Is there a video or podcast explaining how nato encroachment pushed Russia into war ? Was there a deal between Russia and nato that there would be no expansion ?
I have heard a lot of conflicting information on this subject, I could do with accurate information/ truth facts.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is back in the bulletins again, and while I know very little about nuclear power generation, it's a safe bet that these things require careful handling, and the reports suggest that Zaporizhzhia is hostage to more Russian mismanagement. This is obviously another bargaining chip (or simply a weapon) for the Russians and while a major incident at the plant would have profound consequences East and West, you imagine the Kremlin have already taken steps to insulate themselves from such an event (Putin shrugs his shoulders, strangers die everyday)
Sure.
Syrian "depopulation" is due to millions of syrians being granted asylum, and millions more being trafficked to europe under the guise of being given asylum. The scale of human migration for asylum has changed massively since the invasion of iraq
You imply, with no data (note you didn't answer my question as to why so many have fled Syria where that isn't the case for the other wars RuSSia is not involved with), that people are leaving for other reasons than fear for their lives. Am I right? Also, I missed any criticism from you of RuSSia's actions in Syria.
And, uhh, if war with RuSSia is as it is in your view, not too bad, why have so many fled?
Can you point out where I said that?
What a long boring repetitive rant, surely they dont believe this drivle theyre spouting.
Either that or they are so brainwash (or moronic) that theyre trying to convince themselves that theyre not a shambolic rag tag country with an even more shambolic military and leader.
If you average ruskie is so stupid as to believe this blatant rubbish they deserve nothing better
Why can’t Ukraine just stop resisting?
It’s not fair. So annoying like.
Spartans. 🤣 Those Spartans whose wedding customs included shaving the wife's head and dressing her as a bloke so the husband wouldn't be too shocked in dealing with a woman? I suspect they might like an oul "Gay parade". Those Spartans who alone among the Greek city states left us feck all art, architecture, philosophy, science? Actually if Russia wants to go down that route, the way they're going lately it's open to them. Russia had a long history in the arts and culture and technology. When communism came along they added to it and built some very cool stuff. Not too shabby for a mostly agrarian nation that had missed most of the industrial revolution. Since the fall of communism, what have they produced that's been noticed worldwide? Very little and now they're going full medieval imperial feudalism.
The three big players are the US, Europe and Asia. That's it. And in Asia, China, the only one that can be at odds with "The West" is in the game because she became the outsourced manufacturing entity of the other two. All three are reliant on each other and none are interested in rocking that boat beyond the occasional half hearted sabre rattling for their masses. Others like Russia and the Middle East are on the sidelines, ball boys, cheap energy suppliers for the other three. Suppliers that increasingly are a little less relevant. Oh they can cause hiccups, but have nothing like the soft and hard economic, social and political power of the other three. With this idiotic Russian war they've actually sped up their own decline. The US is happy to see Russia bleed out for little cost on their part, China is happy to take cheap oil, but their global interests don't make them a "friend" to Russia as it'll hit them in the pocket and the Chinese are not fools. Europe is more along the lines of FFS, what where we thinking in our dealings with Russia as a rational partner? Never again, or not for a loooong time.
This lack of ability or desire to see the world from anything other than western perspective
Mainly because the world is Western. The device your typing on might be made in China, or Taiwan, with resources from all over, but it's a Western invention and product. The very clothes you wear, the furniture around you, the tech you use, the car, bike, bus, plane you move around in, the media you consume is almost entirely "Western". Even the politics involved. Democracy, liberalism, conservatism, communism, facsism, whatever ism you like. All Western in origin. Thousgh she likes to paint herself against it for the gullible beyond and within, Russia herself is Western. The last old style White, European, "christian" empire left that invaded, planted and colonised east overland while the other old European empires invaded, planted and colonised overseas.
The newly Enlighted one will be on shortly to tell you that was all part of the plan.
Wake up sheeple!!!
Got any reliable statistics on this? Syrians have had enormous casualties during the war, which is still going on.
Ha!
Except Ukraine are not insurgents or terrorists. It's their country.
