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Reading on Russian telegram you can see in the comments they're not happy with the cost of living crisis
Stagflation.
The Times warns Britain is on the verge of losing control of the Atlantic to Russia.
We are not much help in defending the Atlantic against Russia anyway.
I wonder if one of the military style dones had hit and brought down Zelensky's airplane over the Irish sea as it approached Dublin there last week, what effect that would have on the war in Ukraine?
I think that would have been a tragedy, but it wouldn't make much of a difference. It is not Zelensky who forces Ukrainians to fight, it is the cruelty and barbarism of the Russian occupation that motivates Ukrainians to resist. Whoever would have replaced Zelensky would not be any more inclined to give up without the fight.
Would have been a blow to morale all the same, and a black eye for "the west". I'm not saying Zelensky is as crucial to Ukranian morale as say Churchill was to the UK during the war, but if the world saw that the leader of Ukraine could be taken out right between the EU and America, in a country with huge ties to both, it could psychologically be a heavy blow and a signal to small third world countries the west has lost it, does not have the technology, and to trust Russia and China in the future.
And Russia would have been able to deny responsibility saying it must have been some Irish lad flouting the rules again
Now do the imaginary scenario where there are snakes on the plane and Zelensky goes all Samuel L Jackson
Arg…it’s paywalled.
What are The Times saying to back up this claim?
I have a very hard time believing that the current Russian Navy (or any variant of them to be honest) could successfully control more than a blow-up paddling pool…let alone an Ocean that they don’t have easy access to.
Right now the Russian Navy are for the most part
(* Must be fun trying to keep those fueled these days)
So I’m curious what The Times have to say about that.
Saw posts on Facebook yesterday of independent TDs giving out about the €125 million donation to Ukraine. The comments underneath were an absolute cesspool had to click out of it before going too far especially when I saw people I know contributing their tuppence worth . Irish people would do well to remember the last time a Russian president visited Ireland . Remembering that ?? He didn’t even bother to get off the plane.
That’s what Russia thinks of Ireland . Even though 31 years have passed since then it speaks volumes. Russia will never have respect for or be a friend of Ireland on any level . And would squash us like Chechnya if they could at the earliest opportunity. At least Zelensky no matter what you say about him actually got off the plane and addressed our elected representatives.
not even 'several' decaying carriers….
Might also be worth noting that the infamous recent 28-point not-Trump-not-Putin Dim-Wit peace plan specifically included a "no NATO expansion" clause that would have directly removed Ireland's option to join NATO if the plain people of Ireland ever decided they'd had enough of the carry-on in Orwell Road and random Russian vessels lurking over our offshore internet cables.
To be fair Yeltsin was drunk and reportedly asleep.
Time to implement martial law in Europe. Death penalty for all serious crime etc.
it still speaks volumes of the regard Russia has for Ireland and demonstrates a certain realpolitik of the relationship between the two countries. We don’t matter very much to Russia. There is not much cultural commonality between the two countries. We are a country of soft power . They are a country of hard power. I know there was a lot of genuinely embarrassed Russian diplomats and people connected with the Russian presence in Shannon at the time who tried to smooth it over with the Yeltsin drunk and tired narrative ( which he later rubbished and mock chastised his aides for not waking him up) But we were left in no doubt where we stood with regard to Russia that’s for sure.
Yes but that was 1994 and our economy was in a bad state then. I remember the closure of Digital in Galway.
geopolitically the same situation as today. Actually we were more geopolitically important to Russia back then with the Shannon stopover to Cuba.
There wasnt an internet back then, and subsea cables carrying 99% of the internet between the US and UK.
European Council president Antonio Costa is saying the drones off our coast were Russian.
Most likely he is right and this needs to be a real wake up call for us and our lack of defense capabilities.
other countries (even the tech bros ) are interested in our low taxation and business opportunities and cultural heritage etc. Russia is only interested in our internet cables and data centres etc . That speaks volumes. The Irish people consuming Russian propaganda don’t see that. They think Russia is this white Christian bastion against woke which it most certainly is not . It’s way more culturally and ethnically diverse than Ireland and has actual republics with quasi sharia law etc.
No on can tell me Russia can take years of sanctions (western or Ukraine's more hands on approach) + a war to pay for
Catherine Connolly insisted on that clause.
Echoes of the USSR, which also neglected these things in favour of a large military. They became very dependent on oil/gas, and when the price fell to $35 a barrell, they resorted to selling gold, so much so that it caused the global price of gold to slide. They ended up having to beg Western banks for credit, which was granted. The banks then noticed the Soviets were borrowing to pay the interest on the debt too. Thats what collapsed the USSR. Humiliatingly, they had to beg the West for humanitarian aid packages.
I think waiting out Russia economically is the way to go, and keep aid to Ukraine until Putin is forced to come to the table. All these tax increases and cuts to social services may eventually lead to a revolt of some kind like 2023.
Also in the Soviet system, state orders took precedence, especially for the army, which resulted in shortages. I remember the TV pictures of a meatcounter with maybe one slice of ham.
The U.S. Congress is preparing major amendments to the National Security Strategy introduced under Donald Trump – changes aimed at blocking any future withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe and strengthening America’s commitments to NATO. The bill includes $400 million in aid to Ukraine in 2026 and the same in 2027. Will Trump sign it? Its still a tiny drop in the ocean compared to Biden-era packages, which were more like $40bn.
if I'm in the Ukraine high command I'm going to keep ramping up the attacks on like refineries and probably more importantly- go full pirate mode on Russian tankers.
No tankers→means no method of transporting oil round the world→means bankruptcy for Russia
General Alexander Tokarev, listed in Ukraine’s “Book of Executioners,” took part in the invasion of Ukraine. Yet while he helps wage a brutal war, his 22-year-old daughter Anastasia enjoys unrestricted luxury vacations across Europe, collecting visas and passport stamps with no obstacles. She says that her vacations can cost up to $150,000. Hypocritically, her father rails against the "insidious West".
Also reports on a Russian propagandist who was admitted to the Africa Initiative with a false name. An example of how the Kremlin infiltrates institutions outside Russia.
My grandmother in law living in Poland (is that how you say it?) has a fridge from the early 80s. Unbelievably it's still working.
Anyway she told me the day she got it she queued at the one designated shop in the town that was allowed to sell it. When she was second from the top of the queue it turned out there was only 1 fridge left. The woman in front was pregnant and lo and behold went into labour. Hence the reason how my grandmother in law came to have a Belarusian made fridge from the early 80s which is still going strong in 2025. God only knows what ozone depleting gas is in it.
This is what Reports from Ukraine (RFU) says is the situation in Kupiansk. The Russians are clearly vulnerable to outflanking.
Sky News reporting that a serving member of the British Armed Forces has died in Ukraine, away from the front lines, while watching the operation of a new weapon system
orcs pushed out of a chunk of Pokrovsk and now they find themselves under semi-encirclement at Kupiansk
Said this the other day. Russias disinformation job on Ireland has worked. A roaring success.
A huge proportion seem to have swallowed the kool aid like Wallace and Daly and turned into useful idiots.
They have no idea what Russia represents and what they are actively doing to destroy the EU and countries like Ireland.
With America now gone to Russias side it feels we are slowly walking into a very dangerous time ahead for Europe.
The UK needs to admit Brexit was a mistake and get back into the EU. Rough times ahead.
