“All our actions, if they arise, always arise exclusively in response to unfriendly actions against Russia,” he added.
What – did one of the members of Pussy Riot call Putin a booger again ?
:rolleyes:
The other thing about MAD is that Vlad is not holding a lanyard in his hand that he can yank to fire off the missiles. The order must percolate the chain of command. One sane person is the weak link in the chain.
Negotiate? OK.
Go home and pay reoperations, and we may think about lifting sanctions.
I just want to say that this thread is one of the best sources of news on the Ukraine invasion that I have. Thanks to the many posters who are contributing, especially @GreenWyvern, but there are many others.
Very true. I’m hopeful that any order for an unprovoked nuclear attack would not be carried out. We would have had a nuclear war already had their not been dissent by sane individuals. My hope is that if Putin gave such an insane order, the only victim would be Putin.
right …
he invaded on the 24th b/c of the sanction of the 26th … he is so full of it, his face should be orange
Two US senators have come under fire for sharing photos of Volodomyr Zelensky on social media after they were reportedly asked not to for the safety of the Ukrainian president.
“With friends like you …”
Marco Rubio, consistently making the list of five dumbest senators.
I agree - lots of good central an peripherial reasoning …
May I add a grain of sand:
2 hour in depth analysis from the Behaviour Panel on him talking on Ukraine
(best played at 1.5 times the original speed 
)
Here ordinary Russians are asked what they think of the invasion of Ukraine. Some rationalize it; some deny it’s happening; some back Putin no matter what. Some are afraid to speak. And one or two object to it.
What this suggests to me – depressingly – is that Putin may well be “representative” of his people and that, even if he is ousted, his successor might not be much different.
A huge part of the problem is that the Russian people are being subjected to a huge disinformation campaign orchestrated by Putin and his minions, and real information from the free world is being blocked as much as possible.
Apparently the other part of the problem is that some people are just ineffable assholes, like the example in my thread of someone in Toronto who got out of his car that was flying a Russian flag, and in the middle of traffic attacked a car with a Ukrainian flag, breaking its rear window with two children in the back seat.
Oh, and they can also roll Putin up for his trial at the Hague. I would personally like to see him in the dock in a straightjacket and mask like Hannibal Lecter.
I’ve corresponded with my two freelance designers in Russia since the invasion began and they have both made disparaging remarks about Putin’s war. They may just know where their bread is buttered (me and their other western clients) but I think they are sincere. They continue to accept assignments, but I have no way to pay them until they manage to set up offshore accounts. Even if I could still pay them through Upworks or PayPal they would rather I hold on to what I owe them than have it converted into rubles as those payment systems do.
The disinformation campaign undoubtedly is part of it; part may also be that Russians who know more about the actual situation are afraid to publicly say anything other than the party line, for fear of reprisals.
China broke their word. That should have surprised no one. The date the lease would end was known to absolutely everyone. People had the opportunity to leave without tanks in the street or being fired upon with missile and artillery. When they started installing the puppet government should have been the writing on the wall. It was a terrible thing, but China wasn’t shelling the island into rubble.
Ukraine had had an established border for 30+ years and Russia had zero claim to the territory. Putin has a hissy-fit and started a shooting war, and now he’s trying to reduce the place to rubble.
The situation in Hong Kong went wrong, true, but it’s far less a disaster than Ukraine is.
Putin did a bad job of making a case for the invasion to the Russian people before pulling the trigger. Russians were baffled by the invasion when it happened and now all they have are half baked rationalizations that don’t make sense to anybody not completely blinded by nationalism. The days of government controlling all information in Russia are long gone. The average Russian knows as much about what is happening in Ukraine as we do. Like us, their national bias will color how they perceive that information. But when the sanctions and wartime restrictions really start hurting there is really only one government that will feel their displeasure.
Both.
The Russians are doing a terrible job for all the reasons listened. They’re losing men and equipment. They don’t have sufficient food or fuel.
On the other hand, regardless of how valiantly the Ukrainians fight, they have been gradually beaten back and down. They’re making every inch of the Russian advance bear a heavy cost in blood, but they are not able to drive the Russians back. Whatever ground they lose they can’t regain it.
The only hope for Ukraine at this point is that the West is sending in weapons and other aid. They’ll still die, they’ll still lose ground, but their one chance is to delay the Russians enough so that the Russians run out of what they need to continue the fight. Will there be enough Western aid to let the Ukrainians hold out until that happens? Who knows at this point.
No longer much of an “international airline” then, is it?
Can’t get Boeing or Airbus parts anymore anyway. Either they’ll ground the planes in a few weeks or gravity will take care of it for them.
Either that, or the people in charge really do want to commit genocide. Which would fit the facts as they are just fine. Unfortunately.
You thought sanctions were an alternative to war? Putin says they’re equivalent to a declaration of war.