up at the moment

here's that tweet

Estonia understands perfectly the situation. They've been through it before.

What point is there letting in Russian males of fighting age who oppose the war and regime and want to leave Russia when they are needed in Russia to bring about change. It's cowardice. Not what their fathers would have done.

The only way change happens is from within Russia and by It's people. Every male at risk of conscription who wants to leave is a pair of boots on the ground in Russia who if pushed more will take to the streets against Putin's regime.

Interesting points. But consider:

1. The missiles are hypersonic, travelling at Mach 10+. The West have no means to counter such missiles, that we know of.

2. As a demonstrative "shot across the bow" to the West, and as hypothesised elsewhere, the target may not be Ukraine-based. There are plenty of places in the Baltic Sea where a detonation could occur in order to get Ukraine to back off if, for example, HIMARS came within range of Sevastapol and its ports.

3. The missile would be fired from within Russian controlled airspace. The aircraft would never leave Russian TAS. They are already doing this from the North towards the Donbas.

4. It's hugely significant that the Mig-31's have been moved to Kaliningrad. They were Russias answer to the SR-71. They are also one of the few aircraft in the Russian Airforce capable of killing satellites, which would be one of the 1st moves during or just before a nuclear strike. The reasons for this are a whole other subject.

5. None of the above. Of course, these are all just theories of mine taking into account various OSINT observations, opinions of folks in the game, aircraft movements etc. Going by how surprising some actions of both sides have been, who knows. There are also many in Russian media channels and independent observers mentioning that Putins comments did not refer to the use of a WMD in Ukraine, but in the West somewhere.

My gut feeling is that there would be two detonations to try to convince the West to recalibrate their actions. The first, which in my opinion will happen fairly soon, will be a test detonation ( North Korea style) under the guise of a testing program, to rubbish opinions that their Nuclear arsenal is in a state of disrepair

Then, if that fails to grab attention, the second will be designed to get the West's undivided attention in a way that would have maximum attention grabbing but minimum damage. My guess is an underwater detonation in either the Black Sea or elsewhere.

Of course, this is just the opinions of a keyboard warrior. Who knows!

So you have never watched it,have read what to think about it, but the RT viewers are the gullible ones? Maybe you could have watched it and came to your own opinion. Where did you get your info Fox news or CNN?

It's more dangerous to set the precedent that all it takes for the democracies to fold is wave your nukes at them. If that stands, then the rest of eastern europe goes too, and Putin wouldn't even need many boots on the ground to achieve it.

"enforce" your point of view? Interesting choice of words. Don't you mean "present"?

I think the Russians may be overestimating how much the west should or does care about tolerating Putin's sh1t in the name of satisfying the Russian love of national mickey-waving.

Since it became clear that Amnesty were suborned by Russia, some of us no longer pay attention to their whatabout squealing.

Special boards operations

Enforcement department of Russia