Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Depends. My parent's house was semi-destroyed during the Lebanese Civil War (75-90), no one helped rebuild shit.

That was more because no mass consensus was made as to who would take care of the rebuild and how, especially when Lebanon's neighbors hate each other's guts. In the case of Ukraine, I think the US and the EU will have some kind of Marshall Plan ready.
 


These images show they have access to the type of drone that landed in Croatia and would suggest that Russia is responsible for that.

If there were Patriot, THAAD, or US Iron Dome batteries along the border with Ukraine in NATO countries, perhaps we could shoot down anything that threatens to cross into NATO territory. Given the number of projectiles so far that have entered NATO airspace, they should threaten to shoot down any missiles or drones that threaten NATO. Russia isn't flying bombing runs over Western Ukraine and are using air-launched ballistic missiles from standoff range to attack Lviv and other areas. Who can really tell where a missile aimed for Lviv or 15 km from the border are going to land so it's best to shoot them down just to be safe. Missile defense for Western Ukraine. :angel:

I'm sure this isn't practical though given the risks involved.
 


These are like the loitering munitions Russia has been using. Basically small drones with warheads attached. At present, I don't think they can be exported except to the UK.
 


These are like the loitering munitions Russia has been using. Basically small drones with warheads attached. At present, I don't think they can be exported except to the UK.


I think Putin realizes that he's in a race against time to demolish the country before any of these weapons have enough time to see the light of day in Ukraine. If he can put a wrecking ball to most Ukrainian cities, he will be able to pull back and claim some sort of fake victory against fascists for domestic consumption.
 
BBC reports:

"The US Senate has voted unanimously to condemn Vladimir Putin as a war criminal.

The rare cross-party vote called on the International Criminal Court at The Hague to probe Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on Tuesday ahead of the vote that Putin should be held accountable for "atrocities" in Ukraine.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a sponsor of the bill, said in a statement: "The next step for me is to work with our British allies and hopefully others to create an intel cell that will make available to the public Russian military units engaged in war crimes and start naming their commanders.

"A name-and-shame campaign is in the making."
 
Russia claimed to be in control of Kherson 2 weeks ago. I guess they might have to reconsider.

They were in loose control after the Mayor made some sort of deal with them to spare the city from getting obliterated. From what I've seen, the locals have continued to rebel and protest.
 
How fecking stupid must you be of an army to have 4 generals being KIA within a month?

Listening to Michael Kofman talk, it's apparently more in Russian military doctrine/culture for commanders to lead from the front so it's not irregular for lots of them to die. It seems pretty stupid to me.
 
I didn't say that being isolationist is in their best interest, I said that there are large sections of their society who believe it the most desirable option.

I wasn’t being sarcastic! Was genuinely musing upon what is realistically best moving forward.

Russia under Putin has become such an incredibly destabilising factor in the World - meddling in elections, Brexit, funding up the far-right, troll farms, causing Division in the West, aggressive, illegal military actions against sovereign nations…

Russia / Putin is just such a toxic element throughout Europe and the West.

It seems like isolating them as much as is possible and dealing with them less and less is the only Peaceful way to go. As it is with North Korea.

If Putin is removed / overthrown and the people choose to fight for democracy then they should be supported, but as is right now, surely you have to say enough’s enough.
 
I think Putin realizes that he's in a race against time to demolish the country before any of these weapons have enough time to see the light of day in Ukraine. If he can put a wrecking ball to most Ukrainian cities, he will be able to pull back and claim some sort of fake victory against fascists for domestic consumption.

But Ukraine still needs missile defenses or their own cruise/guided missiles to be able to shoot down incoming Russian missiles and to return fire, unless Russia is about to run out completely. The Ukrainians could use support from standoff missiles in the East where they don't have any air cover and are limited to what's on the ground. The Switchblades might help with that if they can be supplied, but I can't see any getting into Kharkiv (or Mauriopol). Lots of the Russian missiles hitting Western Ukraine are being launched either inside of Russia/Belarus or from Donbas. It could be a game changer if Ukraine had something like that.

I'm hopeful they have some anti-ship missiles for the Odessa assault. It would be great to see a bunch of Russian ships sunk.
 
Listening to Michael Kofman talk, it's apparently more in Russian military doctrine/culture for commanders to lead from the front so it's not irregular for lots of them to die. It seems pretty stupid to me.

The alternative explanation is that the Russian troops are so demoralised and disaffected, and Putin so frustrated at the lack of progress, that their commanders have gone to the front line - hence more exposed - in an attempt to gee up the troops and get them moving forward
 


I know this is something that has been happening for humanity’s entire written history and more but… I still fail to comprehend how someone can be personally killing 7-10 people a day during a war and then at the end of it simply letting it slide off him and integrating back into society. I just can’t.

I think if I killed 1 person I’d have PTSD. Killing 10 sounds crazy, it’d be life altering. I can’t even imagine killing 10 a day and then being able to sleep again.

PS. It’s easier for a leader to give a command and feel disconnected from the result if he’s not doing it himself or observing the result with his eyes. Gunning someone down yourself feels very personal.
 
These images show they have access to the type of drone that landed in Croatia and would suggest that Russia is responsible for that.