Certain frontline units going to Kyiv had parade uniforms packed. Russian officers had booked tables at restaurants in the capital, some had even picked out apartments they were going to "buy" (be given). In one particular mess-up, riot police, meant to tackle riots when they took the capital, found themselves ahead of frontline units going into Kyiv and were cut to pieces.
Makes sense why would you send a 40 mile convoy towards Kyiv just to take a small eastern part of Ukraine which they still can’t after 7 months.
And they decided halfway through to turn the 40 mile convoy around because they never really wanted Kyiv….
Amazing how the human and Russians mind can convince and lie to themselves when things go wrong that all this was part of the plan.
Its some trait, suppose like murderers and rapists etc, they actually convince themselves they are doing nothing wrong.
Putin stated his intent from the very outset with this "special operation", but yet people chose to ignore this and invent their own realit
Puttin's "special operation" was to overthrow the Ukraine government and install a puppet pro Russia government at the barrel of a gun.
That is a fact, that is reality.
But but but the Russians never stated it, would be at best remedial.
I agree with this point. I think we disregard Russia at our peril. There's been a lot of talk on this thread about Russian incompetence and mismanagement, and I've enjoyed it for sure, but I still think it is in their capacity to inflict huge damage to infrastructure and services and commit acts of wanton murder before a Ukrainian victory is secured. And until that day, they are an enemy to be feared (not respected, needless to say). I read a lot of opinion on the current state of Russia and their ability to wage war, and like a poster said recently about what's left of their arsenal, we simply don't know. I read a paper from Yale a few weeks ago saying the sanctions were having a devastating effect, but the IMF on Tuesday said that the impact was less severe than expected. The Kremlin are more like a criminal organization now, operating beyond the law, but it gives them an edge that makes them extremely dangerous.
The frontlines with the least movement so far have been those in Donetsk region which have been heavily fortified and dug in for years - trench warfare works as defensive doctrine - the alternative is drones and artillery pinpointing you out in the open, where the blast will travel much farther hand you'll have even less cover.
Trenches will likely be sparsely filled with reservists through the winter as the first line of defence, with artillery and the rest further behind. The digging of these trenches just shows this conflict will not be over anytime soon, certainly not this year, possibly not next..
Russians claim to have counterattacked and retaken Terny, Yampolivka, Torsky near Kreminna. Looking to consolidate defensive positions ahead of winter
They were well able to make relatively modern tanks and planes 25 years ago. What makes you think they can do it now?
Russia has been dumbed down over the last 25 years, and hugely in the last 7.5 months. They is why they would find it difficult to do anything these days. The head of cyber security is really a nobody in the grand scheme of things as he can be easily replaced, and there is lots of brains to cyber security operations, not just one. If their munitions are so precise, why didn’t they go for a high value target that is much harder to replace such as the guy who was the target of their 3 day special operation?
The opposite is happening. The iron curtain has been obliterated for the last 33 years and the former countries that formed that depressing bloc are more determined than ever to maintain the situation that arose from that time. There are no queues of people at the borders of Russia and China etc seeking a better life in those countries it is the very opposite. Don’t mind what people say and proclaim talk is cheap look at what people are doing and where they are going you won’t be long finding the truth.
I agree, it's been ratcheted up a new level of brutality. I check in with Francis Scarr, the BBC’s excellent Russian media analyst, and he’s tweeted what appears to be an intro to a Russian current affairs show showing a montage of the recent rocket strikes and bomb damage, and an astonishing shot of bodies tumbling into a pit – I’m not sure which side that footage comes from, but either way, it’s harrowing, depressing stuff. None of this is presented in grave, sombre tones, but cut together to make it look like Russia has been up to now a sleeping giant but has awakened and woe unto them who oppose her. I will let members seek out the clip if they choose – personally, it’s all too much Faces of Death for me. If this is what the Kremlin propagandists think plays best with the ordinary man on the street, then it says something profoundly disquieting about Russians and their idea of fascism…
Those trenches look like russians digging their own mass graves. How kind of them
Slava Ukraine!!
Why, was there ever any official statement that Russia were pushing for the whole of Ukraine?
