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

Amy Cook4 said:Maybe this is actually worth posting…

Anonymous just hacked the Russian Ministry of Defense website and managed to leak their entire database along with it.

https://twitter.com/youranonone/stat...350833157?s=21

Anonymous has been causing absolute chaos since yesterday—hitting Gazprom sites, the Kremlin, blocking banking data, and now they've even breached the Ministry of Defense...

Jeremy Peterson4 said:When we can finally get someone like Draleta into Congress, then maybe they can have a comedian for President. Honestly, at least he actually finished college, which puts him miles ahead of our local "intellectuals" around here.

I honestly think everyone in our government is a bit of a joke, starting all the way from Andrej Plenković.

Matthew Rodriguez9 said:Who’s footing the bill for the American intelligence agencies? Who’s pumping out all that fake news globally? Who’s messing with American elections? You name it, it's happening.

Man, you're still pretty green when it comes to geopolitics... you clearly don't get how the world really works these days.

The logic here is just incredible. Truly mind-blowing stuff...🤦

"They fund every single evil thing on Earth"
"But how can you be sure about that?"
"I just know, and you're just too clueless to see it." 🙏

urbanotter said:But who exactly is going to be the one to step up and stop him?

The idea of "tough" sanctions🤦

Personally, I am just hoping for a swift end to the fighting. My biggest wish is that we can get everyone back to the negotiating table as soon as possible,
specifically bringing in people who might actually be willing to listen more effectively than those who have been sitting at the table up until now.

So, you really think someone’s gonna pull up a chair to an eight-meter table? Like, seriously? That’s not even a dining setup anymore; that’s basically a runway for a suburban banquet. You’d need a GPS just to pass the salt to the guy at the other end. It's like trying to host a dinner party in a converted warehouse in Chicago—you spend more time traveling between courses than actually eating them. Probably better to just grab a burger at a local diner and call it a day. 🤣
You don't sit at the negotiating table with an occupier. Period.

James Phillips92 said:They might pull that off, but someone’s going to end up in the woods.

That's a bit old school, isn't it? Nowadays, you just get sent to Guantanamo for 15 or 20 years without even an indictment.😛

Douglas Davis4 said:The way the world is treating Russia right now... they're being kicked out of everything everywhere
Even the local symphony orchestra refused to perform works by any Russian composers
Everyone can slap sanctions on them for as long as they want, and once this war finally ends
They’ll be facing massive demands for reparations to help rebuild Ukraine

we should probably find a way to mark all Russians while they're in the US so we can spot them instantly, then just make sure they aren't allowed to eat at restaurants or shop in stores

Frank Nguyen37 said:You still actually believe that Americans go in for humanitarian bombings just to protect democracy and human rights? Really?🤣

It’s like they just don't pick on democratic countries. It makes you wonder. ☕

Susan Green2 said:It was nothing more than a charitable mission to defend their Albanian kin through aerial bombardment.

That’s why people actually respect us around here.

Even the local news outlets are reporting that the Russians aren't making the progress they hoped for—after all, why would Putin even consider a "deal" if everything were going according to plan?

Dead soldiers aren't helping his cause either; in fact, the higher the Russian casualty count, the worse it looks for him. And those numbers are already staggering—I suspect their losses might even exceed those of the Ukrainians. As for why Ukraine seems fractured? It’s because while the Russians have total air superiority, you can't achieve dominance in Ukraine without ground forces and infantry. Without them, they won't be able to oust Zelenskyy and his administration.

So, as long as the Ukrainians hold the lines and the major cities, it’s no wonder Putin is getting nervous. On top of that, domestic unrest is mounting within the Russian population; people are starting to realize that the Ukrainians aren't actually a threat to them. They see this for what it is: Putin's war—a conflict that has nothing to do with the Russian people themselves. It’s an artificial threat, a fabricated pretext for invading a country that was practically an ally and friend until very recently. Once we look past February 24, 2022, I suspect the friction between Russians and Ukrainians will persist for a long time. It’s unlikely the Ukrainians will view this solely as Putin's sin—even though, realistically, it is. This is entirely his war, driven by his own duplicity and the handlers who pull his strings. In truth, he likely didn't even decide all of this himself—much like how he doesn't truly rule Russia the way he has since taking power.

Betty Murphy3 said:That is simply the thesis pushed by Vladimir Putin and all his Putin-esque counterparts across Europe. NATO is a defensive alliance; it hasn't launched military interventions without concrete cause. Look at the situation with Mexico—they moved against Mexico before any reaction took place, so what exactly did anyone expect?

The same applies to Putin. If he weren't a nuclear power, he would be getting hit hard right now, and everything he sent over would have already been sent back to Russia in the form of scrap metal and remains. Essentially, he is only protected by 6,000 warheads. Nothing else. That is why he is so arrogant—that is why he threatens everyone. An absolute idiot.

As for NATO, the idea that it was formed specifically to counter Russia is nothing more than a fiction peddled by Russophiles. It is an alliance that makes Europe strong and unified through cooperation with the Americans. Besides, the Russians have effectively isolated themselves from the rest of the world anyway. Even prior to this aggression in Ukraine, they were doing everything possible to drift away from global norms; now, through this invasion, they have beautifully demonstrated exactly where they stand. I have zero sympathy left for them. Wire and tanks on the border? Let them come. No one is defending Putin’s right to invade, but he will see exactly how that plays out if he tries. Europe is weak because it doesn't know how to respond in the only language people like him understands—and that is the core of Putin's problem. Let him threaten and push buttons; I’d threaten too if I were in his shoes. If necessary, I’d push them, too. Instead, we have this fool acting like a tough guy, as if he's the only one with access to the buttons. Everyone in NATO has buttons, Putin. Wake up from your winter slumber—winter is ending, little bear.

