Ukraine Russia Tensions - Crisis - War

[PineappleQueen19]

A sober read about the ‘London Laundromat’

"There is no enforcement": the awkward truth about the UK's sanctions on Russia

British authorities lack the means and the will to pursue economic crime, campaigners claim.

web.archive.org

 

[monga]

He says anyone who helps Ukraine will face immediate action. Immediate action sounds bad.

Good job we’ve got Dad’s Army to protect us

 

[Howdy]

I'm devastated that the world has awoken to Putin's barbarism, that Ukranians are packed in bomb shelters and fleeing major cities and under fire from illegal Smerch rockets (Alice, your divorce doesn't matter); an attack that may be the opening salvo of WW3. Could those who have sympathy with Ukraine change their avatars in support, even if just for today? I know it seems like such a little, futile suggestion, but they must be feeling so terrified and alone.

It's terrible, to put it mildly. I feel very sad and upset this morning. We will feel the ramifications of this war in the UK and the rest of Europe too for quite some time, not least economically.

 

[Blueballs]

It's time to go nuclear. Drop a mini nuke on Putin and everyone in his Moscow base and end this review right now to save lives.

 

[monga]

Like I say Dad’s army this is who’s leading the revolution

It's time to go nuclear. Drop a mini nuke on Putin and everyone in his Moscow base and end this review right now to save lives.

What about the innocent Russian people

 

[BigMavis]

Nobody wins when nukes are involved.
A lot of people in Ukraine didn't believe this would happen, unrelenting optimism perhaps, now there's chaos with them scrambling to get out, banks limiting cash withdrawals etc. Where do they even go?

 

[Yel]

I used to constantly listen to colleagues talk about Trump almost obsessively - about how he will start World War Three etc. These same colleagues have been saying things like “Putin wouldn’t invade the Ukraine” and “it’s just a bit of sabre rattling” etc.

Yeah I saw that a lot also. Don't really get it.

It was obvious Putin was going to do some land grabbing, but up until a few days ago and his ranty muddled history speach I was very much on the fence of an invasion.

If he's so into history did he skip over what happened in Afghanistan? He must be on his way out so is willing to gamble on eliminating Ukraine and getting land he feels should belong to Russia.

 

[Lollyy]

This gave me the chills this morning, absolutely heartbreaking news. Maybe I was naive but I didn’t think he would. Devastating.

 

[personalbest]

I feel for the Russian people too - I’m sure the vast majority of them want no part of this. Unfortunately I think the only thing we can do, apart from supporting Ukraine (including military aid) is to completely isolate Russia and make them a complete pariah state.

 

[NorthernValkyrie]

It comes down to white make entitlement mostly.

Ukraine used to be part of the Russian empire

Putin and co love power. They hate that the glory days of the Russian empire are behind them, they hate that they gave those territories their independence back.

Ukraine was turning towards NATO - concerning for Russia since it’s a next door neighbour

Ukraine and other former soviet states are doing well - they make democracy look good.

Russians are slowly wanting more democracy in Russia (there was a recent big news story on an app which let them know about other parties which was promptly shut down by the state and which probably scared the hell out of Put

I've seen Putin described many times as a non-royal tsar, the lands of the glory days of Imperial Russia and their sphere of influence over Eastern Europe he'll take thanks ever so.
At the end of the epilogue to Simon Sebag Montefiore's The Romanovs, Montefiore mentions Putin, his staff who call him 'the Tsar' and relates a story of Putin asking his courtiers who the "greatest traitors" of Russia were. Before they could answer, he said "The greatest criminals in our history were those weaklings who threw power on the floor - Nicholas II and Mikhail Gorbachev - who allowed power to be picked up by hysterics and madmen."

 

[BigMavis]

I didn't realise how much of this was tied up in religious conflict. He wants kyiv because he believes its the spiritual home of the fatherland or something.

