Russia Invades

[Vegas Claret]

I wonder the response of the Russian people more than anything, I've no idea how he's really viewed by the majority of Russians, who likely daren't speak out while he's still breathing.

yes I think you are spot on with that, I would imagine Russians like populations from most of the countries deemed "dangerous" by the West just want to have a normal life with as much prosperity as possible - Putin has just taken away any chance of that for "his" people

[PeterWilton]

Why are the Police not the ones protesting alongside the rest of Moscow?

ACAB

[taio]

I truly wonder what would happen if targeted drone strikes wiped out Putin and a few of his side kicks, including the Belarus president.

It would be an absolute disaster and result in major escalation

[fatboy47]

So, the Russian parliament doesn't contain enough people with the gonads or principles to challenge a corrupt unprincipled dishonest leader and remove him.

Thank God that could never happen in the UK.

Oh..wait a minute..

[williamjblazkowicz]

Want to support Ukraine? There are a number of charities that could use the help:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 22207.html

[elwaclaret]

It'd be a disaster. He could keel over of natural causes and his successor would say he was assassinated by either the west, or by western-backed enemies, and use that to justify just about anything he wants to do.

Not necessarily true. The Russian leadership falls into two camps, for many years this has been stacked by Putins side but the opposition threat is to a large extent feeding Putin’s paranoia. There is no hunger for war for most, this is Putins gambit to become another Peter the Great, Lenin, Stalin etc.

[tiger76]

So, the Russian parliament doesn't contain enough people with the gonads or principles to challenge a corrupt unprincipled dishonest leader and remove him.

Thank God that could never happen in the UK.

Oh..wait a minute..

Daft comparison, and I'm no Boris fan, but he at least won an election to get where he is, and if he refuses to step down, or the Cons don't mount a leadership challenge, then the British public will have their say in 2024, also I'm not aware of this current government for all their failings conducting a military invasion of another sovereign nation.

Sadly for the Russian people who dislike Putin none of those options are available to them. so like it or no they're stuck with Vlad. And as in any armed conflict it'll be the innocent civilians who'll suffer the most.

[TsarBomba]

Large counterattacks from Ukrainian units. Tank battle in Chernihiv.

Transport planes left Pskov for Kiev. Possibly up to 2,500 Russian Airborne to be dropped.

Battle for Gostomel still raging.

[duncandisorderly]

Can the Ukrainians hope to win this without help?

[Lancasterclaret]

You can't compare a Russian democracy to a Western one

For starters, Russia is essentially ruled by Putin, and the Duma is stacked with enough people to rubber stamp his decisions

All his support base have been with him a long time, and have made millions out of his support and patronage

Russian state media is very tightly controlled, and I just don't know enough about how they deal with stuff like tik tok etc

But stuff will get though, and no one sane wants a war, and once the casualties start to come in, you just can't predict what will happen

[FCBurnley]

Russia has better defensive capability than it does offensive - but you are a trillion percent spot on about it being the result of appeasement

Second highest amount of nukes in the world is a pretty good offense !

[TsarBomba]

Can the Ukrainians hope to win this without help?

No- Russia hasn’t deployed anything like it’s full capability. Large reserves still in Russia and Belarus waiting.

[TsarBomba]

Large counterattacks from Ukrainian units. Tank battle in Chernihiv.

Transport planes left Pskov for Kiev. Possibly up to 2,500 Russian Airborne to be dropped.

Battle for Gostomel still raging.

Sounds of jets above Kiev. Possibly those Airborne forces arriving.


Going to be a long night in Kiev.

[Vegas Claret]

Second highest amount of nukes in the world is a pretty good offense !

I thought they had the most of any singular nation........but they aren't up against any single nation. Putin has nothing to gain by using a nuclear weapon, it would be destruction for most of Russia long before the rest of the world. Let's hope it doesn't happen either way

[joey13]

Daft comparison, and I'm no Boris fan, but he at least won an election to get where he is, and if he refuses to step down, or the Cons don't mount a leadership challenge, then the British public will have their say in 2024, also I'm not aware of this current government for all their failings conducting a military invasion of another sovereign nation.

Sadly for the Russian people who dislike Putin none of those options are available to them. so like it or no they're stuck with Vlad. And as in any armed conflict it'll be the innocent civilians who'll suffer the most.

