Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
- Thread starter Wednesday at Stoke
- Start date
This is certainly true, but the UK isn't the only entity imposing sanctions and measures. The poster earlier mentioned US, UK, Germany and the rest of NATO.
They've committed almost a quarter of their army so far. They cant do much more or they will leave themselves exposed elsewhere.
Not sure he can do what he likes. Considering his starting advantage in this war I think he's really setting himself up for failure at the moment in one way or another. Even if/when he does capture the whole of Ukraine I can't see how he'll hold it given the incentive he's giving the population to hate him and his troops, and the support pouring in over the border from NATO countries. Meanwhile there's every chance there'll be severe unrest at some point at home. We'd all like to be able to end this conflict quickly but I don't think there's any chance of that now and I think the odds are against the Russians frankly.
No doubt Putin is a student of Machiavelli and thinks that razing cities to the ground will demonstrate his power and keep the population in check, but I think he may well have miscalculated in that it is unlikely to really be seen as strength, if anything you could consider it a weakness as he has probably immediately lost almost all sympathy he had in the country. Machiavelli would also have advised Putin move to the territory himself to show his interest in it and confidence in his mastery of it. At the moment all the Ukrainians see is him hiding at the end of a long table thousands of miles away, which again makes him look weak (and frankly mental).
Bellingcat saying the footage may stack up
Where do you think all the weapons the Ukrainians are using to defend themselves came from ?
This is all jaw-jaw as we might not know if they're helping them after all.
Ukraine meanwhile overperforming at the Paralympics like boss. Fascinating history behind their programme.
Last edited:
It is like this from the moment Russian troops put the first foot on Ukranian soil. It's clear the NATO won't intervene. Still, I don't really get the pessimism. The outlooks provided by military and political experts are getting more positive if anything It is becoming clearer and clearer that Russia has bitten off more than they can chew. Ukraine is putting up more resistance than Russia expected which slows down the whole process and in the meantime the sanctions are getting more and more challenging by the day for Putin. Right now it seems that there's no realistic path for him to a victory as in "we're better off after the war than we were before" - actually, the complete opposite seems to be the case. It's questionable if they can even occupy Ukraine and if they actually manage to pul this off, it seems impossible that they can handle the insurgency. Look at all the stuff they do to their own population right now. They're panicking already because the lose their grip on the situation domestically and on the battlefield. And that's although the sanctions are just about to unfold. It becomes more and more clear that important structures of Russia's military are outdated and that they don't have the economic backbone and logistic expertise to pull off operations like these. According to reports, they likely have to accept a ceasefire to reorganize and recover in two or three weeks time. And I guess that with all the NATO support, Ukraine would benefit more from that than Russia.
Of course Putin could still just use nukes on Ukraine. But that would be suicide. Even if nobody would retaliate, they would most likely lose their last big partner in China which would be catastrophic for them. I highly doubt they would do something like that as long as Russian soil isn't in danger.
Not just more, but as modern an equipment as possible. Plus of course the necessary training and maintenance practices.
If the UK finally does close the door to grubby Russian money it'll be long after the horse has bolted and probably have minimal impact on Putin and his war-waging. A good chunk of that cash is from Russians squirrelling it away from the country years ago.
Yeah our government is shitty and corrupt as hell that's for sure. The bank sanctions could be stronger, given the additional time VTB has been given to close off deals.
People keep saying the West should do more, but trying to get an answer on what that is proves difficult. I'm not saying they can't do more, but sounds like weapons, supplies and intel are being provided, as others have said. Presumably something like patriot missile defence is being seen as a step too far by the US or may be ineffective in this war?
Last edited:
I think this is where the boundary to what's possible will be tested. I'd imagine the West will continue and likely add to what's been provided...but at some point Putin is going to make a threat if he deems it a step to far.
Would certainly help, we've seen that boots on the ground the russians aren't up for it, infact urban warfare they're getting smashed. But they have the artillery and the airforce so more anti tank and anti aircraft equipment should help Ukraine on that front.
What and him invading a country and bombing the shit out of it isn’t declaring war?
This fella is beyond reasoning with.
I feel like starting a nuclear war is probably worse for the financial markets than the sanctions tbf.
The pessimism has to remain because of the cost of human life, the scale of destruction we have seen so far and the potential further damage Russia can do. Russia also doesn’t need to take too much more ground before they can just bed in and keep area of Ukraine occupied for an indefinite period.
Yeah you'd presume sending in troops or anything beyond supplies crosses a line but dunno how that blurred that line can get.
"The fight started when he punched me back."
Russia: sanctions are harmless and don't impact us at all
Also Russia: sanctions are a declaration of war
Also Russia: sanctions are a declaration of war
They will encounter the same sentiments in all ex-soviet regions.
You can tell from this that Putin knows the sanctions are going to utterly devastate the Russian economy.
However, since he's likening sanctions to a declaration of war, it does make me wonder, whether he's going to threaten a nuke against one of the Baltic states unless the sanctions are lifted. He might just be desperate and crazy enough to make such a threat.
If they're in the same state as his other military equipment, it's questionable to whom they pose the most danger
This was clear he'd say this at some point. Seems like he wants a fight now.
Give it time…
He wants to appear tough but knows he will get pounded into the ground. Literally.
This is a total disaster for Russia.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60629851
I wonder what Russia's excuse is for reneging on the ceasefire and continuing to bomb Mariupol. Something about Ukrainians or the West provoking them I imagine.
I wonder what Russia's excuse is for reneging on the ceasefire and continuing to bomb Mariupol. Something about Ukrainians or the West provoking them I imagine.
It's probably the biggest set of sanctions ever put down on a country in the history of the world. It's literally cut off a huge modern economy off from the rest of the world and was done with swift action that also had to be agreed upon by every member of the EU and the rest of the west . It probably took weeks to fine tune.
I agree but clearly Putin had also mis-read the Ukrainian sentiments too. Who expected him to invade Ukraine a month ago? Makes zero sense but maybe not in his mind.
Also not mentioned in the headline, all the intel that Ukrainians are receiving about Russian troop locations and movements.