 

[Autisteuse]

I was just speaking with a Lithuanian friend of mine who told me that the country has received an unofficial threat from Russia: if NATO gets involved in any way via their borders, Lithuania will be wiped out in 36 hours. He's terrified for friends and family, of the prospect of WW3, of people not knowing if they will be bombed when they sleep, of children in the rubble. I will think of him and all those threatened by this monstrous evil, this clawing darkness, in my prayers; but is there anything practical we can do? Raising funds for refugees; donating clothes, books, electronics etc.?

Nobody wins when nukes are involved.
A lot of people in Ukraine didn't believe this would happen, unrelenting optimism perhaps, now there's chaos with them scrambling to get out, banks limiting cash withdrawals etc. Where do they even go?

Over the border into Poland. Poland is preparing for an influx of ca. 1m refugees, as are Baltic states. There are going to be a lot of displaced people by week's end.

 

[CrystalWench]

My heart breaks for them, what a terrible place this earth is becoming.

 

[Just here to say]

I feel for the Russian people too - I’m sure the vast majority of them want no part of this. Unfortunately I think the only thing we can do, apart from supporting Ukraine (including military aid) is to completely isolate Russia and make them a complete pariah state.

I'm not sure about this. I still read a lot of support for Putin from citizens of other countries, but definitely Russians would have most support for him. I'd say most Russians probably do support him. He does everything as a patriot and believes the Russian culture is not only spread far and wide but that it should be spread further. People do love their country, culture, traditions. He has been unopposed for 24 years, and even though that smells like dictatorship to me Russian bloody love him in power. He is not afraid to tell the West what's what. He's not afraid to make Russia visible, relevant, an ever increasing powerhouse. Unfortunately.

On the other hand, America is putting strict sanctions on Russia, but does Putin give a tit? I'm not so sure. Those and other sanctions are hurting innocent citizens only at the moment. We need power to push them out of Ukraine.

I'm just heartbroken and sorry that we are so powerless in all this.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

There are rumours that even people in Putin’s own government didn’t want him to do this. Anyone want to take bets on how long it will be before he’s assassinated? Of course that opens a whole other can of worms, because a politically unstable Russia would be very dangerous.

 

[WilmaHun]

This is devastating. It's hard to comprehend how any human could order something which will devastate the lives of so many innocent people. Horrendous. What a sad day.

 

[veevee04]

I was just speaking with a Lithuanian friend of mine who told me that the country has received an unofficial threat from Russia: if NATO gets involved in any way via their borders, Lithuania will be wiped out in 36 hours. He's terrified for friends and family, of the prospect of WW3, of people not knowing if they will be bombed when they sleep, of children in the rubble. I will think of him and all those threatened by this monstrous evil, this clawing darkness, in my prayers; but is there anything practical we can do? Raising funds for refugees; donating clothes, books, electronics etc.?


Over the border into Poland. Poland is preparing for an influx of ca. 1m refugees, as are Baltic states. There are going to be a lot of displaced people by week's end.

I'm not normally an advocate of murder but someone needs to but a bullet in Putin. He's gone absolutely mad I'm wondering if he's been diagnosed with something and this is the last chance to make a mark?

 

[Autisteuse]

I'm not normally an advocate of murder but someone needs to but a bullet in Putin. He's gone absolutely mad I'm wondering if he's been diagnosed with something and this is the last chance to make a mark?

Reportedly, he always sits at least 60 feet away from his advisers/cronies because he's so afraid that someone has put a hit on him. Not surprising for a former gangster and mobman. Where are the special forces when you need them?
An old army buddy of mine told me about an SF raid on a Gulf state. They swam in at the dead of night and wrote 'we're watching you' in Arabic on a palace wall. This palace had some of the best security money can buy.
No-one is invincible, Vlad. Not even you. I hope to God that your days are numbered.
#IStandWithUkraine

 

[NeverEnough]

Idiots and the people who buy his rhetoric?
He has a lot of his own people convinced Kyiv is full of neo nazis, I can understand that. But people who aren't part of that should see the truth.

The leader of Ukraine is Jewish. To call him a Neo-Nazi is somewhere between absurd and abhorrent.

 

[Autisteuse]

The leader of Ukraine is Jewish.

Good old-fashioned antisemitism added to this toxic mix. It's unbearable.