Russia v Ukraine

[Brownie]

1 minute ago, torahboy said:

You only have to recall the USA's reaction not only to Cuba taking Russian missiles in the 60s but how they have reacted to the merest success of leftist governments in South and Central America to realise that Putin's desire to keep NATO at a safe distance is not a singular instinct. Putin's response can be debated but it's certain Zelenskyy now may feel he has more in common with Allende. Ortega and Chavez than he would ever have imagined, or desired.

There’s one thing being sneaky and influencing things in a stealthy manner and then there’s another in just full-scale invading a country.

 

Both things are wrong but to different degrees.

[Section_31]

3 minutes ago, Brownie said:

Saw a tweet from Donald Tusk earlier where he was criticising the Italians, Germans and Hungarians from preventing the harshest of sanctions from being imposed.

 

You’d think those countries would see that any division in the EU at this stage is really not a good look for them.

Sort of got some sympathy for the Germans though, they get most of their energy from Russia I think, literally the lights would go out if they switched it off.

[dockers_strike]

6 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

The Italians have managed to remove their luxury goods market from the sanctions list. You've got to admire the balls.

Ah, Europe standing as one again. I hear Belgium were trying to get their diamond sales taken out of the sanctions list as well.

[Anubis]

15 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

Where would the war take place? Russia have an outstanding home record and I’d fancy them to get a result in Moscow.

Poisoning wells wouldn’t work these days, and people have Canada Goose parkas to ward off the cold. That’s two major home advantages off the table.

[Brownie]

Just now, Section_31 said:

Sort of got some sympathy for the Germans though, they get most of their energy from Russia I think, literally the lights would go out if they switched it off.

And the Russians have more influence in their financial base than even London, I believe.

 

Got them by the balls.
 

Big thing to come out of this. You can’t co-operate in any ways with these cunts, freeze them out.

[YorkshireRed]

1 minute ago, dockers_strike said:

The Italians have managed to remove their luxury goods market from the sanctions list. You've got to admire the balls.

 

1 minute ago, dockers_strike said:

Ah, Europe standing as one again. I hear Belgium were trying to get their diamond sales taken out of the sanctions list as well.

I hope we did the same with our….whatever we manufacture these days that’s worth anything. 

[Arniepie]

6 minutes ago, Brownie said:

There’s one thing being sneaky and influencing things in a stealthy manner and then there’s another in just full-scale invading a country.

 

Both things are wrong but to different degrees.

I'd say the american method was much more devous but just as devestating. 

Obviously without excusing what putin has done.

[Pureblood]

16 minutes ago, Brownie said:

Saw a tweet from Donald Tusk earlier where he was criticising the Italians, Germans and Hungarians from preventing the harshest of sanctions from being imposed.

 

You’d think those countries would see that any division in the EU at this stage is really not a good look for them.

Hungary?

[Elite]

2 minutes ago, Pureblood said:

Hungary?

No, I've just eaten.

[Bjornebye]

1 hour ago, Kevin D said:

A country of 43m and he’s in the capital within 36 hours. You couldn’t take over Bootle in 2 days.

They've been entering via Belarus and Kiev is only about 50 miles from the border. I did expect it to take a bit longer too though to be fair. 

57 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

It is kind of a shame that nukes exist because I'd be really intrigued - from the comfort of my couch -  to see how the yanks handled the Russians in a conventional war. I suspect it'd be over in about five days. 

Depends where it's held. 

[Arniepie]

Heard a few people say nato could have done things a bit differently over the last few years  but maybe he has wanted to do this along along?

You would have thought where countires are so dependent on each other in terms of business and finance,that you wouldn't start a war, putting this in danger?

Also don't get how they went from Gorbachev to yeltsin to putin?

Did he just seize power?

Not really done much reading on recent Russian history.

[Jairzinho]

1 hour ago, John102 said:

They are obviously different examples but this and Afghanistan shock me about how quickly you can take over a country.

 

Got a pretty decent home record have the Taliban and their predecessors.

