Ukraine

What I have observed over the past couple of days is that Russia now appears to be an outlaw state and the effects of sanctions on its economy will bite much harder than el hijo de putin ever imagined. No more Western goods, no more Western currency, no more visits to the West, and no more contracts for purchasing anything Russian.
The total rejection of any Russian sporting teams or personalities must also hurt like Hell.
 
If he is truly the megalomaniac many suspect he will be lost without the affirmation of his people. Soon he won’t be able to go anywhere outside of his own turf or appear in public. Possibly, for the rest of his life. The truth will soon become commonly known in Russia .
 
Always glad to see humour lives in the darkest times.

81868
 
Here's a take, I don't know how to link to twitter, so search @sumlenny.

Putin has already committed over 90% of his troops assigned to the Ukraine misadventure with no real progress, and at least 50% reserve is required to relieve the initial troops once they have won the battle. The tanks destroyed are old, poorly armoured and carry little ammunition, the troops are poorly trained, mainly conscripts and are tired and hungry.
Here's the bit in the link, there are parts of Russia who look for autonomy but are held to Moscow by the might and threat of the Russian army. That threat has vanished in the last week. Putin could face challenges from all sides and we are either looking at the end of Russia, or the end of us all, depending if the sane people disconnect him from the button.

To misquote Lennin: "Weeks of change happen over decades, then suddenly decades of change can happen in weeks".
 
The Velvet Curtain said:
Here's a take, I don't know how to link to twitter, so search @sumlenny.

Putin has already committed over 90% of his troops assigned to the Ukraine misadventure with no real progress, and at least 50% reserve is required to relieve the initial troops once they have won the battle. The tanks destroyed are old, poorly armoured and carry little ammunition, the troops are poorly trained, mainly conscripts and are tired and hungry.
Here's the bit in the link, there are parts of Russia who look for autonomy but are held to Moscow by the might and threat of the Russian army. That threat has vanished in the last week. Putin could face challenges from all sides and we are either looking at the end of Russia, or the end of us all, depending if the sane people disconnect him from the button.

To misquote Lennin: "Weeks of change happen over decades, then suddenly decades of change can happen in weeks".
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It makes me shudder to think of what could have happened if we still had that idiot Trump in office. But things still look quite grim as is.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
It makes me shudder to think of what could have happened if we still had that idiot Trump in office. But things still look quite grim as is.
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Trump was the first to give defense aid to Ukraine in 2017 in the form of javelin anti tank missiles worth 50 million. Basically Trump increased tension for Ukraine where he thought he was doing Zelenskiy a favor but in reality it was Trumps vanity believing being aggressive shows strength....Trump just didn't have the right people talking and giving him the right political advice and of course Trump thinks he's a genius and can do no wrong. Idiot. Of course someone was going to start equipping Ukraine with defense mechanisms which was inevitable with Russia I think taking Crimea in the south then Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and now Turkey for example sending Bayraktar TB2 drones but it kind of all started with Trump as far as supplying lethal defense weaponry to Ukraine. imo
 
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LissaC said:
There's no simple solution to this sadly. I'm heart broken with all the Ukrainians suffering but I am also very worried about sanctions that impact innocent Russian people who didn't sign up for this war. Putin is a dictator who rigged the elections and he doesn't care about his people one single bit. Any response from the west has the potential to cause more trouble, but doing nothing is already having tragic consequences too.
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Sanctions are going to hurt the Russian people, but those sanctions are NOTHING compared to what the Ukrainian people are experiencing, so I'm fine with Russians suffering some hardships. It's their country, and their leader who is causing this. Over the last twenty or so years, the Russian people allowed their country to go from democracy to dictatorship under Putin.

As for simple solutions, a military coup in Russia could work. I don't know just how much more unstable Putin needs to get to trigger that, but if he calls for nuclear strikes on the West, that might do the trick. Putin has already made veiled threats to that effect.

