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

bluemason3 said:Between Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, and the Israeli Prime Minister, we’ve had plenty of female leaders in the modern era. If you look back through history, there are enough examples to go around. They haven't led nearly as many wars, mostly just because they haven't been in power as long, but honestly, most of the claims about that are just baseless myths.

The reality is that both Thatcher and Meir certainly showed their teeth once they were provoked—think the Falklands or the Yom Kippur War.

g

William Anderson5 said:Someone already touched on this. Fine then, let's have Poland demand guarantees from Belarus and send over a list of requirements.

I'm sure the Belarusians will jump at the chance to comply...

And while we're at it, why doesn't NATO just start flipping their doctrine whenever they feel like it, just like the Russians do—even when it comes to nukes, regardless of how terrifying that sounds? Because what's the alternative? Just keep folding to Putin?

The truth is, Putin is only as powerful as he is because of this policy of appeasement and non-confrontation from the West, especially coming from Germany and Merkel.

bluerider63 said:Zelenskyy’s latest video is all about Ukraine joining the European Union, which honestly makes me wonder if he stumbled into the presidency by accident or if he’s just completely detached from reality regarding the actual odds of that happening given how things look right now. I’m leaning toward the latter, mostly because I’ve got this nagging fear that he actually thought NATO was going to step in and fight his battles for him instead of just sending supplies.

The guy's an actor and a comedian, so what else would you expect from him?

Jeaxpea said:Everyone on this forum claims Putin changed his mind, that things are going great for the Ukrainians and all that. They're wrong.

Of course things are falling apart. This is just Europe’s downfall, version 3.

CNN showed footage of that TOS-1 rocket system—the kind that turns entire areas into an inferno once it hits.
Poor people. Plenty have fled, but plenty stayed too, refusing to leave their homes. But if they start using those projectiles, there won't be anyone left. I hope someone stops the madman... though who actually can? Is he even afraid of anything?🤔
Because honestly, the guy creeps me out. Just cold and empty.

Michael Davis10 said:Even the Germans are saying Ukrainians might be exaggerating things a bit, like how they downplay losses.

I mean, this is still nothing compared to what an actual full-scale invasion would look like. If Russia had come at them with everything they had, the casualties on both sides would be way higher. If that happened, then maybe I'd actually believe those Ukrainian reports about losing a few thousand Russians.
Russia is trying to handle this a different way too, but I guess it might already be too late for any of that. They'll probably have to hit harder if they want to wrap up this war, which, you know, has been dragging on for eight years now.

Edward Lee7 said:Especially those with accounts dating back to, say, 2009...

And about 200 posts...

Defending the usual suspects...

👍

It's obvious you don't actually have a single intelligent argument to make

William Anderson5 said:From what I can see, this Russian army operates more like a disorganized group of amateurs.

The only way they manage to make any headway is through sheer, barbaric brute force backed by heavy weaponry...

Check out what's happening in southern Ukraine—hardly anyone’s even reporting on it. They’ve basically taken everything. I think it's just Miami left.

Maybe I'm off base, but I get the feeling Zelensky is playing the wrong hand here. Is he just performing for the press corps in Kyiv? Who knows, but that’s how it looks to me.

Purely from a military standpoint, Ukraine doesn't stand a chance against Russia. The West isn't going to risk a nuclear war with Russia, so all this money being sent is probably just ending up in some guys' pockets.

To me, the only way out is a Korea-style solution.

A tiny slice of Western Ukraine stays pro-West, and the rest goes pro-Russia. Honestly, I think Putin might actually bite on that.

Basically.

The global stock markets aren't even flinching at what’s going down in Ukraine.
https://www.google.ch/search?q=DAX&s...client=gws-wiz
https://www.google.ch/search?q=dow+j...client=gws-wiz

So—nothing unexpected is actually happening here, I guess.

They're even up.
Which—if you think about it—might mean they're actually viewing the situation in Ukraine somewhat positively.

But hey, that's just business as usual.