Johnson won an election based on lies and partly paid for by Russian donations .

[elwaclaret]

Second highest amount of nukes in the world is a pretty good offense !

You think? I’d be surprised if Russia is not behind China and Israel at least. We discovered after the Cold War just how many of Russia’s super weapons were dud and obsolete weapons that were more danger to Russia than the west. That being said one has to hope there are enough willing to risk their own safety to prevent Nuclear war because there can be no winners, Russia and quite a bit of the west will cease to exist. Once Russia gets a sniff of ‘winning’ is when the whole thing truly spirals out of control.

[jrgbfc]

Needless to say UEFA have pulled the Champion League Final from Russia and Poland, Sweden, and Czech Republic have said they will not travel to Russia to play in World Cup qualifiers in March.

FIFA and UEFA need to be kicking them out completely. Vettel has also said if they don't get stripped of their F1 race he won't be competing.

[aggi]

Can someone with a deeper understanding of Russias population explain to me how it’s allowed to happen?

Just, hypothetically (forget about us being a part of NATO, forget anything sensible), imagine you awoke to find out that Boris had decided we were invading Iceland as we did not see them as a real country, what would the population in this country (in my ridiculous scenario) do at that moment?

Protesting is one thing, but the more likely occurrence would be outright rioting with people toppling the government by force and probably killing the Prime Minister - such is the insanity of the decision he made.

I realise my comparison is not apples for apples and that the historical significance of the former USSR is clearly part of Putins overall thinking/perhaps an ambition to return to pre-1991 - my point, simply, is why are the people of Russia allowing this to happen?

They’re as culpable as the man making the decision if they do not rise up as a people to topple his dictatorship and stop him. Weapons are one thing, but this is the biggest country in Europe we’re talking about - a government can be brought down by the people if the appetite is there. It clearly isn’t, which is both insane and scary.

I'm not convinced you would see that response in this country.

Look at Farage today blaming this on the EU and NATO and then imagine that being ramped up and dripfed through the media for years. I could picture half of the population being right behind the action.

[Vegas Claret]

a few reports starting to appear suggesting that Russian forces are shelling hospitals which is a direct violation of the Geneva Convention.

[Lancasterclaret]

A very scared looking chief industrialist trying to explain the Putin the dangers of what he is doing

Putin responds by saying that as they are part of that system, then nothing will happen

He's off his f**king rocker I'm afraid

[TsarBomba]

Gostomel airport seized under Russian control.

[CoolClaret]

It seems like Putin has totally lost his ******* head yes

I'm not sure what's worse - if he has planned it strategically over the past decade or so, or gone hell for leather on a whim.

[Lowbankclaret]

A very scared looking chief industrialist trying to explain the Putin the dangers of what he is doing

Putin responds by saying that as they are part of that system, then nothing will happen

He's off his f**king rocker I'm afraid

He is off his rocker, I agree.

Rolls Royce will be having urgent meetings due to the sanctions on aerospace, they buy a lot of titanium from Russia.

This may get difficult for all of us.
Putin said we would see difficulties we had never seen before if we put sanctions on Russia. This could get difficult very quickly.

[pushpinpussy]

as usual on here people are over reacting.

[Lowbankclaret]

as usual on here people are over reacting.

In what way???

[Bordeauxclaret]

Gostomel airport seized under Russian control.

Just out of interest, where have your updates come from today?

[ksrclaret]

They never, ever learn.

Yet again, one "man", or small group of "men", think they have the right to take the lives of countless innocent people. I feel so sorry for the Ukrainian people.

Things will probably get a lot worse over there, but history tells us these lunatics never succeed in the end. Putin thinks that he can succeed with aggression where everybody else has failed. Putin will be killed soon enough.

[ksrclaret]

Please can people ignore pushpinpussy, by the way. He's a troll and this thread needs to remain active.

[TsarBomba]

Just out of interest, where have your updates come from today?

All from open source.

There’s a lot. But a lot of it is unverified and can’t be confirmed.

So just trying to stick to reports that either get reported by multiple, genuine, sources or are at least geolocated.

[Bordeauxclaret]

All from open source.

There’s a lot. But a lot of it is unverified and can’t be confirmed.

So just trying to stick to reports that either get reported by multiple, genuine, sources or are at least geolocated.

Thanks. I wasn’t meaning to question them, just interested.

