Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Would be perfect.

Russia deserves Zero attention.

Plus the actual war is being fought in Ukraine and not Russia.

This is what Russia is doing.

This is Roman, he is 8.

He was injured in the Russian missile attack on Vinnytsia in July 2022. 45 % of the body surface is burned. Now he returned to Ukraine after treatment in Germany. His recovery will continue at the UNBROKEN KIDS Children's Rehabilitation Center (Lviv)

https://x.com/mariana_betsa/status/1703814557947342988?s=46&t=164doiZBMwnNrFfsvLsvPA

This guy posts some good videos.

It's worth subscribe to.

He's not right. We've seen what Russians do when they "Liberate" a place....Boucha for example. And there are other places too, with until Zelensky clears them out of Melitopol and other places. There will be some horrors uncovered then. Ukrainians have to fight, and I'll wait until Zelensky says stop.

And some other samples...Visegrád 24 on X: "Russian war propaganda targeting the youth is going into overdrive. “We will win,” - the young Putin-patriots sing https://t.co/Ptg3nQI6j8" / X (twitter.com)

No, not involved in this war, watching from the sidelines, same as you and other posters, and same as you and the others , voicing my opinion. Back a few months ago, thought that I might get to Ukraine, but it didn't happen (not yet anyway) but I'm very familiar with wars in general, and Russian wars in particular ...spent time in Syria , 2,5 years in fact. I know what its like when Putin bomb's a city. I've very nice piece of shrapnel ( amongst other " things" ) as a souvenir from Aleppo.

Aaaaah.

[Enter left]

jmreire: Set ye down this. And say besides that in Aleppo once ……

[redacted for being extremely non-PC in our culturally sensitive times]

I can never resist a bit of Shakespeare😊, even the tiniest bit!

Yes Russia is really weaponising migrants to break cohesion in the West. The Syrian migrant crisis came after Russian got involved there in 2015. In 2021 lukashenko imported migrants and forced them to the polish border at gun point. And now Russian meddling in North Africa will force a new wave of migrants to European shores. They will literally point guns at Africans and say go to Europe or die. It’s basically war. Russia is using these unfortunate people to invade Europe. It’s gas when you listen to the likes of Nigel farage not once has he made the connection between Putin and migrant crises. Funny that!

The co-ordination needed to try and ride two horses at the same time.

Maybe it was a little tongue in cheek but that's the phrase the wrote the headline above all else he said.

The west should understand that the Russian mentality is not, and never has been, like that of the west - unless you are talking about the Roman empire.

They sure manage to crash a lot of planes. Must be due to maintenance issues by now.

If im not mistaken NATO have threatened war if Russia deploys nukes in this conflict, as the potential for radioactive fallout affecting member states would be considered a hostile act. But Russian nuclear doctrine is built around firing first. On the flip side, Russia has threatened many red lines that have been crossed by Ukraine and the allies.

My concern in this specific case is the potential domino effect. The front line is on the verge of breaking; the potential for another Kherson scale collapse that could isolate Crimea by cutting the overland link and bringing the Kerch Bridge into heavy weapons range is quite real. From Putin's perspective, it may prove an irreversible setback for his war.

He has this salient that is gradually filling up with some serious Ukrainian weaponry. In Putin's desperation, it might prove too tempting a target. The shock factor could freeze the entire front line. He could pull troops back out of immediate range of the blast sites and rebuild defences. I'm not saying that's logical thinking, but in Putin's head it might be. He might gamble that "small" nukes won't have sufficient fallout to travel far outside the warzone - it will be him testing NATO's red line.

It all comes down to how desperate he is, and who's crazy enough to listen to him. But then again, I might just be concerned over nothing.

I can see both sides of this discussion. Yes, the west has been able to cross numerous red lines (red squares? 🤔) set by Moscow without anything bar an angry barrage of Kinzhals and cruise missiles as a response. And I agree with the point that going nuclear, or indeed going after a NATO country would be supremely damaging and illogical. No rational leader would ever make that decision.

But here's the thing: We're not dealing with a rational actor here. The entire invasion of Ukraine is based on a deeply illogical vision of restoring Russia's former glory, fueled by a siege mentality that has been engrained in the Russian collective psyche. Putin has been acting from a deeply emotional and increasingly desperate base for years at this point, and that's why I tend to see where TedBundysDriver is coming from.

However, I feel like we're beyond the point where this fear should hold the west back. Eventually, Russia needs to be confronted and pushed back, its bluff called. I do believe that the chances of Russia going nuclear are small, but they're not zero. And while I believe the West should continue pushing back against Putin, I hope that NATO has the necessary battle plans in the drawer and ready to go in case he does snap.

No idea haven't read back on the thread from a year ago. Just musing what Putin's next move will aloud. I can foresee him trying something but personally i don't think he'll push the nuclear button. I wouldn't put it past him to go the chemical warfare route if defeat looks inevitable though. Who knows though, we are dealing with an utter madman.

Nope, but still I will go by what Zelenski says, if he says, negotiate, fine, If he says fight on, that's fine too. I'm prepared to wait for his decision, and not go by the various opinions and suggestions of anyone else.