The start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Part 1)

placidnomad87 said:It feels like NATO is just sitting back, waiting for some massive turning point in the war before they finally decide to step in—maybe that’s actually the strategy all along. NOBODY IS GOING TO DEFEND YOUR COUNTRY FOR FREE!

NATO isn't jumping into a fight. They can only send weapons.

I don't know if you guys caught that tweet from the Chinese Embassy over in Moscow last night https://twitter.com/ChineseEmbinRus/...62051973783553

P.S. It’s an official order, too—you can tell by that Twitter checkmark.

rowdytiger13 said:Kazakhstan did exactly what any sane nation would do: they refused to send their troops to occupy another country.
There are no allies for Putin, aside from Lukashenko, who doesn't really have a choice since his country is essentially a Russian colony.

Putin basically saved his neck, so why wouldn't he stick by his side?
It’s the exact same script the West was trying to run over there too.

Carl Lee27 said:I'm feeling pretty certain this footage is actually older, probably dating all the way back to 2014.

To me, it also looks like those clashes between protesters and the Berkut back in 2014.

swiftjackal11 said:NATO isn't jumping into a fight. They can only send weapons.

But what happens if Putin completely loses his grip on reality? If things spiral out of control, we could see an intervention aimed at actually partitioning Russia itself—regardless of the fact that they have nuclear weapons. Of course, we can't forget that NATO holds that same kind of terrifying leverage, too. Isn't that the ultimate gamble?

swiftjackal11 said:NATO isn't jumping into a fight. They can only send weapons.

NATO might stay on the sidelines, but are you really certain the Americans won't move into Western Ukraine to establish a buffer zone if the situation spirals out of control?

There's just no way the US allows Russia to get close enough to their border to start running military exercises right on their doorstep in a couple of years...

It honestly feels to me like the Russians walked straight into their own personal hell when they entered Kyiv.

neonbison6 said:Now this is what I call real resistance against the occupiers! In this video, you can see Ukrainian citizens using Molotov cocktails to push back the Russians.

It’s just so heartbreaking to see this happening again in 2022, though their courage is completely understandable...

gentleharbor3 said:Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah. Excuses upon excuses.
Less talk, more action, action-man! ☕
It’s easy to act tough behind a screen.
Fine. Since I have no idea what you're even defending, I’ll stay quiet.
Anyway, I suggest you find enough
courage to actually pick up a book once in a while,
something on politics, political theory, history, or geopolitics
if those subjects actually interest you...
Otherwise, every single argument you make will just devolve into ad hominem attacks and hysterics
because you obviously don't get—and it's not just you—what I'm saying,
nor am I ever justifying Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Just for the record, that’s an ad hominem.☕

Samuel Jones8 said:At the end of the day, Putin needs to be held accountable, and I don't just mean for the lives of Ukrainians, but for all those young Russian kids he's basically throwing into the meat grinder just to satisfy his own twisted ambitions.

Precisely. However, that's an internal reckoning that only the Russians can truly settle among themselves.

Gary Wilson said:It honestly feels to me like the Russians walked straight into their own personal hell when they entered Kyiv.

Man, you're basically a pro military analyst at this point...

Johnny said:It’s honestly not surprising at all when you consider how they covered the early days of the pandemic... everything was just about chasing clicks, even if it meant sacrificing any sense of integrity...

It seems like VL did the exact same thing by turning this whole situation into clickbait, specifically with that shirt featuring Mish Kovac... I don't really want to post the link to the "article," I'll just leave the image here...

Joseph Clark95 said:And how exactly is Israel supposed to condemn them!?
I mean, Israelis have steamrolled Palestinians and continue to crush them whenever they feel like it.
Where are all those sanctions, the protests, the Democrats standing up for Palestine?
Where are these "intellectuals" on the forums who bash Russians with their keyboards while actual people are picking up stones to fight back against weapons?!

It’s a pathetic world filled with mindless people swayed by mass media—people who would die for someone else's ideals and power just to serve tomorrow's propaganda.

Keep it up.

I brought that up as an example of moral pragmatism,
or rather, pure relativism and double standards.
Look, we condemn every act of aggression, but if we slap sanctions on Russia,
we might deal with a massive revolt from the Russian diaspora, not to mention who
would actually grant us flight paths over Syria...😵
It’s on the level of Italians bickering over sanctions because they have luxury goods to export.
Actually, it's worse, considering the moral authority Israel claims to hold.
This was just an illustration of how international relations
aren't nearly as simple as they seem at first glance
and that there is much more to it than just the "he has a right" argument.

placidnomad87 said:But what happens if Putin completely loses his grip on reality? If things spiral out of control, we could see an intervention aimed at actually partitioning Russia itself—regardless of the fact that they have nuclear weapons. Of course, we can't forget that NATO holds that same kind of terrifying leverage, too. Isn't that the ultimate gamble?

Honestly, I think he’s already lost it. That kind of rhetoric—especially since he’s never even hinted at stuff like this before—makes me think something serious went down psychologically. Either he’s totally lost control over what he's saying, or he's just gone off the deep end and those "spy movie" theories are starting to rattle around in his head. Not sure which one is worse, I guess.

The West is ramping up the hardware shipments to Ukraine. Looks like they’re finally waking up to the fact that Ukraine can actually hold its own if they have the right gear.

The invasion of Ukraine is definitive proof that membership in the NATO alliance is the only way to guarantee long-term peace for Europe!

Whether you call it the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, or the Union State of Russia and Belarus—it’s really just a case of old wine in new bottles; the names change, but the behavior stays exactly the same.

The Britons are having a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that Russ actually took Melitopol

https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/s...nqBKb2kmf0yfzA

The FCC has issued notices stating that outlets such as Echo of Moscow, InoSMI, Mediazona, New Times, Dozhd, Svobodnaya press, Krym.Realii, Novaya Gazeta, Journalist, and Lenizdat have all been served with access restrictions due to the dissemination of inaccurate information.

These publications were essentially forced to scrub their content because they dared to refer to the ongoing situation in Ukraine as a war.

“These resources are publishing unreliable, socially significant information under the guise of credible messaging; specifically, they fail to reflect the reality regarding the shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the resulting civilian casualties caused by the Russian Army, while also containing materials that label the current operation as an attack, an invasion, or a declaration of war,” the RKN demand states.

Who wouldn't want to live under a regime-controlled lie factory?

William Anderson5 said:

Everyone really needs to watch this. The rhetoric here reminds me so much of gentleharbor3... how they pivoted from talking about Lenin to the bombings in Mexico City and then Libya... it serves as such a heavy introduction to what's happening on Ukrainian territory, where Ukrainian civilians are being killed. Honestly, the Russian soldiers should just lay down their weapons. I mean it...

The Russian Army is retreating from Kherson again

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/...nqBKb2kmf0yfzA

Looks like the Russian Army just can't handle fighting on so many fronts at once.