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

Justin Kern67 said:This simply serves as further evidence of how the Russians act as brutal occupiers, aggressors, and killers.

The Russ wouldn't touch a hair on anyone's head if they could just walk in and disrespect the Ukrainian language whenever they felt like it. They'd lose their minds.

feralpilot0 said:She’s caught between two abusive relationships; her only hope for survival is flirting with both sides—two guys who aren't exactly sane—because, frankly, she can't stand on her own.

🤣

Bill Maher compares Russia to Kanye, Ukraine to Kim Kardashian, and NATO to Pete Davidson. 🤣


To me, though, Russia gives off total abusive partner vibes—the kind of person who refuses to accept they're actually a nightmare and just keeps projecting all their faults onto everyone else. If Russia were a person, it would definitely need some serious professional help.

Ethan Peterson4 said:What’s the latest from the Kyiv live cam?!? 🤔

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/webca...an-square.html

What's even happening in Kyiv? It's not like Kyiv is under occupation, despite how much the media gets it wrong. Right now, the real struggle is over in Kharkiv and Sumy.

swiftjackal11 said:It’s always better to deal with a threat far away from home.

Right. Americans are at their best when they're defending territory 3108 miles far away from home.
Reminds me of that long-lost Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who once claimed
that the US would defend itself in Afghanistan. 🙂

Jack Kelly5 said:That sounds like something you'd tell a toddler. If Russia ever decides to push toward the Baltic, I have a feeling NATO and the USA might just end up sitting on their hands... and staying right where they are.

Not if they don't. Come and See. 😁

Olivia Stewart2 said:Ah, "complex factors," is it?👍
I see. It seems your understanding of history begins at the Maidan; you were probably just a child when the Russians poisoned Viktor Yanukovych.
In the Ukrainian presidential election, voter turnout was 63%, yet the pro-Russian candidate Yuriy Boyko received a mere 12%. If you happen to possess any evidence suggesting the CIA rigged the results and that Yuriy Boyko actually enjoys widespread support among Americans, please, feel free to share it with us...

It still hasn't clicked for you that election results don't mean a damn thing. People vote for whatever is put in front of them—not necessarily what they actually want.

Russians tried an airborne landing in western Ukraine

https://twitter.com/michaelh992/stat...cI59KeADqXvYcg

They went absolutely crazy in the woods, heading straight for the mayor of Lviv...

These Russian landings are just weird to me. It’s not like they’re actually pulling anything off.

Betty Carter3 said:He messed up. I mean, look, there's zero sense in continuing negotiations in Minsk once Belarus has already invaded Ukraine. Vučić could have actually made a solid geopolitical move here.

And get this—he's basically the only one in all of Europe who hasn't slapped sanctions on Russia yet! Just wait for it! The guy is so slippery you can't even pin him down; he just slides right out of everything no matter how hard you try to catch him...

casualranger15 said:What's even happening in Kyiv? It's not like Kyiv is under occupation, despite how much the media gets it wrong. Right now, the real struggle is over in Kharkiv and Sumy.

Sumy at the moment...

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/us/we...-fountain.html
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/us/we...-fountain.html

It doesn't look like there's much heavy fighting there either, I guess..

Olivia Stewart2 said:It appears that Putin's strategy is to utilize war to force Ukraine into some sort of new agreement, perhaps something akin to Minsk III, which would be significantly more favorable to Russia—essentially a "Finlandization" of Ukraine. However, for that to work, he needs a living Zelenskyy; an agreement can only be signed with a democratically elected representative of the Ukrainian people, not with some installed puppet. His plan likely involves encircling Kyiv and other major cities to then organize negotiations. At that point, everyone starts playing their strongest cards. Entering these cities will, by all accounts, trigger intense guerrilla warfare and result in heavy casualties on both sides, though one has to ask who actually benefits from that. Politically, it hurts Putin, as the Russian people may eventually turn against him once they see the mounting number of Russian soldiers returning home in body bags from an unjust war. Zelenskyy emerges as a Ukrainian hero and secures his place in history, yet simultaneously, it remains a Pyrrhic victory, leaving behind nothing but leveled cities and a massive toll of civilian lives.....

The Ukrainians might not be able to win outright, but their negotiating position strengthens with every day they resist. That said, if they truly had the will to fight to the bitter end like in WWII, Russia wouldn't stand a chance with the forces they've mobilized. When we faced our own conflicts back in the day, we weren't facing this level of scale; you can't just conquer a nation with such limited numbers if the entire population is truly committed to fighting. Personally, I think the power balance in our domestic struggles in the early 90s was even worse—our forces were basically hunting clubs with Kalashnikovs and sneakers, while the military opposing us was packed with heavy tech. Ukraine, however, is armed to the teeth, even if it's mostly light and anti-tank weaponry, though they have heavy gear too. Air superiority isn't everything in urban combat. I'm ruling out nukes; the Russians aren't going to drop an atomic bomb on Kyiv.