Ukraine has been fighting in Donbas since 2014, much like how Mexico acted in Mexico trying to stop separatism. It's the exact same thing.

And yeah, NATO was formed because of the Soviet Union. Russia had every right to expect that once the USSR collapsed, NATO would dissolve too. Or at least stop expanding toward their borders.

It’s just unacceptable.

DDoS attacks are child's play. Anyone with half a brain can pull one off against StreesThe or other public service platforms.

Keith Williams3 said:Who exactly is this "we" you're talking about?

It's not like we're Sweden or anything.

The truth is, we were basically tricked into joining NATO without even getting a say through a referendum.
I don't love being part of NATO, but there are two silver linings here.

We aren't bordering Russia, and we aren't the USA either. If things ever actually go nuclear, we probably won't be the primary target.

At worst, it would just be our soldiers stationed on the Russian border who pay the price.

Maybe we will be targets, though, once Europe decides to throw us under the bus just to save its own skin. They'll bring the Russians right to our doorstep. That's what they'll do when things get messy. We're the least important players in this game; they'll sacrifice us first if it suits them.

ironranger67 said:Sure, they’re poking the bear a bit too much—it probably would have been better if Ukrainians had played it smarter and opted for neutrality.

But I find it interesting that you bring up psychopathic neoconservative ideology while completely ignoring the Russian psychopaths who would pull the exact same moves if they were given half a chance.
From what I can see, Poles, Czechs, and the Baltic states actually prefer things exactly as they are—rather than having Russia install some local version of Lukashenko in Ukraine, who would just sit there waiting for the perfect moment to help them invade other countries that Russia thinks should be under their thumb.

The Russians suffer from the same complexes as Mexicans—they just have this deep-seated urge to slap everyone in their neighborhood.

Unlike Americans, who pulled all of this off back in the early 20th century under the motto "America for Americans"
securing exclusive hegemony over their own hemisphere 👍
We all remember how legitimate regimes were toppled and dictators were propped up in the USA
whenever it served the interests throughout the 20th century, right?
I’d argue that Russians, Americans, the Chinese, and every other aspiring
regional or global hegemon suffer from the "same syndrome."

urbanotter, it’s honestly kind of hilarious watching the West try to numb the public with all these big-name sanctions, acting like they're some kind of checkmate against Vladimir Putin.

So, during a press conference today, Jens Stoltenberg was asked by a reporter if NATO was actually planning on stepping up with air and ground support for Ukraine.

He just sort of mumbled his way through it—you know the drill, basically saying we’re helping constantly but we're totally powerless to offer anything more significant.

Honestly, enough is enough.

Amy Cook4 said:Maybe this is actually worth posting…

Anonymous just hacked the Russian Ministry of Defense website and managed to leak their entire database along with it.

https://twitter.com/youranonone/stat...350833157?s=21

Man, that's wild... those Twitter warriors are really something else...

Nicholas Watson said:we should probably find a way to mark all Russians while they're in the US so we can spot them instantly, then just make sure they aren't allowed to eat at restaurants or shop in stores

Look, we aren't fascists or mobsters.
We Americans don't even have our own organized mafia like they do in Mexico or Russia; our people just end up getting sucked into those kinds of organizations instead.

gentlecrane8 said:That's a bit old school, isn't it? Nowadays, you just get sent to Guantanamo for 15 or 20 years without even an indictment.😛

So many innocent people ended up behind bars. But even that doesn't mean moving to Russia to live or work is any kind of solution—it’s actually the exact opposite. Any Russian would much rather wake up in America.

NATO exists solely to serve American interests,
primarily through the massive sales and distribution of U.S. weaponry,
which we’ve seen firsthand during this whole mess regarding fighter jet procurement.
It’s all just a tool for advancing American geopolitical goals
by pushing eastward using liberal interventionism.
For instance, the only time Article 5 was ever actually triggered
was right after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.
Even American realists and international relations experts agree on NATO's true purpose;
it's as clear as day.
I honestly hope we never find out how NATO would react
if Article 5 were invoked by someone in Canada, the U.S., or the Czech Republic.
Once the Cold War ended, NATO lost its reason for being.
The current situation is a direct consequence of NATO refusing to fade away.
Instead of integrating with the West, Russia was pushed away
and forced toward the East.
NATO should have been disbanded in the 90s, allowing Europe to build
its own independent security framework.
I fear it might already be too late for any of that.

It feels like there's a new package of sanctions being cooked up every single day. Europe is basically playing poker with Putin—thinking they can bluff him into backing down (not likely)—but all they're doing is burning bridges with Russia and sabotaging themselves in the process. And honestly, do we even need to mention how the USA is practically rubbing its hands together because they finally managed to "decouple" Europe from Russia? Now they just need to come up with a similar playbook for China, leaving us stuck in the middle like some second-rate province.

Speaking of sanctions, they've been throwing them at everything under the sun for the last eight years—mostly led by the USA—and now the cat's out of the bag. People have realized this is just a tool for submission, a way to slowly but surely squeeze everyone into a corner.
And now that they actually need them to work, they don't. No matter what the new world order looks like after this mess, it's obvious that sanctions need to be governed by international law—used as a serious, last-resort measure before you cut diplomatic ties or go to war. Not just used for policing tiny countries that get in the way or slapping companies that grew too big for their boots (looking at you, certain Chinese firms).

Gritty said:People have watched way too many cartoons and Austin Powers movies... they think one single guy runs the whole country.

Not quite. We were watching that Russian security council meeting instead... seeing the pure fear in their eyes when Putin calls them out to take a stand.