Russia - threadbanned users in OP

No, it's correct. It's the premise of 'common purpose', a component of common law and goes back hundreds of years. It is relevant to many jurisdictions including Ireland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_purpose

They have full unrestricted access to YouTube which contains lots of factual western media reports on the Russian invasion like CNN, BBC, TV5 etc.

So yes they have a choice, believe the Russian manipulated media or foreign independent truth media.

So less of the ‘poor old brainwashed Russians’ they just choose to back their own side in this illegal war.

@Wibbs don't know if you spotted this article from Time that posted earlier in the week. While it acknowledges a lot of the issues at the front, it would somewhat disagree with the "frozen front" view...

In brief, it's argument is that while Ukraine doesn't have the long range missiles or air supremacy for the counter-offensive to achieve the Dessert Storm like lightening strike to the Azov sea many in the West are expecting/wishing for, Russia don't appear to have the reserves necessary to rotate troops all along the front or shore up defences when pressed (an issue the UAF don't currently have) which, when added to the other structural problems the Russian military have, suggest that while it'll be a slow grind, Ukraine should eventually prevail... Don't just take my summary of it though, the article is well worth throwing on the kettle for IMO.

Nah,

This lad takes away the Civilian bodies (like that 8 year old boy murdered this morning)

This sums it up well

True ,those that advocate even loosely an "only Russian is a dead Russian" approach are in my view playing Putin's game as some kind of propaganda virus.

The Ukrainians deserve better than such "support"

Coming from the mouth of someone directly affected by the invasion those sentiments would perhaps be understandable but we ,from our secure vantage point should espouse sentiments that are worth others dying for(and hope that the Russian and Ukrainian peoples can eventually live in peace and mutual respect with each other)

Ireland needs to join NATO and get some ammo to Ukraine. Otherwise we remain neutral arse scratchers.

You are quite naive, russians and Ukrainians will never live in peace after this war. What I can tell you pretty much conclusively is that one of the outcomes of this war will be a natural border of hate towards russians stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. Having worked with, socialised and come across many Lithuanians, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks I can confirm that these people have nothing but unadulterated hate for russians and all things russian, without exception.

I think we'll definitely see a modern equivalent of the iron curtain along these borders soon enough. It still surprises me at how many Russian tourists are still being let come to the west though. The EU really should have stopped that (and deported the oligarch's families) a long time ago.

The consequences for Europe and the wider world, that's why Russia can't become a failed state.

Agree. I think alot of the Eastern / Baltic countries (and Finland?) have already restricted their access as much as they can, without something collective at EU (I suppose Schengen) level.

Some countries still seem to accept the (IMO) bad/faulty arguments often put forward earlier in the war on this thread e.g. Russians should not be collectively punished this way, it is a benefit to us to let them flee Russia/Putin etc...and then you also have Putin's catspaw in the EU (Hungary)....

edit: I am a bit curious now about how many visas we are handing out to them + the trends...I am cynical and expect the worst there.

I think some in the west are happy to see a weakened Russia on the world stage, but at the same time they do not want a failed state on their hands with all the chaos that could bring about. It maybe that some in the west wanted a frozen conflict to develop all along instead of an outright victory for Ukraine. Their calculation could be Putin will come to the table and that an eventual deal with Putin is the least worst option than the risk of a civil war in a nuclear armed state if a total defeat is inflicted on Russia

If this is the calculation its a dangerous one, unless Putin comes to see an eventual deal as the only way of ensuring his own survival. If not he could see compromise as a sign of weakness and a green light to try again.

Yes, that's more like it. Soldiers are fair game, whether they want to be there or not, that is war.

The Russian people beyond that aren't though, any thinking outside of that is genocidal, fit for tyrants and scumbags like Putin. Nothing worse than seeing people drop as low as that.