Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

VorZakone said:
We might see siege tactics from Russia. This isn't over yet.

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I don't think he meant that they have literally surrounded entire city. Most likely meant that there is no safe route to get the civilians all the way to the western border or cities around there. At least I hope he meant it.
 
Shakesey said:
I'd guess about 0.1% of the global population would press the button if it meant total global annihilation.
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The worry is that Putin is quite possibly in that 0.1% The only way I see this going is that he gets taken out by his own men at some stage in the next few weeks/months
 
This image really made me tear up.

 
Absolute bonkers....and with a cigarette dangling from his mouth no less.

 
I said it earlier but how far will the Russian people let Putin go?

The military is overwhelmed currently.. surely an ideal time for a large scale move against him led by some influential people?
 
maniak said:
A better place to spend the apocalypse.
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Ah, yes, looking at the ocean from the cliffs there might actually really be the best place. Or even survive? It's such a nonimportant part of this world, geopolitically speaking, maybe...
 
The biggest fear is Putin won't allow himself to fail.

So if he ends up with nothing to lose, what is to say he won't decide to go nuclear as a final FU to Nato and the west in general?

His paranoia and sanity are at an extreme high at this point.
 
Raoul said:
Absolute bonkers....and with a cigarette dangling from his mouth no less.

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I wanna know what happens after the video. Did he manage to get rid of it, or is there now a hole in the ground with a pair of smoking boots at the edge?
 
choccy77 said:
The biggest fear is Putin won't allow himself to fail.

So if he ends up with nothing to lose, what is to say he won't decide to go nuclear as a final FU to Nato and the west in general?

His paranoia and sanity are at an extreme high at this point.
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We can only hope that people around him have not reached his levels of insanity yet if that happens.
 
maniak said:
Morbid curiosity at this point, but do we know if there a match between cities in case of a nuclear strike. Let's say russia nukes sheffield instead of london, the UK wouldn't nuke moscow but an equivalent city. Is this a thing?
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The thing is that all countries who are in possession of nuclear weapons have their targets pre programmed and updated on a regular basis.

For anyone with a genuine interest, I can recommend an excellent book entitled The Third World War by General Sir John Hackett.
It is a fantastic read. And although set a few decades ago, it is nonetheless quite close to the current situation. Highly recommended.
 
dove said:
We can only hope that people around him have not reached his levels of insanity yet if that happens.
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Fingers crossed.

Even if he takes Ukraine, then what.

He will be be unable to leave Russia pretty much and have no chance of doing anything else.

It's like his sole purpose for his own ego, was to control Ukraine for a few moments in time.

Even the Russian citizens will never celebrate him.

He is fighting a 2022 war using 1980s tactics.
 
horsechoker said:
Met 2 people from there and they were dickheads.

Met 3 people from Montreal and as far as I'm concered Putin can do what he wants to that place.
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Tbf you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere that didn't have at least one dickhead in it but i get your point.
 
Mockney said:
Greenwald is an utter crank whose spent the last few years shilling for Fox News and the last few months dick riding Tucker Carlson. His entire thing now is faux horseshoe grift.
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I've ignored him entirely since Snowden but I don't really care if he appears on Fox News. I'm interested in the argument he makes about war and emotion, and the need so many have to create scapegoats and examples of dissent you should not be allowed to say (all of which is legitimate), not about who's right or who's wrong.
 
VorZakone said:
How has this news been received in Germany? Scepticism? Anxiety? It's a big move.
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From what can be gathered the resolutions was met with a lot of public support just as how the Bundestag reacted to it.

First of all the speech by Scholz was good, like career defining good. It touched on all the important points. It made a clear distinction between Putin and the Russian people, which was incredibly important given the large Russian community living in Germany (more than 3 million) and while it touched on the security aspect of increasing military spending and sending weapons in war areas it emphasised the sense of responsibility of it far more.

The widespread support for it does not really come from a place of fear and worry imo. The number of people who fear a direct attack on German soil is still really low and there are good arguments for that (situated in the heart of Europe, surrounded by allies, high economical importance etc.), but the sense of responsibilty to contribute to defending its values more has definitively grown the last days. The Ukraine war hits far closer to home than other recent wars because a lot of people know people who are directly involved here. The Syrian refugee crisis also played a part in a shift of perspective as it brought the consequenses of war at our door step.

If there is something to be said about Germans it is that if they feel the need to open their wallets for an important cause they are willing to share their wealth and do it by spending big. What I do not see is a run to enlist in the army and take up arms as the generally anti militaristic stance still remains. The Bundeswehr will rather transform into a far better run machine with a high technological standart, supported by a potent arms industry at home. I also do not see it shifting their focus away from a thouroughly defensive force, far better equipped to watch the European borders and the other nations back than to intervene directly elsewhere.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
It's morbid but when you've got a stone cold psychopath sat on 6k nukes saying that he's going to use them then how do you not talk about it?
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Has he actually said that. Or has he said that he wants them to be put on alert.
Hope you don't think I am being pedantic. But I think he is only saying that to warn the West not to get involved and leave him to do whatever he wants.
In order words, posturing.
 
rpitroda said:
Weird take on some suggesting sanctions should be reduced. I’d make two points:

- The way the world works today, there is not only one way to respond to force (being by applying force back). Times are different. For the average Joe sanctions don’t sound like much, but with the right ones and the right pressure, they are devastating. The objective here isn’t to blow away Russia with force, although that option must remain as a final resort. It’s to end this thing with as little force as possible, to spare as many lives as possible. That includes on both sides because the fact is Russians caught in this mess are by and large also innocent.
- We have long gone past an end game now where Russia pulling back is sufficient. That simply can’t be the end game anymore. If we all thought about invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan could be debated as improper, then this is on another level. There is no justification for it. Ukraine aligning with NATO, whilst a reasonable concern for Putin, isn’t worthy of this. Not even in the slightest. Therefore to my mind, the end game now has to be to neutralise Russia. Either economically, or by forcing an end to the Putin era such that this cannot happen. It’s a travesty that ordinary Russians will suffer from this, but it’s better than a) escalating with force which could genuinely cost lives and b) allowing this to go to end by some agreement which sees normal business resumed as before this invasion. And it’s worth noting that in the longer term, Russia progressing from this dictator would be beneficial for all Russians. I am of course cognisant that financial difficulty does cost lives too, I’m not ignorant to that. But sadly there is life going to be lost given where we are and I see this as the better option.

To that end, the west and east must continue to slap the hardest possible sanctions on Russia. And the threshold for removing them can’t just be an “I’m sorry”.
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Yep. Agreed
 
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