 

50 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

It is kind of a shame that nukes exist because I'd be really intrigued - from the comfort of my couch -  to see how the yanks handled the Russians in a conventional war. I suspect it'd be over in about five days. 

 

 

Depends where. Could the lads from Alabama and Arizona do it on a cold, Tuesday night in Tyumen?

 

 

[dockers_strike]

Chilling indeed, that's patriotism.

 

A chilling video has emerged from Snake Island in the Black Sea, where an entire garrison of 13 Ukrainian border guards was killed after refusing to surrender to the Russian Navy. 

One Ukrainian solder livestreamed the attack while standing on open ground under bright blue skies. In a short chaotic clip a few seconds long, the boom of heavy weaponry can be heard in the background before he drops to the grass.  

Ukrainian soldier deployed on Snake Island live streamed the moment a Russian warship opened fire on the Island.

13 soldiers died in the attack. pic.twitter.com/FDe92rYYVR

— C O U P S U R E (@COUPSURE) February 24, 2022

Tiny Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, is about 30 miles off the coast of Ukraine and marks the edge of its territorial waters. 

The garrison’s final act of resistance has become a rallying cry for the public after Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said they had “died heroically” while trying to protect the island. 

"All border guards died heroically but did not give up. They will be awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously," Mr Zelensky said.  

Ukrainians fight back: Photo shows a bridge blown up by Ukrainian troops in Romanivka to 'prevent the occupiers tanks' from entering Kyiv

A separate audio clip, posted to Facebook by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, appears to relay an exchange between a Russian naval officer and the soldiers, in which they are told to surrender to “avoid bloodshed” as the warship approaches. 

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In the audio exchange, which could not be independently verified, the Russian officer says: "This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed."

A Ukrainian soldier allegedly responds: "Russian warship, go f--- yourself."

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/02/25/russian-warship-go-f-snake-island-soldiers-last-words-putins/

[Bjornebye]

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson basically saying to a British journalist that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and brings up Afghanistan. She's kicking off here. 

 

 

Oh and yeah I would. 

 

EDIT: Playing the victims now. She's off her fucking rocker 

 

Sky News if anyone is arsed 

[dockers_strike]

5 minutes ago, Arniepie said:

Heard a few people say nato could have done things a bit differently over the last few years  but maybe he has wanted to do this along along?

You would have thought where countires are so dependent on each other in terms of business and finance,that you wouldn't start a war, putting this in danger?

Also don't get how they went from Gorbachev to yeltsin to putin?

Did he just seize power?

Not really done much reading on recent Russian history.

Yeah, the people who say NATO could have done things different are usually those who, if NATO had done different, start bitching why NATO did anything and should have kept out or done something else.

[torahboy]

19 minutes ago, Brownie said:

There’s one thing being sneaky and influencing things in a stealthy manner and then there’s another in just full-scale invading a country.

 

Both things are wrong but to different degrees.

Both things are wrong - although inciting a long lasting civil war, by stealth, may create even more casualties than a direct military incursion - but their director's only concern is the degree of their success.

[J-V]

41 minutes ago, Brownie said:

And the Russians have more influence in their financial base than even London, I believe.

 

Got them by the balls.
 

Big thing to come out of this. You can’t co-operate in any ways with these cunts, freeze them out.

Add China to that.  Another bunch of cunts

[dockers_strike]

Make of this what you will.

 

Seventy-six years after Winston Churchill first made his warning that an “iron curtain” was descending across Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine heralds its return.

Mr Putin's full military assault to occupy and install a puppet regime in his Western neighbour is likely to transform and define European geo-politics for years to come, just as the original Cold War did.

The onslaught of Russian tanks and missiles will force leaders to reassess the continent's security and address a nakedly aggressive despot sitting on their doorstep.

With Russian troops apparently on the cusp of taking Kyiv, the beleaguered Ukrainian president late on Thursday predicted the invasion of his country meant this new division of Europe had begun.

