Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

They are a country of 44 million people that have something to fight for, and are apparently quite well equipped too. It won’t be a walkover for Russia by any means.

Yeah, if anything it's amazing that they managed to go that far that quickly. Particularly when they went with the craziest approach which is to target the entire map at once.
 
To be fair, we are all speculating about motives which none of us will ever have a complete grasp on because not one of us has access to the information that drives these things, on either side. The thread, prior to where we are now, is just that: speculation and opinion. I'd avoid I told you so or gotcha comments because it makes you look worse than the people you're highlighting (leveraging a fullscale invasion of a country as some kind of internet-based social capital).
 
I am surprised at the incompetency of the Russians. I thought with their fire power they would have already done what they wanted? Even in Mariapol the Ukrainians are holding the Russians back.
The lunatics had taken over the asylum. Trump, Putin, Xii, Erdogan, BoJo and Biden.
This will be a messy campaign for them. The US with the most sophisticated military on the planet had struggled to occupy Iraq, a country with two thirds the land mass of Ukraine. And unlike the US, they'd have very little in the form of allies or international support aiding them beyond a glorified nation-base in Belarus, and....the Syrian regime?
 
This will be a messy campaign for them. The US with the most sophisticated military on the planet had struggled to occupy Iraq, a country with two thirds the land mass of Ukraine. And unlike the US, they'd have very little in the form of allies or international support aiding them beyond a glorified nation-base in Belarus, and....the Syrian regime?

I don't think occupation is their aim, they're probably looking to hit a quick strike and forced some kind of cease fire with concession or something
 
This is getting crazier by the minute. Now Erdogan is talking about not invading any territories of other countries.
This takes the biscuit.
 
This will be a messy campaign for them. The US with the most sophisticated military on the planet had struggled to occupy Iraq, a country with two thirds the land mass of Ukraine. And unlike the US, they'd have very little in the form of allies or international support aiding them beyond a glorified nation-base in Belarus, and....the Syrian regime?
To be fair, the US did not border Iraq. Ukraine also is not as flat as Iraq. I also hazard a guess that Iraqi people had more weapons in their hand than the Ukrainians.
 
It also shows that the pro-Russian narrative that NATO expansion was the problem was a big lie, when the problem all along, has been the corrupt, megalomanical Russian dictator with delusions of neo-imperialist conquest.

This.

The notion of Putin’s era NOT triggering a massive war at some point has never been buyable.

He’s a terrifying personality to be in that position.

I think a lot of the global destabilising events of the last 10 years have had Russian involvement and I also think this invasion will trigger what will come to be known as WW3, it’s been coming for some time, and these types of personalities aren’t capable of leading without following this narrative - they aren’t sophisticated enough.
 
Yeah, if anything it's amazing that they managed to go that far that quickly. Particularly when they went with the craziest approach which is to target the entire map at once.
Yeah they seem to be well settled in Kharkiv too and that's a huge city. One of my team colleagues (from work) father lives there and they can't reach him for the last few hours...
 
I can't trust Twitter because it's just a bunch of random videos that could be from anywhere or any time (one person posted a video of Russian and Ukranian soldiers dancing ffs).

If CNN are on the ground, in Kyiv, there has to be a better source than some random twitter accounts for what is actually happening.
 
This will be a messy campaign for them. The US with the most sophisticated military on the planet had struggled to occupy Iraq, a country with two thirds the land mass of Ukraine. And unlike the US, they'd have very little in the form of allies or international support aiding them beyond a glorified nation-base in Belarus, and....the Syrian regime?
Depends how quickly they take control of Kiev and replace democratic elected leaders with Russian puppets. It would be a big surprise if Putin fails.
 
Can someone slap that female Russian journalist in the face with this, please?

One of the most surreal things about all this is that for all the “better prepared” talk, they’ve not mined harbours or blown up bridges/runways/train lines. Almost like they don’t want to anger Putin.

Don't be a dick. If you make a prediction dismissing other people's opinions, and then your prediction proves to be false, expect to be called on it.

I was wrong anyway, but not on that point. And it’s not being a dick, it’s decorum and recognising there are more important things than running around calling people wrong. I’d have fired somebody for his comment.


Apparently heavy fighting at Kharkov but the south of Ukraine has basically been controlled by Russian forces. No significant news from Odessa/Mariupol as far as I can tell.

