True, but seems like they are willing participants.
Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
- Thread starter Wednesday at Stoke
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True, but seems like they are willing participants.
It's probably more about what happens if the Germans get shot at.
That’s where UA is dug in. They shelled it almost non stop yesterday if you look at the vids from last night. Lots of reports of huge Russian casualties.
Regarding the F1 aspect, one of the teams (Haas) is owned by Dmitry Mazepin (who is the owner of Uralkali)
That is something on fire, not explosions by the looks. Only times I've seen fires like that are either chemical facilities e.g. Buncefield fire or pipelines.
There are a lot of transatlantic cables from France, Spain, Portugal, England... They can't just "bring down" the internet.
Putin & his goons have enough money to withstand any external economical pressure and he doesn't care about Russian people enough for them to really influence his decisions. It's very egoistical of me, of course, but I just know that he's going to be just as good as he was before and we're going to struggle while Russian stance on the matter of Ukraine won't change even a bit.
The only possible scenario where those sanctions would actually lead to anything is if the whole entirety of Russian population riots and overthrows the current regime but somehow I doubt that it's possible
Agree.
Just to add to this; also says that Chechens are spoiling for a fight in order to collect war trophies.
It's a debate in nuclear strategy. If you interpret that a tactical nuclear strike would lead to broader nuclear strikes as retaliation, and so on and so forth, leading to a situation where maybe your nuclear force would be at risk from a first-strike, then the conclusion is never to make a limited nuclear strike. "If one goes, they all go" is the saying. I have no idea what the actual thinking is nowadays in the actual governments.
As another practical point though, I think the US is currently a bit better positioned in the strategic nuclear balance and that could lead to instability. Basically the US is pretty well protected against a counter-force strike, because even if their ICBM and bomber bases are successfully targeted, they should have enough SLBMs that are pretty safe to launch a devastating strike. But further, the US might possibly think (again, dunno what the actual thinking is) that a first-strike on their part against Russian ICBMs and bomber bases could be successful in significantly reducing their numbers, and make a defense against a smaller Russian strike viable with their limited anti-ballistic missile defenses. The summary is that if indeed US planners believe this is possible, they have motivation to launch a first-strike if they believe Russia is seriously contemplating a strike of their own. So yeah, I think we're maybe a bit less stable than back in 1983
After what I know about the people of Finland, that message will only make them more defiant and edge them closer to joining Nato. Russia is going to break down again I think. The consequences will be extreme no matter how their illegal invasion goes.
A country can't just join when/because it suits them. Members contribute, train together and stand ready to defend each other.
I'm not saying they shouldn't, but it's unfair on all the other members.
I think a lot of people assume it's like getting a costco membership, nice and straightforward.
They can visit those sites as well. Even if one link goes down, it will cause disruptions in transatlantic commerce and communication since 97% of traffic happens through cables.
Disclaimer: It's a stupid thought.
This made me wonder, do we know if Russia has an equivalent of the Tsar Bomba? Maybe the Putin Bomba?
You’re right, Russians have caused a huge fire after targeting some kind of industrial complex. Air strikes and cruise missiles. Lots of vids on Twitter.
@harms I know this is a very difficult question to answer given the circles you keep, but at your best estimate, how much of the country is likely to be okay with what Putin is doing? If it's anywhere near 50%, that's terrifying.
I hope. With the way Russia has addressed to Finland with that, it's worth a good "vedä käteen" (go feck yourself) as an answer.
Lukashenko is putin's puppet, no way he says no.
Putin & his goons have enough money to withstand any external economical pressure and he doesn't care about Russian people enough for them to really influence his decisions. It's very egoistical of me, of course, but I just know that he's going to be just as good as he was before and we're going to struggle while Russian stance on the matter of Ukraine won't change even a bit.
The only possible scenario where those sanctions would actually lead to anything is if the whole entirety of Russian population riots and overthrows the current regime but somehow I doubt that it's possible
What of the rumours that Putin has stolen so much wealth from Russia that he's secretly the richest person on the planet?
I think for Finland/Sweden it would be a formality should they want to join NATO. There are no corruption issues and they don't have land disputes (which Ukraine does, which is why it cannot now join even if it wanted to). They also train regularly with NATO as observer members. The only reason they've never formally applied is due to treading that fine line between Europe and Russia. However, Russia is pushing countries into the arms of NATO with its actions so it has no one but itself to blame.
Tsar bomba was just for testing and boasting, its was an impractical design for any realistic delivery platforms. I think that in the same vein Putin was boasting about some HSV
Good read, thanks for sharing.
Nah probably not. Big bombs are apparently impractical. The warheads the US currently has are mostly (all?) below 500 kilotons, Tsar bomba was ~50 mega. The preference is for a bigger number of smaller warheads, that you can multiple of on platforms (submarines, stealth bombers) that can successfully deliver them to the target. Not one giant bomb that will depend on one bomber successfully making it to its target.
I know what the Tsar Bomba was, I'm just wondering if they tried to create a modern equivalent.
Obviously can’t take as fact but much more measured view to the idea of sanctions doing nothing. Also highlights how poor Putin has been for Russia.
I can imagine the look of fear on their Finnish faces. The sudden dread of war against Russia would definitely make their facial muscles move by about a millimetre.
A lot of his own country men think hes a fool
His theatrical background seems to have prepared him well for all of this. He also seems acutely aware of the perceived significance that he hasn't fled the city.
He really grew a lot in his position since he was elected. Mad respect for him.
For some reason, his situation reminds me of Duke Leto's quote in Dune: "A great man doesn't seek to lead. He's called to it. And he answers."
Over the past few days I’ve been exposed to much more of those opinions, sadly. The main argument is “they’re crying war now but why were they ignoring 8-year long war at Donbass?”.
But I wouldn’t dare to estimate. The petition for the end of any military action has gained about 500 thousand signatures over the last 24 hours, which is quite a lot, I’d say. Many public figures (even some that I haven’t expected it from) are starting their disagreement with what’s happening in Ukraine. But a lot are seeing it the other way
It’s very weird. For example, at the Russian main sports-related website the general attitude towards anything Putin-related is overwhelmingly negative, but when it comes to this war, most of the upvoted comments are criticizing NATO/West/Ukraine, mentioning 8 year-long aggression towards Donbass, recalling Yugoslavia bombings etc.
I know that we are cynical about politicians these days, but this guy has massive balls. It is almost guaranteed that he will die within the next week, but he is still going with that.
I think it massively improves the moral of his soldiers who are also sacrificing their lives. When you see him and ex president Poroshenko fighting, multi-millionaire Klitschko brothers, Osyk returning to fight, it gets easier to say ‘if I die, so what, I’ll probably take a Russian or two with me’.
Maybe it’s an ammunition storage getting blown up?
You are never going to please everyone as a politician. You expect to be hated by around half the population.