But the real question is how much the rest of the world actually wants to fight. The people there are likely quite disillusioned; the corruption is staggering, and since 2014, life has only gotten harder. Beyond national pride, I don't see a clear vision for a better life that makes the struggle worth it. For many, things remain the same—the poor stay poor and die, while the oligarchs are already safe with their wealth. If they manage to defend themselves, they really ought to strip those oligarchs of their power immediately.

One more thing: their politicians are a disaster—not just the current ones, but all of them. Just a series of corrupt puppets, whether for Russia or the West, who led the country into this mess. Politics is the art of the possible. Looking back, you realize just how cunning and capable leaders like Marshall were when navigating international relations...

rowdyraven112 said:Look, Josip Broz was a dictator. Period. What are you even talking about? ☕

Truth is, people haven't realized it yet, but we're living under a dictatorship too. Laws aren't passed through actual consensus in Congress; they're pushed through by a bunch of yes-men raising their hands without even reading the damn bills. Let's call it what it is: a democratic dictatorship.

BUT, if the whole Congress gets dissolved, you actually HAVE THE RIGHT to vote for whatever option you want (unless you're one of those career politicians who can only ever vote for their own party, in which case you've got no real choice)
So you really can't go putting "democracy" and "dictatorship" in the same sentence like that.😉

loneviper4 said:Russia has already gotten their hands on those British anti-tank systems. Honestly? Serves them right...

What, don't they have their own? I guess they just headed straight to a wedding without a single clue what they were doing.

In Russia, they aren't even allowed to call it a war

https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status...772551682?s=21

loneviper4 said:And get this—he's basically the only one in all of Europe who hasn't slapped sanctions on Russia yet! Just wait for it! The guy is so slippery you can't even pin him down; he just slides right out of everything no matter how hard you try to catch him...

Exactly. He didn't even pull the trigger on COVID restrictions.

rowdypilot53 said:Why does everyone keep bringing up nukes? No one is actually going to drop them over Ukraine—not the Russians, not anyone else. Honestly, how is this any different from what happened in Iraq or Libya? Maybe it's just because the Ukrainians look like us, or because they're part of the West and a democracy, so we feel more empathy and are even willing to take in refugees. International law is mostly a myth; superpowers simply do whatever suits their interests unless another superpower stops them. It’s strange that people are acting so surprised now...

The nukes are only mentioned because some paranoid KGB relic thinks everyone is terrified of his arsenal... while conveniently forgetting everyone else has them too.

Of course I identify and empathize with Ukrainians. Absolutely. I’m certainly not going to pretend to be some online warrior who feels the exact same way about people in Afghanistan or Iraq versus Ukrainians. I don't, and I won't fake it.

The only time I react the same way is when it comes to children. Because they aren't Iraqi, or Afghan, or Ukrainian... they're just children.

neonheron9 said:The strategy here is simple... you don't try to fight superior air power and heavy armor out in the open plains... you take it into the cities, where those two advantages become pretty much useless.

That’s why the Russians haven't managed to take a single major city, and the Ukrainians are keeping their casualties to a minimum.

The reason Ukrainians are seeing such negligible casualties is simply because the Russians aren't targeting armored units tucked away in civilian neighborhoods, and since they haven't even bothered to mobilize ten percent of their military, they have no need to squander resources unnecessarily.

Furthermore, one must wonder why they would bother seizing cities only to slaughter their own kin, unless perhaps those incompetent fools plan to provide enough air drops to maintain a frontline for years to come. 🤣🤣🤣
Or maybe the supposed "world leaders, geniuses, and paragons of democracy" are actually coming to the rescue, which would explain why the Russians are in such a hurry—unless, of course, they've all soiled themselves and are merely whimpering through endless, meaningless rhetoric.

They seem quite intimidated by Russian momentum, babbling about 🙂🙂🙂 nothing more than half-hearted sanctions that lack any real teeth; they would certainly act if it didn't conflict with their own interests.

Heaven forbid some massive US or UK corporation suffers a minor hit to its quarterly earnings.🤣🤣🤣

Alright, I’m officially lost on who’s even talking here... Half the comments are like, "Ukrainians aren't fighting back, surrender is just a matter of time," and then the other half are screaming, "The invasion is totally falling apart, Ukrainians are holding the line, and Putin is about to get his teeth kicked in." 😕

loneviper4 said:Russia has already gotten their hands on those British anti-tank systems. Honestly? Serves them right...

And I suppose Putin whispered that one in your ear?

Russians are attempting a new landing near Brody.

https://twitter.com/michaelh992/stat...cI59KeADqXvYcg

Is the US using this region as a proxy, given how they fueled conflicts with Mexico back in the 90s? ☕☕☕

To those people claiming this is just an American proxy war... how many Ukrainian tanks are currently under "proxy protection" on their way toward Moscow? Just asking for the same folks on this forum...