This is all happening live, new reports are constantly coming in.

All seems so fragmented and inaccurate right now. I guess they’re coming for Kiev and hoping the government just folds.

Saw the videos of the destroyed btr4 around Kharkiv, but it’s just 1.
 
If I’m not going to appear here for a few days than I’m probably detained, although we’ll see how strict the police is going to be today.
 
I propose;

- US and EU end all sanctions against Iran and start buying Iranian oil and gas.
- Also help Turkish forces currently in Libya secure Libya so that Libyan oil and gas can be sold and be used to rebuild Libya.
- Use it to replace Russian oil and gas.

Then;

- seize all Russian assets in the EU.
- Sanction all the oligarchs and their assets.
- Sanction all Russian banks and disconnect them from Western financial institutes

Russia will think twice about rebuilding it's empire then.
 
I don't think occupation is their aim, they're probably looking to hit a quick strike and forced some kind of cease fire with concession or something
That remains to be seen, no one really knows what Putin's end game is here.
To be fair, the US did not border Iraq. Ukraine also is not as flat as Iraq. I also hazard a guess that Iraqi people had more weapons in their hand than the Ukrainians.
The US had huge bases in bordering Kuwait and Saudi Arabia from which they launched their offensive. The Iraqis were also not as motivated in repelling the invasion given the country's general contempt towards their dictator to the extent of almost welcoming the invasion at first. The Ukrainians obviously see it differently.
 
I propose;

- US and EU end all sanctions against Iran and start buying Iranian oil and gas.
- Also help Turkish forces currently in Libya secure Libya so that Libyan oil and gas can be sold and be used to rebuild Libya.
- Use it to replace Russian oil and gas.

Then;

- seize all Russian assets in the EU.
- Sanction all the oligarchs and their assets.
- Sanction all Russian banks and disconnect them from Western financial institutes

Russia will think twice about rebuilding it's empire then.

Wait what? Are you serious?
 
I was wrong anyway, but not on that point. And it’s not being a dick, it’s decorum and recognising there are more important things than running around calling people wrong. I’d have fired somebody for his comment.
:lol:

And maybe he’d have fired you for your comment in this fictional world of bosses and workers.
 
If I’m not going to appear here for a few days than I’m probably detained, although we’ll see how strict the police is going to be today.

Hopefully you will be okay but don't post things that could be used against you, it's not worth it. At least not on the caf. :)
 
I think since they’re there “officially”, unlike their presence in Donbass during previous years of conflicts, it doesn’t hurt their image (I mean, the fact that they’ve secured that airport compared to the global fact of the invasion).

Although who knows. Shooting at an international reporter would be worse for PR though.
Russian state media is still pursuing a narrative of troops in Donbas, but ignoring the wider invasion.

They are happy to let CNN film these event near Kiev as their audience is the West and Ukraine and they want to demoralise us.
 
I don't think occupation is their aim, they're probably looking to hit a quick strike and forced some kind of cease fire with concession or something
They want to instill their own government which will make Ukraine a satellite country, at least this is what probably is his main goal. Thus alienating them from any ideas about EU and NATO.

With all the air forces Russia have they can paralize Ukraine in couple of days..
 
This is an internet forum, we're not affecting the course of the invasion.
Obviously. My point was that scores of people have been making opinion-based predictions throughout the entire thread, me too, because it's the natural response to a possible event. I don't see the value in "gotcha" posts (even though some of those you quote I disagree with most) but don't want to derail.
 
Depends how quickly they take control of Kiev and replace democratic elected leaders with Russian puppets. It would be a big surprise if Putin fails.
In this day and age I'm not sure how effective or sustainable that would be. I can't see the Ukrainian people accepting such a reality, especially if what awaits them (besides Russian coated oppression) would inevitably include economic ostracisation from the rest of the world.
 
I propose;

- US and EU end all sanctions against Iran and start buying Iranian oil and gas.
- Also help Turkish forces currently in Libya secure Libya so that Libyan oil and gas can be sold and be used to rebuild Libya.
- Use it to replace Russian oil and gas.

Then;

- seize all Russian assets in the EU.
- Sanction all the oligarchs and their assets.
- Sanction all Russian banks and disconnect them from Western financial institutes

Russia will think twice about rebuilding it's empire then.
So we use the muslim resources so that the Christians can't be of any use