Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Part 5

Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the United Nations Security Council, claimed on Thursday that under certain circumstances, sanctions against Moscow could actually be viewed as an act of aggression and even serve as a justification for war.

“I want to emphasize once again that in specific situations, these kinds of hostile measures can be classified as an act of international aggression. They might even be seen as a 'casus belli'—basically a justification for going to war,” Medvedev said, making sure to add that Russia has every right to defend itself.

Oh yeah, because those sanctions are clearly doing absolutely nothing at all, right? Total non-issue, I'm sure! 🙄

Michelle Young50 said:Crimea matters because of Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet—it carries way more weight than somewhere like Luhansk, for instance.

☕important to who exactly...

It’s all Ukrainian territory ☕and if the Russians want to save their gear, they can easily start moving it across the bridge. Pretty soon, Ukrainian forces are gonna hit Kherson to reclaim land and cut off access to Crimea—then they'll move on to cutting supply lines and rail hubs everywhere else. I mean, look at Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia—with those nuclear plants there, five reactors total, they're gonna be left without any power or water...

The Ukrainians put out a statement yesterday saying they've got 800,000 soldiers ready for this...

Gregory Ramos3 said:

Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the United Nations Security Council, claimed on Thursday that under certain circumstances, sanctions against Moscow could actually be viewed as an act of aggression and even serve as a justification for war.

“I want to emphasize once again that in specific situations, these kinds of hostile measures can be classified as an act of international aggression. They might even be seen as a 'casus belli'—basically a justification for going to war,” Medvedev said, making sure to add that Russia has every right to defend itself.

Oh yeah, because those sanctions are clearly doing absolutely nothing at all, right? Total non-issue, I'm sure! 🙄

Exactly. In Russia, it’s all just propaganda and fairy tales.
Russia: Sanctions don't work, we're unstoppable.
Russia: Please, take the sanctions off us.
Russia: Sanctions are just an excuse for the war.

🤣

Gregory Ramos3 said:

Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the United Nations Security Council, claimed on Thursday that under certain circumstances, sanctions against Moscow could actually be viewed as an act of aggression and even serve as a justification for war.

“I want to emphasize once again that in specific situations, these kinds of hostile measures can be classified as an act of international aggression. They might even be seen as a 'casus belli'—basically a justification for going to war,” Medvedev said, making sure to add that Russia has every right to defend itself.

Oh yeah, because those sanctions are clearly doing absolutely nothing at all, right? Total non-issue, I'm sure! 🙄

☕Like, if they aren't being hit—then why can't they pay their bondholders? They just announced they can't pull it off for the first time in 40 years, and all those guarantees are basically worthless now...

https://twitter.com/EmbassyofRussia/...59938949275651

These Russians are seriously cringey when it comes to their PR.

Arthur Watson4 said:https://twitter.com/EmbassyofRussia/...59938949275651

These Russians are seriously cringey when it comes to their PR.

Right? Just awful.

Justin Mendoza16 said:☕Like, if they aren't being hit—then why can't they pay their bondholders? They just announced they can't pull it off for the first time in 40 years, and all those guarantees are basically worthless now...

From what I've been digging up in the news, this is the first time in 105 years this has happened; the last time they dealt with something like this was way back in 1917.😉

This whole thing was pure Sarcasm aimed at some of those statements floating around the forums and the media from people who are pretty much pro-Russian.🙂

Jessica Peterson2 said:Bravo! You’ve just coined a brilliant new term: Special Goodwill Operation = the chaotic withdrawal of aggressor units from occupied territory. 👍

Thanks. 😉

It’s all just a matter of linguistic nuance, isn't it? Next step: we should tell Putin, Lavrov, Peskov, Medvedev, and Zakharov that the European Union hasn't actually imposed any sanctions on Russia, but merely implemented Special economic and financial measures. 😁
After all, Medvedev himself claimed just two months ago that these sanctions don't bother them one bit (not even slightly), so I fail to see why Putin's regime machine thinks there's a problem here. 😬

Reading through TASS, I see the great humanitarian, Putin, called Kyiv's actions in the Donbas crimes against humanity.

Following what happened in Bucha, Mariupol, Kramatorsk, and Kremenchuk, this stunted, multi-faceted aggressor entity is now accusing Kyiv of crimes against humanity—all after having stated, with total coldness, that the Russian army does not target civilian sites.

My ass.

George Orwell was right:

"Political language (...) is designed to make Lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

gentlestag15 said:spot the difference between the G7 and the G7 summit
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FWbwpH5X...jpg&name=large

At the Caspian summit, you aren't exactly in a position to walk up and gun down a delegate from a friendly nation at the start of the meeting, and even dodging a virus isn't particularly easy there either.

Jeremy Peterson4 said:Exactly. In Russia, it’s all just propaganda and fairy tales.
Russia: Sanctions don't work, we're unstoppable.
Russia: Please, take the sanctions off us.
Russia: Sanctions are just an excuse for the war.

🤣

Now, let’s include our trolls:

Sanctions don't affect Russia.
Sanctions don't affect Russia; they have everything available on the Chinese and Indian markets.
Sanctions don't affect Russia; they have everything available on the Chinese and Indian markets. The West will collapse without Russia.

Jeremy Peterson4 said:Exactly. In Russia, it’s all just propaganda and fairy tales.
Russia: Sanctions don't work, we're unstoppable.
Russia: Please, take the sanctions off us.
Russia: Sanctions are just an excuse for the war.

🤣

I think you missed the biggest point here.

