[Politics] Russia invades Ukraine (24/02/2022)

[Wardy's twin]

What I find most depressing is reading silly comments like this one.

You must have a very pretty tenuous grip on reality if you can look upon this conflict as if it were some sort of game.

Or maybe you're just a WUM on a fishing expedition?

The sad truth, according to most impartial commentators, is that Ukraine has essentially lost the war (they have literally run out of men of fighting age) and now it's just a question of how to make peace.

Zelensky went to Davos just a few days ago but instead of his usual appeal for weaponry, has all but conceded the defeat, putting forward what's described as the Ukranian peace plan.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/world/europe/ukraine-zelensky-davos-switzerland-peace.html

To be fair it's not really what Zelensky does that matters , it what the Americans do that counts and if they decide to continue to support Ukraine. If they don't support Ukraine then Europe will be left in a 'strange' situation and that includes Britain.

At the moment a lot of things are happening globally and it doesn't look good i.e. a wider war in the middle east could detract the US even if they want to support Ukraine.

I agree with you on one point - dying Russians is not something to be happy about - most are just pawns in a bigger game where the powerful can hide away from the sharp end.

 

[Sirnormangall]

Wasn't it the Ukrainian nationalists, with the help from the west, that overthrew the elected government of Ukraine in 2014?

That may well be true - but they didn’t do it by bombing the hell out of it.

 

[Eric the meek]

Follow up on #13,560 about the replacement A-50 spy plane:

UK intelligence reports that the replacement A-50 spy plane has been deployed at a greater distance from Ukraine than the one that Ukraine shot down.

UK new Russian A-50 radar plane kept distant from Ukraine after previous one downed

After the shootdown of Russia's AWACS A-50 aircraft over Ukraine earlier, Russia has now deployed a replacement A-50 airborne early warning plane farther from Ukraine over Russian territory, per British intelligence.

euromaidanpress.com

'this activity likely demonstrates a tacit Russian acknowledgement of a successful targeting operation by the Ukrainians against a high value air asset.
If the loss of the MAINSTAY was an accident, then such a decision is unlikely to have been required.'

 

[essbee1]

I'm sorry for being flippant.

I do think it's a bit off to be cheering on the destruction as if it were football.

It's not your opinion I took issue with.

Jackal, you read the room mood wrong 100% mate. And to be honest, you've not convinced anyone
on here one jot that what you say has any remote figment of truth. So, would you say it has been
a worthwhile adventure?

 

[thejackal]

Jackal, you read the room mood wrong 100% mate. And to be honest, you've not convinced anyone
on here one jot that what you say has any remote figment of truth. So, would you say it has been
a worthwhile adventure?

I wasn't trying to convince anyone of anything mate. I'm well aware that this is a very emotive issue for some people but as for reading the room wrong, I really don't care. I posted an opinion (not mine) with sources. You're free to disagree with them if you like. I like that you consider it to be an adventure, I thought it was a few posts on a message board.

 

[CHAPPERS]

FFS Really Bojo?

Boris Johnson says Trump back in White House is ‘what the world needs’

Ex-PM backs disgraced former US president ahead of election, saying he ‘won’t ditch the Ukrainians’

www.theguardian.com

Bannon’s little puppet.

 

[Eric the meek]

Has anyone heard of the Siberia battalion?

It's a small group of Russians (or rather Siberians), who have been trained in Ukraine, and who want to take down Putin.

There have been a few reports of 'Russian partisans' carrying out attacks deep inside Russia, where it would be surprising if Ukrainians had got that far.



As this is from Times Radio, I hope the source is acceptable to @thejackal.

Many other news outlets have picked up this story.

 

[sparkie]

My daughter's 16 year old cousin is now in the Ukrainian army training system. Hopefully the war is over before he is 18 or else he may be drafted in time for the assault on Moscow.

 

[A1X]

FFS Really Bojo?

Boris Johnson says Trump back in White House is ‘what the world needs’

Ex-PM backs disgraced former US president ahead of election, saying he ‘won’t ditch the Ukrainians’

www.theguardian.com

Hard right populist wannabe dictator praises other.

 

[Eric the meek]

My daughter's 16 year old cousin is now in the Ukrainian army training system. Hopefully the war is over before he is 18 or else he may be drafted in time for the assault on Moscow.

I'm glad someone else has alluded to this, for it has been on my mind for a long while.

Ukraine is fighting an existential war. They have to win, or they cease to exist, and before that happens, they will face a decidedly unpleasant approach to death.
So, they are going all out to win. They are not just aiming to defend Ukraine for as long as they can. They are aiming to bring down Putin and the whole regime.

Why wouldn't they?

 

[thejackal]

Has anyone heard of the Siberia battalion?

It's a small group of Russians (or rather Siberians), who have been trained in Ukraine, and who want to take down Putin.

There have been a few reports of 'Russian partisans' carrying out attacks deep inside Russia, where it would be surprising if Ukrainians had got that far.



As this is from Times Radio, I hope the source is acceptable to @thejackal.

Many other news outlets have picked up this story.

I have actually, that was fairly widely reported.

The Siberian Battalion: Meet the Russian nationals fighting against Putin

The Siberian Battalion is unique in many ways

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Eric the meek]

I have actually, that was fairly widely reported.

The Siberian Battalion: Meet the Russian nationals fighting against Putin

The Siberian Battalion is unique in many ways

www.independent.co.uk

It was something I missed in the avalanche of reporting. But I found it in the end.

Numbers are still small, so no need to get carried away, but it is what it represents that makes it interesting. It might be the very beginning of an uprising. Taking up arms against the supreme leader is proper insubordination. But it is just one manifestation of a century (and more) of oppression from Moscow. A century of having your language, culture, religion etc being stamped on, and the natural resources of your 'republic' being plundered by Moscow, and the wealth not returned.

Is this wishful thinking? You bet it is. But Ukraine is opening the festering wounds of a century of oppression. Will it work?

 

[raymondo]

 

[seagullwedgee]

Yea, get in! TWO NIL. Russian oil storage facility at Ust-Luga destroyed by a Ukrainian drone. Massive fireballs.

Have a taste of some of that wanton infrastructure destruction, you nasty Russian aggressors.

 

[Eric the meek]

860 km from the Ukrainian border?

How far is Moscow from the Ukrainian border?

 

[Titanic]

860 km from the Ukrainian border?

How far is Moscow from the Ukrainian border?

450km at the closest, 750km from Kyiv

 

[Eric the meek]

Yea, get in! TWO NIL. Russian oil storage facility at Ust-Luga destroyed by a Ukrainian drone. Massive fireballs.

Have a taste of some of that wanton infrastructure destruction, you nasty Russian aggressors.

Careful with the football analogies. We'll end up spending the rest of the day with a cyclone of links trying to convince us Ukraine has all but conceded the war.

 

[Eric the meek]

In the replies, there's a Twitter X account saying several other places in Russia have had explosions and air-defences are active.

 

[peterward]

Wasn't it the Ukrainian nationalists, with the help from the west, that overthrew the elected government of Ukraine in 2014?

No it wasn't. But thats Putins bullshit narrative.

 

[seagullwedgee]

The oil terminal hit is only 150 miles from Helsinki, and a good 550 miles from Ukraine. So this is a whole new dimension.