If there were Patriot, THAAD, or US Iron Dome batteries along the border with Ukraine in NATO countries, perhaps we could shoot down anything that threatens to cross into NATO territory. Given the number of projectiles so far that have entered NATO airspace, they should threaten to shoot down any missiles or drones that threaten NATO. Russia isn't flying bombing runs over Western Ukraine and are using air-launched ballistic missiles from standoff range to attack Lviv and other areas. Who can really tell where a missile aimed for Lviv or 15 km from the border are going to land so it's best to shoot them down just to be safe. Missile defense for Western Ukraine. :angel:

I'm sure this isn't practical though given the risks involved.

Poland just got 2 Patriot batteries in the last week and Romania already has Patriot, Aegis and Thaad systems.

I know this is something that has been happening for humanity’s entire written history and more but… I still fail to comprehend how someone can be personally killing 7-10 people a day during a war and then at the end of it simply letting it slide off him and integrating back into society. I just can’t.

I think if I killed 1 person I’d have PTSD. Killing 10 sounds crazy, it’d be life altering. I can’t even imagine killing 10 a day and then being able to sleep again.

PS. It’s easier for a leader to give a command and feel disconnected from the result if he’s not doing it himself or observing the result with his eyes. Gunning someone down yourself feels very personal.

It's also a bit of a questionable article. I know nothing about the guy but in the British and American Armies snipers don't go around shooting people like it's Call of Duty. 40 in a day might happen once, for 1 in 100 people, but most of the time they're watching the same person for days or weeks and doing nothing. That article is making it out like that guy chalks up 40 kills a day every day.
 
I know this is something that has been happening for humanity’s entire written history and more but… I still fail to comprehend how someone can be personally killing 7-10 people a day during a war and then at the end of it simply letting it slide off him and integrating back into society. I just can’t.

I think if I killed 1 person I’d have PTSD. Killing 10 sounds crazy, it’d be life altering. I can’t even imagine killing 10 a day and then being able to sleep again.

PS. It’s easier for a leader to give a command and feel disconnected from the result if he’s not doing it himself or observing the result with his eyes. Gunning someone down yourself feels very personal.
I guess if you are a sniper, you are quite far removed from those you are killing.

There’s also a massive difference between defending your own country, or joining a army defending their country who the whole world sees as morally just, and invading another country unprovoked, for dubious reasons, or acting simply as a mercenary killing for cash.
 
These aren't necessarily desirable outcomes for a number of Russians though. Significant parts of Russian society, especially in the east, are strongly nationalist, distrustful of the western world and broadly supportive of an isolationist and a strongly anti western government.

Putin is a product of this, not the cause.

Never underestimate his popularity.
It wasn’t really the case in the 90’s or even in the early 00’s. The idea of the West as an existential enemy was resurrected by Putin in mid 00’s and his propaganda kept pushing this agenda for almost 2 decades now, gradually increasing the level of hostility.
 
I wonder what would happen if Finland joined NATO. I wouldn't have thought an invasion of Finland is possible but now I don't consider anything impossible.
 
I wonder what would happen if Finland joined NATO. I wouldn't have thought an invasion of Finland is possible but now I don't consider anything impossible.
If Finland joined Nato? Nothing would happen. Otherwise who knows?
 
I mean what would do people think Russias immediate response be as they've already spoken of military consequences.

The Russian military has no chance of doing anything meaningful for the next 10 years after this. They already aren't at a very good technical level and it's going to get worse with the sanctions.

The only danger the Western countries has is complacency. If they pretend all this never happened in the next few years and allow Russia to be rich again, you can be sure the Kremlin will soon spend 50% of their GDP on their military, and then there will be trouble in the future.
 
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The rare cross-party vote called on the International Criminal Court at The Hague to probe Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.
Maybe it's time the US senate ratified the Rome statute themselves. It's a bit bizarre to "call on the ICC to probe Putin's decision to invade Ukraine" when the US doesn't recognise the court in their own country, and neither does Russia.
 
I mean what would do people think Russias immediate response be as they've already spoken of military consequences.

Suck it up, most probably. Russia won't be able to do anything for some time after this.
 
I know this is something that has been happening for humanity’s entire written history and more but… I still fail to comprehend how someone can be personally killing 7-10 people a day during a war and then at the end of it simply letting it slide off him and integrating back into society. I just can’t.

I think if I killed 1 person I’d have PTSD. Killing 10 sounds crazy, it’d be life altering. I can’t even imagine killing 10 a day and then being able to sleep again.

PS. It’s easier for a leader to give a command and feel disconnected from the result if he’s not doing it himself or observing the result with his eyes. Gunning someone down yourself feels very personal.
Who says he doesn’t have PTSD?

The reason Chris Kyle kept going back on more tours in Iraq was because of the difficulties in rejoining society, and that’s from a guy whose book opens with a story that includes the line “I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job”.
 
I wonder what would happen if Finland joined NATO. I wouldn't have thought an invasion of Finland is possible but now I don't consider anything impossible.

Their president was on Newsnight yesterday and confidently said he doesn't think Russia would invade if they were to join NATO. A former PM said he expects Finland to join in a matter of months.