[Lowbankclaret]

There are some disturbing videos emerging.

[TsarBomba]

Un-named US defence official:

- more than 100 missiles launched last night at Ukrainian infrastructure
- this is currently the initial phase of a ‘large scale invasion’
- Russia making a run for Kiev to decapitate the govt

[TsarBomba]

Thanks. I wasn’t meaning to question them, just interested.

No worries buddy.

[superdimitri]

Very scary. The West don't have many options, just as we didn't have with Adolf in WWII

And cutting supplies is much the same as the sanctions on Japan.

[ClaretMov]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HIPNVm6lNfM Four live cams

[TsarBomba]

Interesting development- Chechen volunteer battalions fighting on behalf of Ukraine will be facing off against Kadyrov govt forces supporting the ground invasion.

[pushpinpussy]

In what way???

one day in and everyone's panicking . calm down. it will be sorted.

[Lowbankclaret]

one day in and everyone's panicking . calm down. it will be sorted.

Yes it will, thousands of Ukrainians dead for nothing.
Petrol and energy prices will sore.
Probably power cuts.
Or we will be weak and Putin will next decide to attack a NATO country resulting in WW3.

Not much to panic about.

[pushpinpussy]

Yes it will, thousands of Ukrainians dead for nothing.
Petrol and energy prices will sore.
Probably power cuts.
Or we will be weak and Putin will next decide to attack a NATO country resulting in WW3.

Not much to panic about.

geez this is the definition of over reaction

[Bosscat]

one day in and everyone's panicking . calm down. it will be sorted.

I reckon you will be safe in your Spanish bolthole PPP

[TsarBomba]

Reports of Gostomel airfield back under Ukrainian control.

Fighting for their very lives.

[ŽižkovClaret]

Cesky Drahy are sending trains to the slovak / ukrainian border to provide an escape route for circa 6k refugees. I intend to help how i can when they reach Prague.

Otherwise, if it reaches CZ im prepared to take up arms, although i believe the response should he get so far would involve full uk/us military

[Vegas Claret]

Thanks. I wasn’t meaning to question them, just interested.

there are some very reliable sources on twitter such as https://twitter.com/IntelCrab and https://twitter.com/ELINTNews

[Hibsclaret]

Anyone wondering why Putin is as emboldened as he is just needs to watch the Biden Q and A. The guy is so far out of his depth it is unreal. Turns up over an hour late for his conference whilst the rest of the world’s leaders have been hard at it for most of the day. His answers to the journos were almost laughable. Anyone thinking this guy is up to the task of stopping Putin needs to seriously wake up. Unbelievably worried now I’ve seen that. The term all the gear and no idea was invented for that bloke tbh.

[Vegas Claret]

sounds like it's only Germany and Italy that are the stumbling block to kicking Russia out of the Swift system

[TheFamilyCat]

He is off his rocker, I agree.

Rolls Royce will be having urgent meetings due to the sanctions on aerospace, they buy a lot of titanium from Russia.

This may get difficult for all of us.
Putin said we would see difficulties we had never seen before if we put sanctions on Russia. This could get difficult very quickly.

That seems to be the challenge with the sanctions - can the Russian economy cope with not being able to sell goods better than the west's inability to buy them?

[Vegas Claret]

Anyone wondering why Putin is as emboldened as he is just needs to watch the Biden Q and A. The guy is so far out of his depth it is unreal. Turns up over an hour late for his conference whilst the rest of the world’s leaders have been hard at it for most of the day. His answers to the journos were almost laughable. Anyone thinking this guy is up to the task of stopping Putin needs to seriously wake up. Unbelievably worried now I’ve seen that. The term all the gear and no idea was invented for that bloke tbh.

Don't be daft, US Presidents don't make decisions, every man and his dog knows that, they are made by others.

[TsarBomba]

Lack of air defence a real issue, if not the Achilles heel, for Ukraine.

[Vegas Claret]

Lack of air defence a real issue, if not the Achilles heel, for Ukraine.

that and a very insignificant Air Force. They don't really stand a chance against Russia unfortunately

[Hibsclaret]

Don't be daft, US Presidents don't make decisions, every man and his dog knows that, they are made by others.

Good job. I think the only decision he could make is when to have his afternoon nap or when to change his colostomy bag. Absolutely no doubt that Putin is happy to strut his stuff whilst the US has no leadership.