Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I understand this sentiment. It's a really grim and disgusting juxtaposition of images

But you can nuke a Ukrainan city

That stuff will undoubtedly happen. But we can be pretty sure that unless Putin is killed or goes nuclear - both very unlikely - this is settling into a long, drawn out conflict, which - probably the best phrase I've heard about this whole war - "neither side can afford to lose, and neither side has the means to win". As in definitively win, beyond the inevitable seesawing that we've seen over the months

The right honourable member from Zaporizhzhia is embarassing his entire puppet republic.

It does look like he has burned all his bridges with the West and has accepted Russia's pariah state status.

Detonating a tactical nuclear weapon would be a serious and dangerous escalation but I wouldn't see it as the thing that precipitates WW3 or Armageddon. Even if Putin has gone insane, the rest of the world are still in possession of their marbles and are not going to allow the planet to be wiped out just to feed the ego of a crank dictator presiding over a third world and failed state.

Why would Russia need a referendum to feel correct about using nukes in order to prevent Ukrainian forces retaking the lands which Putin has now declared to be part of Russia? Putin wrote in his own words that modern Ukraine was a parcel of land created by the Bolsheviks and parts of Russia were unjustly cleaved off to form it.

So he regards the modern state of Ukraine as an artificial state whose existence could be supported by Russia so long as it remained within Russia's sphere of influence, but then blames the West for encouraging a thread of Russophobia and anti-Russian Ukrainian nationalism as a pretext to pull Ukraine away from Russia.

If he regards Ukraine, or parts thereof, as belonging to Russia in spirit, if not by legal right, then I don't really see the point of needing a referendum to make that official when it isn't even going to be recognised by the international community and any escalation in defence of these lands will be treated with the same seriousness. Even within Russia, I have to think that those prepared to believe Putin were going to believe him anyway and those who were doubtful were still going to have doubts. He got to have a nice fancy ceremony, though, so there is that.

I don't think Putin is highly likely at all to use a tactical nuclear weapon. The threat is not zero, but it's not highly likely or even likely. But even if he did as I understand these things are not just lying on a shelf, it would require some reassembly which would take time and one would Imagine or hope be flagged by intelligence before it became operational.

But even if he did manage to there would be several scenarios of how one would be deployed. Ranging from a show of force with high altitude detonation, to nuking some remote outpost, to launching one at a highly densely populated area.

Obviously the response would depend on what he did, but it certainly wouldn't be inevitable that nukes start criss crossing the planet.

The reality is all the fringe players who stayed out of it more or less, big and small would see it as catastrophic escalation, South America, Africa, Asia, China would all be forced to pick a side. NATO could go down the political option, or actually strike back, as in implement a no fly zone, or sink the Black Sea fleet. Or if they deem it was a direct attack on NATO because of radiation drift or whatever, they could launch a tactical nuke themselves, probably not at the Russian mainland, but an ally like Belarus.

I mean we are talking about the worlds economy collapsing pretty much immediately and every country going to war footing, probably even the States activating DEFCON 1.

Unless the botox and isolation of the pandemic has completely melted Puttins brain, he knows this too. It would be the absolute end of him.

He would also be wise to learn from something he said in his "speech" today, The yanks were the last ones to do it, they will only bend so far before they bite back.

Nahh someone missed the heads on sticks, castrations and dead children....

Thread is moving too fast. Please restrict yourself to 1 post every 15 minutes in this time of crisis.

looking at that victory parade in Moscow I cant help but hark back to the Hilter's parades in Munich "The Night of the Amazons" 

I'm not so sure. The 20 to 30 ships and subs in the Black Sea would immediately be wiped out within an hour or so. Given the amount of intelligence gathering in the area, and the constant readiness of strike groups, I'd confidently say that NATO'S conventional reaction would be mind-bendingly swift and devastating.

Of course, Putin and certainly his Generals know this. Would he be prepared to send thousands of sailors to the seabed?

And Canada's 12 points go to ....... Ukraine

That puts Ukraine in the lead ...... the Belorussian contestant doesn't look happy at all...