Russia Ukraine Update Thread

originally posted by: alldaylong
Lock up or murder your political opponents. Check.

Lock up civilians for protesting. Check.

Rig elections. Check

Close circle of political cronies. Check

Commit acts of terror on foreign soil. Check

Illegal invasion of sovereign country. Check.

Yes, Putin has all the hallmarks of Hitler.

You left out 'get bogged down in Eastern Europe'.

originally posted by: Imhere
Does that include Crimea too?

Crimea is set in stone.

Think the west will go to war or exchange nukes for Ukraine? Especially for Crimea?

Whether Putin is gone or not, Crimea is a done deal.

Yes it includes Crimea and where did the West enter this picture? I was talking about Ukrainian forces removing Russia from Ukrainian territory.

Crimea is not set in stone and no one recognizes Russian annexation of it (by any country that matters anyways). Its the same for Donbas. It will not be recognized as anything other than Ukrainian territory that is occupied by Russia.

I love it when people claim Crimea is a done deal. Only Ukraine can make that decision.

originally posted by: Imhere
Hitler is Hitler. Stop making simpleton comparisons to Hitler.

Then Putler should stop acting like him.

So, to me, here's the scary part.

It's not that Putin is being Putin, the tyrannical authoritarian pining away for USSR glory days. That's a given.

It's what he's inspired globally and is now playing out in ridiculously pinpoint precision.

In Germany, the number of far-right extremists crossing into Ukraine is still minimal, according to Germany’s Interior Ministry. So far, just 27 either have traveled to Ukraine or made plans to do so, authorities said this week, among 33,300 far-right extremists estimated to be in the country, with 13,000 assessed to be inclined to violence. Authorities said there was no evidence any had seen combat.

But active online recruitment suggests that a drawn-out conflict could attract many more volunteer fighters, Kramer said. Readiness to take up arms, he added, reflects intensifying activity by right-wing extremists, including within the ranks of the German military.

For neo-Nazis and white supremacists, “Ukraine could become their version of what Afghanistan was for the jihadi movement in the 1980s,” said Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute. “Being on the ground in a real-world fighting situation will allow them to gain valuable experience, as they further hone their skills in weapons, planning attacks, using technology in war including communications and encryption, and using cryptocurrency for clandestine funding of their activity.”

Giving rise to a global cabal (albeit fractured as they are for whom they support) of nationalist sentiment, is something we've seen before. It ended with Fat Man and Little Boy.

We in the West, whether that be the US, UK, or other western linked alliance, should be looking now at the potential for what the war in Ukraine will eventually bring....we here in the US see it happening now, and I will say it's the canary in the coal mine, the harbinger of things to come.

The potential for the war in Ukraine to accelerate extremist activity throughout the West is all the more noteworthy because of the Kremlin’s long-standing campaign to cultivate fringe movements and undermine democracies abroad, said Stefan Meister, a Russia specialist at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Those efforts, whether through financial support or fantastical online conspiracy theories, have earned Moscow sympathy across broad swaths of the far right, he said.

Do we ask ourselves "How do autocrats acquire and consolidate power"? I certainly have, many times. But we have indications from past history.

Some also seek to conduct independent reporting — bypassing what they see as the lügenpresse, or lying press, a slur used by Hitler as he consolidated power in interwar Germany.

Narratives....yes. We see it happening here too, right in this thread.

Extremists not entering Ukraine’s battlefields are nevertheless using the war to spread propaganda.

Some are white supremacists who see in Putin’s crusade an opportunity to cleanse Western culture. This view is disseminated by an American in Moscow — and frequent guest on Russian state television — who wears a patch on his vest showing Putin’s face set against a Confederate flag, according to analysis by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

The expatriate recently asked on Instagram, “you think we give a [expletive] that the entire world hates Russia now?”

Galvanizing Extremists Globally

Where this will end is anyone's guess, however, the earmarks of (somewhat) recent past history are glaring, and truthfully should give us all pause to consider one question: "What is it we really stand for?"

a reply to: JBurns

Sorry, I don't quite get this; could you please explain exactly how this is all Biden's fault?

a reply to: Freeborn


Nobody blames biden, he's a helpless senile old idiot.

We blame the democrat party and their 81 million voter registrations.

Cuz it wasn't an accident that putin waited 5 years to invade Ukraine at the very first opportunity after biden took office, cancelled some of the russia sanctions, cancelled U.S. oil & gas leases, and started 'negotiating' with russia.

We. Told. You. So.

Repeatedly.

Right here.



But only putin and russia are responsible for invading Ukraine, and only they will decide when it will end.

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Putin didn't wait 5 years, he started invading in Ukraine in 2014. What are you talking about?

OK, THIS ONE IS JUST TOO INSANE FOR MY TASTE (!!!!!):


Video on Twitter


Video on Twitter

For the audience that do not speak Russian: in the first video at 0:44 the soldier says he 'never thought that he will ever get a medal for fighting nazies'. His expression says a bit different truth in my opinion...

I thought I've seen a lot by now but all this is still disturbing me.

Meanwhile, there was an antiwar performance in St. Petersburg today. A woman dowsed herself in 'blood' after chanting 'The heart bleeds'. There was a whole poem written on the linen. 'I feel that it’s useless to appeal to reason, so I turn to your hearts' and so on. She was, of course, apprehended.

Twitter video

originally posted by: alphabetaone
a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Putin didn't wait 5 years, he started invading in Ukraine in 2014. What are you talking about?

Agreed. This war is a re-invasion. A systematic course to occupy Ukraine has started right there, in 2014.

originally posted by: alphabetaone
So, to me, here's the scary part.