CD
 
Rocklobster said:
Gas has skyrocketed here, too..I'm so glad that I moved our shop to my home town..now I can walk to and from work..GF still drives because she usually has bags and such but we only use our vehicle for 2 kilometres a day.
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It is going up here, even in Texas, but not in huge amounts. Living in /Canada, you should not have prices skyrocketing, unless some profiteering is going on. The US and Canada have a surplus of natural gas, the US is currently the largest producer of oil and gas.

CD
 
garlichead said:
Putin is not going to let NATO build right up to their border and Russia has been warning the West since the 2008 Budapest Accord. Then in 2014 when a coup in Ukraine ousted the pro Russian President and installed a pro US president they Russia immediately took Crimea mostly because of their installation of Sevastopol Naval Base of the Black Sea Fleet. Again Russia is protecting their borders, they were never going to give that up, never and the west basically did nothing.

The NATO rhetoric continued while equipping Ukraine with military equipment and training since which has forced Putin to show strength along the Ukrainian border. Russia doesn't want Ukraine and still doesn't they just don't want Ukraine to be part of the NATO alliance for obvious reasons. The small initial invasion was to signal they were serious and nobody is backing down and the west hasn't taken Putin seriously enough. If Russia doesn't get what they want in the upcoming 3rd peace talks I'm feeling that this isn't going to end well. Russia will do what it does best in war and that is level the Country. Russia doesn't want to actually invade Ukraine and possess the ground simply because the cost/benefit is ridiculously lopsided, they just couldn't do it, but if Ukraine is not going to be a neutral Country then they will level Ukraine leaving it mostly unusable for NATO, and the kicker here is that NATO really don't want Ukraine in the alliance. The real suffering is the death and destruction of Ukraine. This is just my take on this issue, please no hate, just expressing my opinion.
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Have you not been paying attention to Putin? His speeches? His writings?

Yes, he wants Ukraine! He wants to "reunite" Ukraine with mother Russia. He has said it publicly over and over. He considered Crimea part of Russia, so he took it. He considers ALL of Ukraine part of Russia, and now he's taking it by force. His goal is to install a puppet government in Ukraine, and rule it, with an iron fist if necessary.

I just can't see anyone being an apologist for Putin. NATO was never a "threat" to Russia and Russian borders. Furthermore, NATO exists because of the former Soviet Union, and now Putin's Russia.

Sorry, but I must respectfully disagree with your assessment.

CD
 
caseydog said:
It is going up here, even in Texas, but not in huge amounts. Living in /Canada, you should not have prices skyrocketing, unless some profiteering is going on. The US and Canada have a surplus of natural gas, the US is currently the largest producer of oil and gas.

CD
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Gas has gone from 3.29 to 3.79 here in the past week.
 
caseydog said:
Have you not been paying attention to Putin? His speeches? His writings?

Yes, he wants Ukraine! He wants to "reunite" Ukraine with mother Russia. He has said it publicly over and over. He considered Crimea part of Russia, so he took it. He considers ALL of Ukraine part of Russia, and now he's taking it by force. His goal is to install a puppet government in Ukraine, and rule it, with an iron fist if necessary.

I just can't see anyone being an apologist for Putin. NATO was never a "threat" to Russia and Russian borders. Furthermore, NATO exists because of the former Soviet Union, and now Putin's Russia.

Sorry, but I must respectfully disagree with your assessment.

CD
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Yes indeed, that's his goal. He stated multiple times that he wants a new USSR to arise. It's the only thing giving me hope he won't use nukes, because he has no use poisoning the very land he wants to claim.
 
Putin is targeting civilians... intentionally. Three schools shelled, multiple rockets falling on panicking shoppers outside a supermarket. People walking through a park forced to rush to safety as shells explode around them. These were some of the attacks that residents of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, endured in recent days as Russian forces targeted residential areas, hitting civilian infrastructure such as schools, shops, hospitals, apartment blocks and churches.

An apartment complex in Ukraine...

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Putin seems to be trying hard to be the twenty-first century Hitler.

CD
 
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