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

Tyler Jones6 said:😵

The US has nuclear weapons—maybe try educating yourself a bit.🤣

Wikipedia says they don't, but whatever. Let's just say they don't

Rachel Allen55 said:The Polish Football Federation pulled out of the World Cup qualifiers because they refuse to face Russia. According to ESPN

Honestly, this is starting to feel like a total joke to me🤦

It isn't just the Poles; everyone involved in these qualifiers is refusing to step onto the pitch against Russia.

Due to the escalation of Russian violence against Ukraine, the Polish national team will not play against Russia.

"That is the only correct decision," Kulesza stated. The Poles—alongside Sweden and the Czech Republic, who are also scheduled to play qualifying matches in Russia—plan to present this position to FIFA and await a ruling from the global governing body.

Michael Davis10 said:Whoa, okay... guess I've got a stalker on my hands.🎉

Laura Scott7 said:Look, you can't just go handing out weapons to every person you run into on the street; it doesn't work like that, plain and simple.🤦

These two losers are getting seriously exhausting, like, how much longer is this actually going to go on?

Is there any actual data on Russian losses that doesn't just come from Ukrainian sources?
If it’s true they've lost 3,500 people so far, not even counting today's casualties, then Ukraine is putting up a hell of a fight.
It’s wild. When I check our local news sites, they're acting like Ukraine is right on the edge of collapsing. But then you look at international news or jump on X and see videos showing Russians pushing everywhere.
It's confusing.

No one’s actually blocking the access to the Black Sea (yet). Honestly, looks like it was just some random wishful thinking from Zelenskyy, nothing more

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William Anderson5 said:I honestly think even the most hardcore Russia enthusiasts are starting to realize the entire ruling elite in Moscow has completely lost its mind. Now Medvedev is floating the idea of bringing back the death penalty? What is he even playing at?

Russia is being steered by a crew of lunatics unlike anything we've seen since the Great Depression.

Yeah, they’ve completely lost their minds. Next time, they'll probably be begging for help from some online therapist on Reddit.

What’s the hold-up on bringing back the death penalty? We've had this moratorium hanging around for ages, yet there's still massive support for reinstating it. Why the hesitation?

Jeremy Peterson4 said:Russia claims they're only hitting military targets. Well, sure, if you consider the entire city of Kyiv a legitimate military target.

just another missile slamming into an apartment building.

It’s just horrific. Honestly, unthinkable. How can anyone think it's okay for a projectile to hit an apartment building?

Betty Murphy3 said:Handsome—well, compared to how I looked in my younger days, back when I actually had hair and hadn't started thinning out or resorting to the buzz cut. 😁

Honestly, it's a million times better than some idiot's idea.

Justin Kern67 said:Disinformation is moving at full throttle.

1) The Ukrainian military utilized an animation from the video game Digital Combat Simulator and subsequently released it as an official depiction of a Russian aircraft being downed. This narrative was even picked up by certain media outlets: https://www.reuters.com/article/fact...-idUSL1N2V035G

2) A video from 2019 was circulated with the claim that it shows a Russian fighter jet being shot down over Ukraine: https://www.reuters.com/article/fact...-idUSL1N2V02MW

3) The footage showing drones destroying Russian tanks (which some guy posted here on the forum) actually dates back to 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/fact...-idUSL1N2V0288

Et cetera, et cetera.

Everyone’s known for days that 1 and 3 are fakes... I never even saw 2... doesn't change the facts.

And all this "etc, etc" stuff...🤦

If you actually had something useful to show, you would've shown it by now. 🤣

And don't even get me started on how every single media outlet was reporting that Kyiv was about to fall and tanks were rolling into the center... we won't go there... they're currently sitting pretty in some tiny village outside of 12 milesKyiv.

Donna Harris11 said:I'm going through a rough patch right now

I guess I was just being naive, thinking 2022 would be this big year for unity among our people.

Honestly, I couldn't even bring myself to hit the gym today.

Missing the good old days of America? 🤣

Forget about it—just shove it. What brotherhood? What unity? Seriously, just get to your workout and stop stressing over things you can't change. 👍

rowdytiger13 said:And Germany?
They’re probably busy debating if they should send another 500 helmets.

Yeah, right. And people call them the backbone of the European Union.

Michael Davis10 said:Whoa, okay... guess I've got a stalker on my hands.🎉

Keep acting like that and you're gonna get kicked from the thread.

Joseph Cruz said:But isn't there a third option? Could they have remained neutral, much like how Finland and Sweden functioned during the Cold War? If Ukrainians had opted for military neutrality, perhaps this war could have been avoided entirely. Consider this: the Warsaw Pact never once attacked Sweden or Finland, even though they possessed the capability to do so without any fear of triggering a NATO response that might escalate into World War III...

Honestly, in the territories Russia Putin considers its own backyard, there isn't much tolerance for any policy that isn't pro-Russian. I'm not entirely convinced that military neutrality would have been enough to maintain an independent foreign policy. Once you factor in demilitarization, the choice disappears. From their perspective, Ukraine is treated more like Belarus than Sweden.

I’m just hoping Ukraine can hold it together for at least another week or two. Honestly, they’ve been holding their own better than expected so far, especially since we haven't even hit urban combat yet—right now it's mostly maneuver warfare, where Russia's got a massive edge...

Ukraine will probably regroup and pull in some reinforcements from the West, but you can bet Russia is bringing in more troops too. Things are just gonna get way more intense...

Scott Rodriguez19 said:You clearly haven't done your homework.
We aren't talking about 500—it's closer to 5,000.

If you actually kicked Russia out of Swift, it would basically mean turning off the lights for German industry entirely.
It also means—and I guess this is an obvious point—that many people working overseas wouldn't be able to send money back home to the States.

I disagree—if Japanese industry can handle it, then Germany certainly should be able to as well, given they rely on LNG too.

is that a subway bridge in Kyiv that just got bombed (at least according to liveamaps.com)

listerstorm said:Exactly... send that Russian gang straight to hell!

🙏

🎉

Engineering at its finest.

The video itself is pretty much a wash, but the caption claims they wiped out Russian defenses near Chernihiv...

Take this with a grain of salt. My Ukrainian isn't great, so I can't tell you exactly what everyone's shouting in the clips.

William Anderson5 said:Russia is going to be isolated in every single sphere, and you just have to accept that reality.

And how isolated is China? We all know how that regime treats minorities and stuff. Just look at Hong Kong and everything else. Yet they still host everything under the sun, including the Olympic Games and whatnot.

Laura Scott7 said:"RUSSIAN GENERAL: WE’VE RECEIVED ORDERS TO ATTACK ACROSS ALL SECTORS"
Following yesterday's statements from Kyiv regarding their readiness to sit down at the negotiating table, Russian units actually paused their strikes for a moment. But, since Kyiv turned down those talks, the Russian military has been ordered to launch an offensive on every single front, according to Lieutenant General Igor Konašenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian Department of Defense, as reported by the Associated Press.
It’s gonna be wild to see if the Russians actually start flooding the zones with more troops now.

Wait, wasn't Zelenskyy the one calling for negotiations? What changed his mind all of a sudden? It almost feels like he wants to see his own people bleed.

Honestly, it’s just a bunch of cowards from these paramilitary groups and extremists who have all retreated into the cities, basically using regular people as human shields because they know damn well that Russia Putin isn't going to go dropping airstrikes on urban centers with civilians everywhere. I mean, if there are really as many of them as they claim to be, why aren't they out there fighting on the front lines instead of hiding behind families and apartment buildings?