cochyn

But in the real world where nothing is black and white, there is such a thing as perspective: In the context of invasion of a sovereign state, mass slaughter of civilians, documented ethnic cleansing and enforced repatriation, indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas, mass rape and probable genocide - which is in addition to all the war shit. Offiing a few of the offenders by defending forces - whilst unpalatable - is small fucking beer indeed. Anyway, good to know you're using your keyboard to good effect in flagging badness towards the aggressor in all this. Fucking quisling.

*chortle*

This thread has been dragged completely into the shitter by the three Dennis Tooths. Fuck me. Way to go.

Of course, just look around your house and marvel at all the Brazillian, Russian, Indian and South African made products that make your life so much better. Hell, most of the Chinese made widgets are made for someone else - usually American companies - and often using UK/EU designs and South Korean hardware. Must try harder.

Difficult to disagree with any of that. As for the bit in bold: I think there's a schism in Russia where the older people (35yo+) agree that he West is to blame. The younger generation can see that they've had their prospects of a good life irreperably diminished by Putin's actions and the subsequent sanctions. Gotta feel for them really. Fucking tragic it is.

This will only happen when Russia realises it's on to a loser: Even if it wins the peace with Ukraine and retains Crimea and a land bridge to Donbass and UKR's neutrality. It will have made an enemy of the majority of the old 'first' world - a world that is an the vanguard of technology and procedural dynamics. China may be strong, but it is in hock to precisely this dynamic that is dominated by the very countries blacklisting Russia right now. This is unsustainable economically in the long term as the reality is this: All Russia has to offer the world is natural resources, which are determined by world markets. ergo, it has no control over the price of the goods it has to sell. Allied to this is the fact Russia has nothing of added value to offer the world. Nada. Anything it produces is so rudimentary it can be easily cloned by Indian, Pakistani and Chinese sweatshops at a fraction of the price, quicker and with less bullshit. India wants spare parts for it's Russian tanks? Call China, they'll do it in half the time for a fifth of the price Russia can. Or, just get some lads in Lucknow to make it in their sheds. They can clone SA80 rifles with ease already... So what is the end game? Russia needs to wind its neck in, cease its doomed ideas of imperialism and realise it's a secondary economy at best and simply cannot compete with the economies it is currently allied with. In short: India, China and Pakistan will simply out-compete and out-produce it in every market. Russia is so intrinsically inept it may ultimately find itself having to buy back it's own rudimentary technology from the aforementioned economies because it's cheaper and better than what they can produce domestically. Therefore: total internal domestic economic collapse over time. This war might not be won in the wheat fields of Ukraine, but in the sweatshops of the far east.

And the penny drops. No-one asked for this, but we are where we are and we must face our role in history. Putin has dared the west to show its teeth. And if we do right, we'll chew the fucker up and spit him out.

Oh and these. (2) Vladimir Putin Singing vith piano Blueberry Hill for Charity Event - YouTube (2) Louis Armstrong - Blueberry Hill - YouTube

I'll just leave this here... (2) The Conservative Party and Putin's Russia: a story of total moral failure - YouTube

We've crossed the Rubicon with that one. It's all-out, with no chance of receding as things stand. Agreed, Belarus is Richard Hammond to Russia's Jeremy Clarkson - the obedient show-poodle doing tricks for its master. I do wonder if less scrupulous types than me aren't recruiting the tens of thousands of disenfranchised Syrian immigrants rattling Poland's border fences into fighting for one side or another in all this. Unless they have and realised they'd all fight to the death against Russia for what it did to their homeland. One has to wonder.

Hmm, not sure. Read somewhere that under the current contract, cutting the gas supply unilaterally constitutes an act of war. Last I checked Germany were in NATO. Putrid won't want to go down that route..

Arch contrarian quotes marginalised lone voice shilling for a contrarian opinion outlet churning out click bait for ‘truthists’. Have I got that right?

