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So the shit finally hits the Ukrainian fan.

I'm not going to lie, I think this is one of the scarcest things to happen on the world stage in my lifetime.

Is Putin sane enough to stop short of nuking someone?

And is it Kee-ev or Keev now?

I bloody hope so......but from his demeanour I wouldn't put money on it!

i have a poker friend who is in ukraine

a few years ago he was at beyonce concerts and watching real madrid play in his country

he now hears explosions every night and people his age are not leaving their houses as young men are being picked up off the street and bussed to the frontline

noone under the age of 55 can leave the country

just today pokerstars shut off real money games to his area -  his only income source gone

russian players unaffected

See that Eugene Katchalov Tweeting about them trying to get out in a few hours in a couple SUVs.

Crazy times.

the russian players i am in a group chat with are convinced that ukraine is run by nazis

"i don;t like nazis, but i dont think violence is the answer"

the propaganda is intense.

a former general was on the beeb today and said if one russian boot strays onto NATO territory then the world would be at war.

putin always talks up his nukes.

insane times

apparently this book is the required reading, from 2016

https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Russia-warning-military-Menacing-ebook/dp/B01D8ZIOII

How do we know who's in the right here?

Where were all the sanctions when the US invaded Iraq? In that instance it was just assumed that the US and UK were the heroes.

When Ukrainian 'cells' start blowing things up in Russia are they going to be terrorists or heroes?

I really have no idea.

So how will it pan out, any predictions?

I think Vlad will take the Ukraine and things will slowly settle down after that. I can't imagine another scenario but I'm open to offers.   

I don't really think everybody assumed the US and UK were heroes when they invaded Iraq.  Not as many were against it as claim to have been now, but a solid third or so were against it at the time.  Don't think many at all think it was right with hindsight.  I'd also qualify that with saying Iraq were clearly in the wrong before that by invading Kuwait, so weren't as innocent as Ukraine are now.  Still wouldn't have invaded them 10 years down the line though.

Think it is pretty clear who is in the wrong here.  

Just because the US has a pretty bad recent history of doing the wrong thing doesn't really give a green light to other countries to do the wrong thing too.  Would prefer it if the US stopped doing stupid invasions too.  

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crizuDwzBvs

Interesting watch from a random YouTuber. This is from a couple of weeks ago but if you click on her channel there's quite a few recent videos from since the war started.

Eugene Katchalov is hopefully live tweeting his trip out of Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/EugeneKatchalov/status/1497157301844783106?t=vujKU0x0sXEdgHUe-nxxkQ&s=19 (https://twitter.com/EugeneKatchalov/status/1497157301844783106?t=vujKU0x0sXEdgHUe-nxxkQ&s=19)

That one worth looking at just for the piece of missile in the middle of the road.

(https://s20.directupload.net/images/220225/4e4all5z.jpg) (https://www.directupload.net)

I thought these days it was generally agreed that expanding your country by invading your neighbours was bad?

Is there any doubt that is the end goal for Russia?

Apparently the president of Ukraine is Jewish so the nazi claims seem completely ridiculous.

Are these questions directed at me?

Did you miss the last sentence where I stated I don't have a clue?

I include Russia's end goal in the list of things I don't have a clue about.

Thicko

Remember that Putin has already blown up a residential tower block, blamed it on terrorists, then used that to take power. Any information out from Russia which isn't verified is essentially guaranteed as a lie. They have closed off their media and only the state line is allowed. Until today they were claiming on the equivalent of BBC1 that they had taken zero casualties. They also don't mention any of the attack conducted outside of the 'disputed' regions. Putins grip is tenuous and he has shown in the 'for tv' addresses that he is/has lost it. I echo Red dogs sentiments that this is the scariest of times. Previous cold war was brinkmanship on the whole, this has gone past that. Suggestions of dropping the ISS onto Europe and using nukes whilst far fetched shouldn't be ruled out, he really is a threat and with the scale of this invasion has shown him to not be a rational actor, which all previous models are based on.

Note also that BBC released leaked recordings today involving Khadirov, showing that this invasion was planned and started in motion weeks and months ago. All negotiations were a facade.

+ This

a lot of the russian players in the group chat are basically living in bunkers at the moment, utterly panicking and cursing putin.

can sense the desperation.

its the ordinary people that suffer, this is such a terrible time for europe.

some horror scenarios of russian troops chasing retreating ukranian forces into nato territory, what happens in that case?

I’m in Gran Canaria right now in an apartment with no Wi-Fi, only Spanish Tv and a rapidly dwindling data allowance on my phone.

I’m basically following this war through Tittybean’s Twitter feed so all power to you Tittybean for all the solid retweets

Radio FTW

Sorry for that.

Watching my wifes friends and family try to coordinate escaping west through google maps gps location dots in insane.

As were the messages, 'we are on a train going west' 'we stopped, have to wait for the bombing ahead to stop'.

If you haven't read the planned and incompetently not cancelled government media releases about their victorious win, and 'the final solution the Ukrainian problem', you should do so, Putin wants to reincorporate Ukraine and Belarus and rebuild the mighty Russian empire to be remembered as a conquering Czar. It is so incredibly fucked up.

https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1498025819054264328?s=20&t=UvJICU8602WTNFS4zrNlNQ

At this point I imagine the Russians are wondering what they can spin as a victory and a success. Formal recognition that Crimea is part of Russia. Is that enough? Taking part of the East? I hope a decision and an agreement can be reached very soon or that Putin backs down.

Extremely surprised that this has gone this way. I gave Putin too much credit as a shrewd and canny operator and never thought he would attempt to invade the whole country.

Must be the closest the world has been to Nuclear War since the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 60s.

Putin has to be seen to win in Russian optics or he cant retain power. I don't see many viable ways for him to win given the huge losses and the already documented war crimes committed.

We could easily end up with another North Korea on a colossal scale.

(https://s20.directupload.net/images/220305/oets5z7p.jpg) (https://www.directupload.net)