Volodymyr Zelensky said: "What we have heard today are not just missile blasts, fighting and the rumble of aircraft. This is the sound of a new Iron Curtain, which has come down and is closing Russia off from the civilised world."

 

That new barrier being hastily drawn up will be both military, political and financial, analysts predict.

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Nato nations including Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia will all find themselves lined up along this new frontier. 

The experience of those countries, which have often found themselves the victims of Russian cyber attack, disinformation and intimidation in recent years, gives an indication of what to expect in this new reality. But in the heightened tensions after the Ukrainian war, the hostility is likely to be more intense as Russia seeks to undermine alliances and drive wedges between partners.

 

In such a climate Nato and EU leaders further West will quickly have to decide how to sure up their alliances and whether to send military reinforcements to reassure their allies and deter Mr Putin. 

Deployments such as Britain's multi-national battlegroup in Estonia are currently tiny and are unlikely to provide much confidence to Nato's eastern flank in this new world. Nato's main European players are in little position to bolster their deterrence to the East without significant rises in defence spending however. The German army chief on Thursday admitted that years of neglect had left the Bundeswehr “empty-handed”.

 

The original Iron Curtain separated a continent divided by a Cold War, but if Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion continues, and is fed by Nato arms, then the new barrier will encompass an active conflict, with all the risks that entails for escalation.

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The state of Western Europe's militaries means that financial power is their greatest leverage against Mr Putin. The new demarcation dividing Europe will run through stock exchanges and financial markets, as punitive sanctions are used to wage economic war against Mr Putin and his circle.

“This is a globally systemic event. Putin is redrawing an iron curtain across emerging Europe,” Timothy Ash, an emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, told CNBC on Thursday.

“We have to totally take a fresh look at how we look at European and Western security, the role of Russian oligarchs, Russian business, and Russia Inc. in Western markets.”

When Europe was last divided by an Iron Curtain, the US and Soviet Union led unrivalled global power blocs. That world is long gone. The invasion poses a dilemma for China, the world's rising power, as to how it will respond to this new European reality.

China's failure to condemn the invasion is feared to mean Mr Putin has a measure of backing or at least acceptance from Beijing. In comments aimed at China, Joe Biden on Thursday said any country that backed Russia's onslaught would be "stained by association".

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Just as the original iron curtain put pressure on countries across the globe to pick a side, the new division of Europe will also send tremors across the world.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/02/25/vladimir-putin-wins-ukraine-cold-war-style-world-order-will/

[Bjornebye]

UEFA discussing fucking Gazprom off as a sponsor 

[KMD7]

55 minutes ago, J-V said:

Add China to that.  Another bunch of cunts

[Mudface]

1 hour ago, Bjornebye said:

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson basically saying to a British journalist that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and brings up Afghanistan. She's kicking off here. 

 

 

Oh and yeah I would. 

 

EDIT: Playing the victims now. She's off her fucking rocker 

 

Sky News if anyone is arsed 

Having a wank to Four in a Bed, but thanks, good to know there's options.

[YorkshireRed]

A former colleague. Only worked with her briefly but she struck me as one who’d fight the Russians in the streets with whatever came to hand. 
 

Tough as fuck, clever as fuck. There were a dozen like her in that office alone. Not just women I hasten to add. 
 

I just hope the Russians aren’t watching her account too closely.

 

 

[Anubis]

I’m deffo stealing the bit between cats and together. Absolutely wonderful use of language.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

That video doing the rounds of the tank running over the car is a bit mad. A few people have suggested that it was deliberate. But, this video from an another angle might suggest that he got spooked by the mad shit going on to the side of him. 
 

https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/1497213543837544449

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

1 minute ago, Nelly-Fauci said:

That video doing the rounds of the tank running over the car is a bit mad. A few people have suggested that it was deliberate. But, this video from an another angle might suggest that he got spooked by the mad shit going on to the side of him. 
 

https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/1497213543837544449

A few replies to this tweet suggest that the Russian soldiers are being sneaky and wearing Ukrainian military uniforms.