Putin stated his intent from the very outset with this "special operation", but yet people chose to ignore this and invent their own reality. Just because they attacked Kiev, people seemed to assume that they were making a play for the whole country. But it was all just rumours really.
Why wouldn't you attack Kiev, as part of a military operation to control part of the country? Kiev is the nerve center and a huge part of the command structure of the country. It would be foolish to leave the capital fully functioning, while trying to maintain control on the battlefield.
I don't think the Russians would be foolish enough to get sucked into an Iraq style quagmire, as this is exactly what the west is hoping for in order to help create regime change in Russia. They don't need military control of the entire country, in order to still maintain de-facto control over Ukraine. A severely crippled and fractured Ukraine, is in theory less of a potent threat to Russia. Although insurgency will probably be an issue they will have to tackle in the years to come - but they don't tend to handle insurgents/terrorists with soft hands like we do in the west. And the Ukrainians will be fully aware of this btw.
They can take the entire black sea coastline, or even most of it. Effectively turning Ukraine into a land locked rump state. And the responsibility will fall on western powers to rebuild most of Ukraine - the new sick dog of Europe. It will likely be a massive humanitarian catastrophe that will be a huge economic and social burden on the west for decades. Russia has always used other more covert methods of control, rather than relying solely on military power. (just like the US or any other bully in the playground) I don't see why this would necessarily change going forward.
And as regards these trenches, again it's all wild speculation. They could be literally anything. Perhaps they're laying a network of mines? Or other incendiary devices, to help create further carnage when they fall back into defensive positions inviting the Ukrainians onto them to hammer them with barrages of artillery - as they have apparently been doing quite a bit lately. Again, it's just speculation. They could be just about anything really.
Do you watch alot of Tucker Carlson on Fox news as well?
The trenches thing is a good sign. Looks like a defensive operation and that this could be a border that they are constructing. Now it's completely batshit crazy and thousands of their own will be killed but it may the begining of Russians saying "We'll take what we have".
This is the classic Manichean worldview, that is still being successfully peddled by the elites that run the western world. And it's amazing how many people still get hoodwinked by this overly simplistic rhetoric. Even people who apparently consider themselves to be critical thinkers, still seem to get very easily sucked in by this outdated old world mindset.
It's a worldview that is increasingly going to bring us into conflict with other nations/cultures. This faux imaginary battle for good Vs evil, will not result in the peaceful harmonious world you imagine. Human beings are rebellious by our very nature. So to think that all of these "bad boy" rogue nations are simply going to fall in line and become universally subservient to a western international order, is not only far fetched but actually highly delusional and frankly absurd. Not to mention dangerous and completely impractical to implement.
This lack of ability or desire to see the world from anything other than western perspective, will not work as a strategy going into the next generation. Countries like china etc, are not going to remain passively resistant/hostile to western control for much longer. They are patiently waiting and preparing, moving the pieces around on the board. While the west pushes it's outdated strategy of regime change in nations that are not compliant or subservient, these nations know that the broader "regime change" is actually happening gradually in the global context. And it's really just a waiting game now. The realignment of the global power structure, is an unstoppable force. They know western hegemony is fading fast, no matter how desperately nations like the US try in vein to maintain their grip. But if the west pushes too hard, it may result in an even faster dismantling of this power structure - and the inevitable global hostilities that this will sadly create.
This is a very interesting article, that goes into some depth on the issue. And probably articulates it somewhat better than I have.
As I mentioned, they were well able to do it over 25 years ago so what make you think they cant do it now?
Yeah smearing doors with nerve agents is real 007 stuff. Same with some lad hanging himself from a tree in the middle of a jog. Firing a tone of rockets is bound to hit something or some one important as some stage. We have yet to see any precision strikes of any kind. Just fire enough to get the job done. So if that the case they fired all that ordinance to take out a cyber security expert that can be replaced. His loss is sad yes. But not irreplaceable. They would have been better off hitting targets on the front lines. But again you need precision for that not spray and prey.
What you think is one thing and what they can do is another. They were able to do this kind of stuff odd 25 years ago so by now this ability likely improved.
Well the caveat is they would consider themselves only old school left were as we know better so to clarify hard left in my eyes.