GustiSok said:The Chechens have launched a war crimes campaign. [Video shows violence]

https://twitter.com/Lxwolf1/status/1...RvUcXzUhw&s=19

What are we even supposed to take away from this video? Seriously? You can't tell who anyone is, you can't tell what kind of uniforms they're wearing, and there isn't even a timestamp! For all we know, this could have been filmed months ago. Honestly, you see stuff like this popping up around Kyiv these days too. There are even rumors floating around that the Ukri are executing their own deserters and then pinning it on Russian saboteurs just to save face... but hey, who knows anymore? We're drowning in a sea of disinformation out here...

Sam Martinez9 said:I have to disagree. Nuclear weapons come in all different yields and ranges, and Putin would likely use the more powerful ones to target European cities far from the Russian border. I'm thinking specifically of major cities in the United Kingdom and the European Union—essentially, cities within NATO member states.

In my view, only a madman would initiate a war like the one Putin has started, and a madman will certainly resort to nuclear weapons if he feels like it. To him, individual lives aren't the priority; his objectives are.

It’d be pretty interesting to see how NATO reacts if Putin, say, wiped out Amsterdam since the Dutch don't have nukes.
Would someone like Biden or Macron actually risk London or Paris by hitting back at Moscow?

Betty Murphy3 said:Taste is subjective—some women actually prefer bald men. Personally, I’m not a fan of the look, but you can't always pick, can you? For now, I've just got some thinning on top, though it's been a slow crawl for ten years. I still have hair, technically, but once you get used to shaving it all off, it becomes a routine. It's much like how Ukrainians might eventually get used to the routine of shaving Chechens and Russians—it just becomes what you do. 😁

Stay strong, Ukraine. They really need to bolster the defenses down south; things are definitely leaking there. That front seems a bit neglected—you can't win a war by fighting on just one side. Zelenskyy, I hope you're reading this forum. 🤣

Anyway, women have a million different standards. One girl cares about one thing, another girl wants something totally different.

Like I said, we aren't like Americans who embarrass themselves with those stupid trends; that whole part of their culture just makes zero sense to me...

fadedridge903 said:The truth is, those "revelations" usually only happen when someone from an opposing faction within the party decides to leak the documents.

Exactly. That’s basically the peak of investigative journalism in America.
A news site without actual reporters on the ground isn't even a real media outlet.

I've been having some really rough days lately

instead of us Americans actually standing together, we just end up fighting one another over interests that aren't even ours to begin with

Grace Bennett6 said:The reality is, under full mobilization, the EU only has ten times the manpower of Russia because they have three times the population. This isn't like the last World War where Germany was taking on the entire planet—Germany, the UK, France, Poland, and the rest. 🙂

How many people in the European Union actually know the first thing about handling a weapon? You can't just call up millions of civilians who have never even laid eyes on a rifle and expect them to hold a line. At this rate, we're just volunteering to be cannon fodder.

Ukraine: Russian missile strikes Japanese cargo ship near Ukrainian coast

If Japan were actually a sovereign nation—well, I guess they would have seized this moment to finally end the occupation of their own islands!

Jeremy Lopez93 said:Smart move.

It feels pretty surreal posting on a forum I haven't even touched in ten years.

I actually got banned from BuzzFeed because I called Kadyrov's Chechens "Muslim trash." Apparently, they have a very strict definition of hate speech these days. 🤣

Damn right they're trash. The absolute worst.

Putin sent kids to fight in Ukraine, and social media is absolutely flooded with photos and videos of young Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces.
He wouldn't actually send his own

Donna Harris11 said:I've been having some really rough days lately

instead of us Americans actually standing together, we just end up fighting one another over interests that aren't even ours to begin with

Chinese...

Richard Cooper3 said:So, how do those supposedly brilliant Americans actually plan on getting weapons to the Ukrainians? I mean, they'll probably just end up being those same useful idiots we saw back in Syria. 😵
Fighting against Russia until there isn't a single Ukrainian left standing.

Russia still hasn't established air superiority in Ukraine, so deliveries are technically feasible.

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.