I’m still thinking about this but it was always something that’ll take a few months at least, I still have a few important things to finish up here. Whenever I’ll actually do it or not, who knows… inside I’m really hoping that Putin’s regime will start crumbling as I’m wrapping up but it’ll probably take a bit longer.
Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
- Thread starter Wednesday at Stoke
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
I think we have to be a little bit more patient. It seems like this war strarted ages ago but it is just going on for two months. The sanctions will take a while to take effect. Time is on the Ukraine's side.
It'll only become more and more difficult for Russia as this goes on. I think it is very important that we stay firm - not only politically, but the society as a whole.
It'll only become more and more difficult for Russia as this goes on. I think it is very important that we stay firm - not only politically, but the society as a whole.
"The Ukraine" ?
I agree. It almost stands to reason that these things will take time. Talk of Russia ordering full mobilisation is generally seen in terms of the threat to Ukraine, but let’s not forget that it’s exceptionally expensive and unpopular. And probably added to that it’s not necessarily men that Russia needs, it’s the weapons they have and the knowledge to use them.
“the Ukraine” is what the place was called when it was a piece of the USSR. Some folks still use “the Ukraine” in a pejorative way.I guess I got the pronoun game wrong?
“Ukraine” is what it’s been called since gaining independence.
I guess I got the pronoun game wrong?
Just Ukraine, like Germany. Not the Ukraine or the Germany. The Netherlands is fine, though.
In general you use pronouns for landscapes, but not for states. By calling it "the Ukraine" you essentially deny its existence as a state.I guess I got the pronoun game wrong?
But I'll admit it's deeply ingrained into my brain too
Thanks for the calririfcation! Over here it is still very common to refer to it this way. Actually so much that it sounds weird to leave the pronoun away in German, similarly to the use of "the Netherlands"/"die Niederlande". Before a football game you'd always say for instance "Heute spielt England [no pronoun] gegen die Ukraine [with pronoun]". I wasn't even aware we are saying it like this until now. Weird how that goes, especially if you think about why there's even a difference in the first place.
This is just silly, particularly for not native english speakers. In my language, both the Ukraine and Ukraine would have been translated equally, as there are no articles. Actually when to use or not use (the?) articles is the hardest part for me. Most of the times it's just instinctive.
President Obama accidentally said “the Ukraine” in a press conference in 2014.
When asked about the “the Ukraine” gaffe and which form of the name to use, Tamara Gallo Olexy, the president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, said “We correct anybody that we’re speaking to… It’s this feeling that you’re part of another country, that you are a territory of somebody else.”
President Trump also made the same gaffe in 2019, leading to this…
“The Ukrainian journalist Olena Goncharova broke down the specifics of the etymological insult in a series in the Kyiv Post called “Honest History.” “Saying ‘the Ukraine’ is more than a grammatical mistake — it is inappropriate and disrespectful for Ukraine and Ukrainians,” she wrote. Attaching “the” in front of the name not only suggests that Ukraine is a “sub-part or region of a country,” like “the Fens in England, the Algarve in Portugal, and the Highlands in Scotland,” but it implies that Ukraine is a vassal state, a colonial territory, whereas “Ukraine is no longer a part of another country or empire,” she emphasized. “After many hard battles, it has become an independent, unitary state.”
To add to the above from @Carolina Red 'Ukraine' approximately translates into 'edge' or 'borderland' is my understanding. Thus "the Ukraine" approximates to "the border province".
We're probably just doing it for the money. Our arms industry will take any contract it can get.
Balanced view of where we are now and Russia strategic options ( ie not many good ones)
I can live with that
Some bad news.
Surely though the Ukrainians would see an encirclement coming?
Encirclements need a lot of troops to hold. Ukraine might think they are prepared well enough to hold. A strong besieging force will result in thinly spread Russian troops elsewhere that could be easier to pick off fir the rest of Ukraine's army.
Indeed. A possible Lost Battalion or Bastogne type plan.
What is that? Long range ground artillery? Or something airborne? Seems very fast and accurate.
That's quite far away from Ukraine.
Last time I was in Kherson I saw streets that were named after WW2 Soviet snipers who assassinated Nazi occupiers. One can only imagine how many streets and statues this guy will get after the war is over.
The 40 kills in general (or even 7 kills in the first two days) seems more like a legend to motivate the Ukrainians soldiers. Don’t believe it for the moment. More like the ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ is a made-up story and this is some random pilot who was chosen to be it.
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Bet you’re fun at parties
Exactly, there just aren't enough confirmed Russian loses in total to believe this.
The Ukranian forces usually provide names of those generals.
But by waiting for ‘confirmed losses’ you are waiting for the Russians to confirm their own heavy casualties and disbelieving any other source.
I meant 40 kills in general. As in, they are claiming that this pilot dropped 40 Russian airplanes.
The Angelina Jolie stuff in Lviv is so weird. Crazy how Lviv has become one of the centres of the world right now.
Doesn't have to be confirmed by the Russians. The Ukrainians are certainly recording the planes they shoot down. They have no reason to keep those records secrets, and every reason to publicize them. Currently the (edit: independently confirmed) total number of Russian planes shot down is in the 20s, and probably as many helicopters.
Edit: Apparently Ukraine's military claims they've shot down 189 planes, which seems like a very high number, and orders of magnitude above the independently confirmed numbers. They also claim to have destroyed 986 tanks. Or at least, that's what the sources I can find claim the military claims.
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So basically you’re making up your own story that it’s made up because you’ve chosen not to believe the statement of the democratically elected Ukrainian government.
Yeah, I am choosing to believe that no pilot is gonna drop 40 airplanes, especially considering that the airplanes Russia and Ukraine uses are similar.
Btw, this is not the first time that the Ghost of Kyiv got an identity. Last time around it turned out to be some actor photoshopped, right?
Let’s not pretend that Ukrainian government is above propaganda. Zelenski gave medals of martyrs to the ‘Russian ship, go feck yourself’ sailors whom days later turned out to have surrendered and captured alive.
I think it was important for the morale to make up these stories and heroes, but do not see the need for this at this stage. It is the Ukrainian people who are the real heroes, not these invented stories.
We just need Elon to tweet it and then he'll believe.