Millerovo air base attack - Wikipedia Happened on the 25th February, apparently. Some say it was a Tochka 2 missilie attack from UKR. Others say some Russia squaddie tripped and dropped a lit fag onto a pile of shells. Like another on did when that ship sank in Berdyansk.

An Ukrainian MP doesn't see it that way at all, unfortunately. https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/tr66yd/volodymyr_viatrovych_deputy_in_the_verkhovna_rada/ Ukraine being offered the shitty end of the stick, I'd say.

What, as soon as they'd all flown back to Moscow for a debrief and selfies with Kadyrov's TikTok trpoops?

So the Lisbon treaty won't apply to Ukraine? So effectively Russia can mount any 'Special Military Operation" in Ukraine in future and the EU just stands back and takes an invasion of a member state on the chin? It's the bummiest of bum deals.

Great post, I appreciate your view on this whole situation. I wonder if Putin will be lucky to come out of this with his head still attached to his shoulders? I'm sure his Praetorian Guard and the FSB have a far clearer picture of how this calamity has unfolded. His army certainly (and painfully) does having been sent into a stupid war so ill equipped. I'm guessing that- within the Kremlin at least - this is a national embarrassment, surely? Or do you think the combined 'authorities' will just come together to gloss over this in the name of keeping Putin in his seat and the money flowing into their Swiss bank accounts? He would then spin this as a win and begin a massive 'reinvestment drive' in his 'victorious' army. Such a deceit of the Russian people would literally rely on fooling all the people all the time for years to come..

Faaaar too creative for those quislings, mate.

Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy: (apparently) Words. Fail..

Ukraine army doing a bit of kettling apparently… https://mobile.twitter.com/johnsweeneyroar/status/1506303352111513605

It’s been pulled now I think, but that Russian article from yesterday with the hacked death toll figures was interesting; everyone jumped on the numbers but the gist of the articles was that the SMO was close to concluding its aim of eliminating the nazi threat in Mariupol. Whether this means the Russians are redrawing their goals in Ukraine isn’t clear but it certainly suggests they are telling readers the offensive is drawing to a close in this regards. I wonder….?

I've said it earlier in the thread: Perhaps the solution is the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. set up UN protectorates in the Donbas & Crimea. In time allow free, fair and UN-monitored elections there to determine these areas' futures. Both sides respect the result. Russia makes restitution through increased levies on the gas pipeline through Ukraine - coming out of Russia's end. Ukraine implements a de-radicalisation of Nazi-affiliated groups (similar to UK's Prevent policy). Sanctions lifted on condition of co-operation on the agreement. Sounds easy. But then there's Putin, who just wants Ukraine as a hollowed-out, defenseless vassal state with a puppet regime a la Belaurus. So we are where we are.

Me too fella. But so far it looks like Putin ain't budging - if anything he's doubling down on the rhetoric if yesterday's call to Erdogan was anything to go by.. He's banking on the world pressing Zelinskyy to accept the terms on offer to 'save' his people and return to some semblance of 'normality'. What a cunt. His regime needs lancing. And as unpalatable as it sounds, now is the time. Because if he gets away with it once, he'll do it again.

I swear to god. 90% of the time you come across like someone who's just picked up a 'Politics for Dummies (2014 edition) book from you local Oxfam. Except the chapters "Not Everything Is Black and White" were torn out when its previous owner realised it made better bog roll. Diplomacy isn't a soft fix: is a long game of insistent pressure until a tipping point is reached . You're right; the longer this war goes on, the worst it is for both sides - that's beyond obvious. But that is precisely the mechanism at play here. As Russia kills innocent Ukrainians, it gets demoted even further down the world pecking order until it has to canvas fucking Chechnya for support and beg China for bags of mouldy rice to feed it's soldiers. The world has finally seen Putin's Russia for what it is. To paraphrase the great Lemmy: Russia is full of wonderful people who've been historically brutalised by it's leaders. Whilst those leaders are still in place, Russia's fools gold house of cards will fall. And not before time.

Wood.