The exchange rate is 200 rubles to a single US dollar. 😁

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-politics-live

Tue 19 Apr 2022

Biden blames Putin for inflation

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics...-both-food-gas

June 10 Biden

Biden says 'Putin's tax on both food and gas' is to blame for record-high inflation

It seems like you can't even keep track of who put the sanctions on whom anymore. 🤣

So, I was reading this interesting deep dive from BuzzFeed News where they basically fact-checked all those claims coming out of the Russian Department of Defense regarding their supposed "wins" in Ukraine. It’s kind of wild when you look at the numbers, because the spokesperson, Igor Konashekov, keeps reporting these massive victories on TV every single day. For instance, back on June 10 Biden, he claimed they had destroyed 215 Ukrainian aircraft, which is pretty crazy considering the Department of Defense says Ukraine only even had 152 planes to begin with before the war started. He also mentioned taking out 84 Bayraktars, which is actually twenty more than what Turkey ever even provided to Ukraine. On top of all that, he’s been reporting these territorial gains constantly; he claimed forces "captured" the town of Kremenna four different times, and then there were these repetitive reports about seizing Novomajorski, Taramčuk, and Borovenka. 😁

Link: https://www.proekt.media/research/of...ka-minoborony/

Donna Harris11 said:I think you missed the biggest point here.

The exchange rate is 200 rubles to a single US dollar. 😁

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-politics-live

Tue 19 Apr 2022

Biden blames Putin for inflation

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics...-both-food-gas

June 10 Biden

Biden says 'Putin's tax on both food and gas' is to blame for record-high inflation

It seems like you can't even keep track of who put the sanctions on whom anymore. 🤣

That is the reality. The West essentially sanctioned itself, while things in Russia just seem to be steadily improving. They occasionally throw around threats of war against everyone who applied those sanctions, almost as if it were nothing more than a joke.
Oh, Milojko.

Gerald Torres84 said:That is the reality. The West essentially sanctioned itself, while things in Russia just seem to be steadily improving. They occasionally throw around threats of war against everyone who applied those sanctions, almost as if it were nothing more than a joke.
Oh, Milojko.

It doesn’t even stop there! The Russians start making gains after being absolutely hammered by the other side... and then they claim they never even intended to move in the first place! They lose the pride of their fleet—which just sinks on its own—they retreat from the islands, and suddenly they’re all showing "goodwill"? Give me a break!

lp

Sergej Lavrov: "The USA feels the sting of sanctions, but Europe suffers far more."
(source)

Dmitriy Medvedev: "Western sanctions are an act of aggression and a justification for war."
(source)

Conclusion: the sanctions being imposed hurt the USA, but they damage the European Union even more; however, these measures represent an act of international aggression and serve as a pretext for war, meaning Russia has every right to defend itself.

Makes perfectly sense. 🙄

Now, I can't decide if you Russian chess players:

a) haven't coordinated on the specific version of the story you'll tell the public (which I doubt, because they aren't that stupid)

or

b) are just shaping the narrative day by day—sometimes even within the same day—so they can claim anything and its opposite, whatever sticks.

Either way, it strikes me how much they can bark.

wearyheron5 said:Sergej Lavrov: "The USA feels the sting of sanctions, but Europe suffers far more."
(source)

Dmitriy Medvedev: "Western sanctions are an act of aggression and a justification for war."
(source)

Conclusion: the sanctions being imposed hurt the USA, but they damage the European Union even more; however, these measures represent an act of international aggression and serve as a pretext for war, meaning Russia has every right to defend itself.

Makes perfectly sense. 🙄

Now, I can't decide if you Russian chess players:

a) haven't coordinated on the specific version of the story you'll tell the public (which I doubt, because they aren't that stupid)

or

b) are just shaping the narrative day by day—sometimes even within the same day—so they can claim anything and its opposite, whatever sticks.

Either way, it strikes me how much they can bark.

The wave of Russian aggression is peaking. It's nowhere near over, but whatever happens next, it’s only going to get worse for the Russians. They know this, which is why they're barking so loud—it's the only thing they have left.

Gerald Torres84 said:That is the reality. The West essentially sanctioned itself, while things in Russia just seem to be steadily improving. They occasionally throw around threats of war against everyone who applied those sanctions, almost as if it were nothing more than a joke.
Oh, Milojko.

?

right now they actually have a budget surplus.

Great, so it turns out Western sanctions aren't just failing to hurt the Russian economy—they're actually helping it. Why on earth is Medvedev calling them a casus belli because of that? Only he knows.

Bryan Booth82 said:It doesn’t even stop there! The Russians start making gains after being absolutely hammered by the other side... and then they claim they never even intended to move in the first place! They lose the pride of their fleet—which just sinks on its own—they retreat from the islands, and suddenly they’re all showing "goodwill"? Give me a break!

lp

Honestly, I break out in hives whenever people start rambling about the "warm Slavic soul" or some nonsense about pan-Slavism.
Russia has a very "warm and fuzzy" way of treating everyone, especially other Slavic nations.
Everyone remembers them fondly—which is exactly why they were all so incredibly quick to run for the exits the second they got a fighting chance.

Donna Harris11 said:?

right now they actually have a budget surplus.

Emphasis on "right now."🤔
The real problem is that this whole "best performing currency" thing is a complete joke—you can't take it to the bank! I couldn't even buy basic necessities with it if I were stuck in Russia... let alone anything else. What good is a "top performer" on paper when real-world purchasing power is a disaster?

Best,