It does make you wonder how history will look back on the west not stepping in to help. The risk of escalation suggests stepping in would be a very bad idea, but the longer this goes on the more uncomfortable I get with us all watching from the sidelines.
It's like a chess game ... Putin's attempt to label an invasive war a 'military operation' aimed at 'liberation' is spurious bollocks, of course, but reassures both domestically and in those Russian speaking enclaves ... Ukraine is not currently a NATO member therefore NATO can't intervene with armed forces ... because that would then initiate a state of war ... as contrasted with the military operations currently going on ... again, it's all spurious bollocks ... but if NATO were to put troops on the ground there is a risk that China becomes involved and then we have WWIII ... So whilst it is uncomfortable to watch, the best tactic available is to facilitate "No fly" by providing Ukraine with large numbers of air defence systems and even fighter planes and helicopters ... whilst helping train Ukranian pilots ... there will be no quick fix ... but the longer the invasion lasts and the slower the progress, the greater the unrest in Russia itself ... and that is Putin's biggest concern ... another Afghanistan could herald regime change ... he also has a number of supporting Oligarchs now mourning a loss of toys and income ... On another note, 16,000 volunteers from overseas, including 3,000 yanks, are going to join Ukranian forces ... 30 Chelsea headhunters are going to join the Russians ... once they figure out how to get to Ukraine from where their flight lands in Benidorm ...
It's terrible mate, the problem that I'm seeing is proving who is doing it, much like the sky journalists who got ambushed, did they actually prove who was shooting at them. Is it Russian soldiers, is it unknown miltia who might be seeking revenge for allegations of what happened in Donbas. Is it Ukranian soldiers who might get trigger happy when they can't identify a vehicle, is it Ukranian men, even released prisoners, who don't think before they shoot. Is it outsiders who support Russia, or is it just random murderous nuts that have gone out there to get their sick kicks. The West is constantly telling us Ukranians are catching Russian conscripts, young kids who thought they were just on an exercise, so if we are blaming Russian soldiers for these murders, then it contradicts the story of the West of sorts. I know the journos said they are 'death squads' but where from? It's much like the West claiming the Russians attacked a Nuclear facility, again it's a play on words, they never at any point attacked the reactors, as I understand it Ukranians were hold up in a training room, that the Russians took out, so you coud argue, is it not a dangerous exercise to use a Nuclear plant as your defence, if you claim you are defending, then the Russians have the right to take it, that's what happens in war, even if the Russians deny it's a war to their own people. I accept it's a careless act to start chucking missiles in there though. Someone needs to get hold of Putin and put a bullet in his head, afterall they've already made two or three attempts on the Ukranian leader, so it's a legit assassination in retaliation.
Anyway...anyone in Odessa needs to get out NOW! It's the final link in the Russians controlling the port and any access to the sea. It's going to get very messy as I can't see the Ukranians winning this battle with the amount of Russian fleet sitting offshore.
Reports coming in from Russia that it was the army generals that banned the BBC and not Putin. They were worried about him being told to press the red button.
I know this is meant as a joke but these two clowns sowed the seeds of what we are seeing now. To the left: the man whose drastic and chaotic economic reforms allowed the creation of the oligarchy, after which he forced through a new constitution which vastly expanded the President's powers; powers Putin now reaps the benefits of. To the right: the man whose aggressive expansion of NATO created from day 1 a useful propaganda tool with which Russia could rally its people against Western belligerence. Historic events do not happen in isolation. They are the by products of a complex series of decisions, often moronic, made by people with far too much power and far too little regard for the people who will eventually suffer the consequences of their idiocy.
I think that's all we can do for now. Keep supplying Ukraine with arms to try and counter the bombardment. Putin has stopped short of calling the West's supply of arms an 'act of war' because he knows that if he declares all out war with the West, it will turn into an unthinkable ****storm. As for Putin's popularity in Russia, it was on the wane anyway. And he's doing his best to try and prevent the Russian public from seeing the full horror of what's happening on the ground. But that can only last for so long. The world is far too connected today to prevent a full scale black out of news. And at least for now, Russia isn't a place like North Korea.
I just saw that video of the family who got hit by a shell trying to flee their town yesterday. Mother and two young children dead on the side of the road, the father mortally wounded, their dog still in the pet carrier barking. ****s sake
A new Russian ceasefire proposal to allow civilians to flee key cities has been branded "immoral" by Ukraine People in Kyiv will be offered safe passage to Russia's ally Belarus, while those in Kharkiv will have a corridor leading only to Russia itself Corridors from besieged Mariupol and Sumy will lead to Ukrainian cities and to Russian ones someone needs to get a bullet in this ****s head asap
The arrogance and audacity is breathtaking... come and escape the horror of war via the warm embrace of those inflicting the horrors of war ...
Someone else posted this on our board... This just shows how paranoid Putin is about his own position in Russia. That isn't something a strong leader would need to do. If he was confident the Russian people would still be behind him if they knew what was really going on then he would have no need to hide the truth from them. He won't be able to bury the truth forever, even with draconian measures to hide it. Too many people have access to the internet and ways around any blocks on accessing information. He will want this war over very quickly, and that could mean a real step up in atrocities.
Your post actually got me thinking, especially as it is not something that I have seen Western media report on, and that is how many refugees have gone to Russia. So I looked it up and the total is 53,00 to Russia and 406 to Belarus, yet about 1.5M came West. If this source is accurate: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60555472 It was just something I wanted to check on, because your post prompted me, that Putin is getting paranoid, he is obviously realising that where the refugees are going does not fit into his narrative, but I'm sure he'll try and inflate his numbers some how or cluster bomb a few more residential areas to reduce the numbers moving West.