It's not that Putin is being Putin, the tyrannical authoritarian pining away for USSR glory days. That's a given.

It's what he's inspired globally and is now playing out in ridiculously pinpoint precision.

In Germany, the number of far-right extremists crossing into Ukraine is still minimal, according to Germany’s Interior Ministry. So far, just 27 either have traveled to Ukraine or made plans to do so, authorities said this week, among 33,300 far-right extremists estimated to be in the country, with 13,000 assessed to be inclined to violence. Authorities said there was no evidence any had seen combat.

But active online recruitment suggests that a drawn-out conflict could attract many more volunteer fighters, Kramer said. Readiness to take up arms, he added, reflects intensifying activity by right-wing extremists, including within the ranks of the German military.

For neo-Nazis and white supremacists, “Ukraine could become their version of what Afghanistan was for the jihadi movement in the 1980s,” said Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute. “Being on the ground in a real-world fighting situation will allow them to gain valuable experience, as they further hone their skills in weapons, planning attacks, using technology in war including communications and encryption, and using cryptocurrency for clandestine funding of their activity.”

Giving rise to a global cabal (albeit fractured as they are for whom they support) of nationalist sentiment, is something we've seen before. It ended with Fat Man and Little Boy.

We in the West, whether that be the US, UK, or other western linked alliance, should be looking now at the potential for what the war in Ukraine will eventually bring....we here in the US see it happening now, and I will say it's the canary in the coal mine, the harbinger of things to come.

The potential for the war in Ukraine to accelerate extremist activity throughout the West is all the more noteworthy because of the Kremlin’s long-standing campaign to cultivate fringe movements and undermine democracies abroad, said Stefan Meister, a Russia specialist at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Those efforts, whether through financial support or fantastical online conspiracy theories, have earned Moscow sympathy across broad swaths of the far right, he said.

Do we ask ourselves "How do autocrats acquire and consolidate power"? I certainly have, many times. But we have indications from past history.

Some also seek to conduct independent reporting — bypassing what they see as the lügenpresse, or lying press, a slur used by Hitler as he consolidated power in interwar Germany.

Narratives....yes. We see it happening here too, right in this thread.

Extremists not entering Ukraine’s battlefields are nevertheless using the war to spread propaganda.

Some are white supremacists who see in Putin’s crusade an opportunity to cleanse Western culture. This view is disseminated by an American in Moscow — and frequent guest on Russian state television — who wears a patch on his vest showing Putin’s face set against a Confederate flag, according to analysis by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

The expatriate recently asked on Instagram, “you think we give a [expletive] that the entire world hates Russia now?”

Galvanizing Extremists Globally

Where this will end is anyone's guess, however, the earmarks of (somewhat) recent past history are glaring, and truthfully should give us all pause to consider one question: "What is it we really stand for?"

This is a great post. Probably one of the more insightful in this entire thread.

Huge Chaos In Russian Army: 37th Brigade Commander Destroyed By His Own Troops

Ukraine Forces Capture Russian TOS-1A Thermobaric Rocket Launcher System

And again.... who cares about those propaganda videos which Russia doesn't watch anyway. Fog Of War... discounted.

LATEST:

Zelensky is calling for peace talks.
Willing to become neutral.
Willing to let go of Donbas.

Now we once again know where the line is drawn for claimed heroism.

a reply to: flice

Who say's the Russians don't watch Ukrainian war videos and news?

That is --- sorry to say --- the one's (news and facebook/twitter/YouTube outlets) that Putin hasn't blacked-out to the Russian public.

Senior Russian Commander Kills Himself After Most Of The Tanks Become Unusable

originally posted by: flice
And again.... who cares about those propaganda videos which Russia doesn't watch anyway. Fog Of War... discounted.

LATEST:

Zelensky is calling for peace talks.
Willing to become neutral.
Willing to let go of Donbas.

Now we once again know where the line is drawn for claimed heroism.

Do you have some links for that?

a reply to: Erno86

Zelensky prepared to discuss neutrality

Reuters are also on it... everyone is questioning wether the Russians will believe it.

a reply to: Erno86

And the Pentagon has toned those kills down.

That commander, is it too old fashioned to think he did it out of service?
We can't exactly believe the info in the video on face value. Because you know... moral boosting propaganda.

Zelensky gave a 92min interview to Russian channels "Dozdj" "Zygar" "Medusa" "Kommersant" "Novaya Gazeta" today. Russian government approached the journalists demanding not to post the interview or get punished. They did post it anyway.

This whole interview is happening in Russian lang, btw. Zelensky occasionally turns to an aide off screen and asks how to say a Ukrainian word in Russian.

Youtube video, still waiting for a full transaltion by somebody.

Just an excerpt from the interview:

- Ukraine found Russian parade uniforms in the early convoys sent during the invasion, Zelensky says, indicating Putin thought they'd wrap it up almost immediately;
- Zelensky says there will be no retaking of Crimea by force. Ukrainians are sick of war and destruction. This isn’t a' hoorah war'; it’s a national tragedy.
- The war will end when Russians will accept that this has been a catastrophe for the nation and for relations with their neighbors in Ukraine;
- Zelensky says, he never even considered sending troops into Donbas or Crimea because the loss of life would have been simply unacceptable;
- About the Snake Island soldiers: some died, some were taken hostage;
- Are there side negotiations going on outside the public spotlight? Zelensky says a lot of people are talking. Officially, and unofficially.


More translations you can find here.

Up to everyone to believe Zelensky or not. Once again, take it or leave it. I have my own stance on all of this.

a reply to: flice

Here's some more --- so called --- propaganda for ya:

Russian Artist Doused In Fake Blood In Anti-War Protest