This is all getting very personal...so please no. As pointed out right at the start, this politics thread is self moderated. And it's 4-4...so please leave it
He's also going to run out of money quite quickly... Estonia's former defence chief Riho Terras has now claimed that Putin's war is not going to plan because Russia is fast running out of money and weapons, and will have to enter negotiations with Volodymyr Zelensky's government if Kyiv holds off the Russians for 10 days. Russia's tyrant has allegedly convened a meeting with the oligarchs in a bunker in the Ural Mountains, at which it is claimed that he furiously vented that he thought the war would be 'easy' and 'everything would be done in one to four days'. Citing Ukrainian intelligence sources, Terras claimed that the war is costing Russia around £15billion-per-day, and that they have rockets for three to four days at most, which they are using sparingly. He claimed that Putin's plan has relied on panicking the country, firing missiles at residential buildings 'at random' to 'intimidate' the Ukrainians, trigger mass army desertions, national surrender, and Zelensky's flight from the country. Terras also alleged that Russian special operations have been near Kyiv since February 18, and had planned to swiftly seize the capital and install a puppet regime. 'The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered. The Ukrainians must avoid panic! ... Ukraine must stay strong and we must provide assistance!', he wrote on Twitter.
Anyone else starting to hope that this might end faster than we'd hoped, and with a better outcome that we'd feared? Looks like Putin is finding this a lot harder than he'd expected, both in Ukraine and at home. They are making much slower military progress in Ukraine than they'd expected, and they have already lost 5,000 men. (For context, England lost 182 (military and civilians) in Iraq between 2003 and 2011). The Ukrainian army have the power to destroy planes & tanks and are being given / promised more anti-tank and anti-air every day. The Ukrainians have dug in, in no small part because of the very brave leadership of their President, and show every sign of fighting a long insurgency battle even if they are overwhelmed in coming months. We've seen reports in the last few hours of mercenary troops now refusing to fight for Russia. At home the Russian Govt are having to reassure their citizens that there will not be a run on the banks on Monday, and have already shipped a large excess of cash to ATMs. The rouble has already fallen against the dollar, with a sharper fall expected tomorrow. Nord 2 being cancelled is a major blow for Russia's leading industry. BP and other businesses are cancelling work with Russian counterparts. Russians are protesting in their 1000s on the streets, with celebrities coming out against the invasion en masse. Putin has even succeeded in achieving a long-standing aim of the USA / UK in getting Germany to increase its military spending. The about-turn in Germany's foreign policy in a matter of days - which for obvious historic reasons Germany has been incredibly cautious about - shows just how much this is back-firing for Putin. The longer this goes on, the more convinced I am that this is the beginning of the end of Putin, not the beginning of a long-war.
dont know what the law says about people going to fight overseas but i dont think any will be coming back from ukraine to blow up concerts or drive vans into crowds
Took Mendy off for Kepa for the penalty shootout..and Kepa failed to score his penalty ( oh dear what a shame)... I am sure that tells you something about politics ...
Good post. I still cannot understand why Putin did this? That’s why I was so confident he wouldn’t attack. it didn’t make sense. No logic. I have seen a video on the same site of my previous post showing Russian tank taken out and dead Russians on floor. It also shows drone attack ( which can’t be verified) taking out a Russian column. That would support what that military analyst said about the Russian military being 20th Century.
It was always doomed to failure. As SM post stated they thought it would be over in 1-4 days and now they have worked out that ain’t going to happen. I would agree with you that it does seem a bit brighter for Ukraine however as I type this Breaking news is showing a satellite image of a Russian convoy 3 miles long heading to Kyiv. If this fails questions will be asked in Russia.
Add to this the fact that far from being an elite army this is very much a conscript force that doesn't seem to have the stomach for the fight they have been confronted with. Their overwhelming firepower will likely prove decisive but they will continue to endure humiliations on the way, hopefully enough to put Putin beyond redemption. Hackers have apparently been posting footage of bodies piling up on the Kremlin website and the state broadcasters, playing Vlad at his own game...
In the last hour alone - Rolls Royce announces it will no longer buy titanium from Russia, Turkey signals it could block access to the Black Sea for Russia. Putin has seriously underestimated the strength of the non-military global response, hasn't he? He's trying to fight a 20th century ground war in a 21st century inter-dependent globe, and it will be the end of him. Let's hope that end is quick.
Also, f*** Fifa and their spineless pathetic response. I had already resolved not to watch the Qatar world cup, built on the back of now-dead slaves and purchased through corruption, but their utterly pathetic response to the Ukraine invasion has doubled my resolve.
CNN reported 20 mins ago that dozens of Russian soldiers were captured and when interrogated most didn’t even know why they were there, didn’t want to be there or didn’t even know they were in Ukraine. BBC has just verified this on news so I will post.
