What's new

The *OFFICIAL* Russia Is About To Invade Ukraine Thread



A photo is being shown of a Ukrainian soldier said to be the wife of the Ukrainian Vice President. But the photo is old, and not the vice president’s wife. That photo is not included in the compilation below. In these photos, women shown with a black band across their image have been killed in combat…


Inspirational.

How could this have been avoided? If the west had stepped up against Putin years ago maybe? Had the west not done business with Russia? Could there have been regime changes without war? Will there still be regime change to save Ukraine from being left in rubble?
 


Does this change things? Does this force Putin to the negotiating table? Or does he have zero ****s to give and is going to turn Kyiv into Aleppo or Grozny?

Aleppo:
1646149123861.jpeg
Grozny:
1646149171962.jpeg
 
This is a sobering interview with Fiona Hill about Putin, his mentality/plans, and the situation in Ukraine. Spoiler, don’t read it if you want a good night’s rest. Putin’s going to turn Kyiv into Grozny or Aleppo in the next few days.

I would phrase this a bit differently. Putin objects to the conduct of UN members which violate the understanding of treaties which Russia has relied on. I believe he would consider reform of the UN and recognition of Russian security concerns an acceptable first step. I can't say where Putin would ever stop in reconstituting the USSR, but I believe it is impossible to occupy many areas of the former USSR without significant local support.
 
China will say one thing and keep cashing Russia's cheques.
Westerners generally find Asians, Chinese, "inscrutable", meaning they are so very fluid in their manners and speech you will hardly know what's going on in their heads.
 
Putin would agree to a withdrawal on terms of a treaty that restricts further expansion of NATO and "neutral" Ukraine that is not going to become an EU or NATO party.

Putin's forces have been inside Ukraine for days, really just looking for those terms.

If that doesn't work, I believe about half of Luhansk and Donetsk will remain "independent". There are some other pockets maybe, where Putin will harden his lines in a ceasefire.

I think China's involvement in negotiations will be favorable to Putin.
 
Last edited:
I found this to be a good piece to read in conjunction with the interview of Fiona Hill….


As was this:


“All this aside, it is still possible—even likely—that, if the fighting goes on much longer, the Russians will overtake the Ukrainians, capture Kyiv, and possibly oust the current government. They’ve sent in only about two-thirds of the troops and weapons that had been poised on the Ukrainian border. Convoys of tanks are rolling in—however slowly—from the north, west, and south. They are joined, or are about to be joined, by Belarusian troops and Chechen special forces. As the resistance mounts and as the Russians’ offensive is thwarted, Putin and his generals can be expected to turn up the heat, shelling—and, recently, bombing—cities, destroying whatever they can destroy, for destruction’s sake. This is what the Russian military has done elsewhere, notably in Chechnya, when its officers feel frustrated. At some point, superior firepower will win out, at least in the short run.

But this doesn’t mean they will win in the long run. The resistance will continue, especially now that practically every nation in NATO is supplying Ukraine with weapons. Putin’s invasion has rallied Ukrainian nationalism, stiffened the West’s spine, and sent his own economy into a tailspin. Chaotic destructiveness can only go so far. It is not a winning technique for the long run against organized defenses. And the more Putin resorts to chaotic destructiveness, the more organized the defenses become”.
Even if I don't agree with some of this, it is as least a fair report of some quarters which needs to be understood.

Our governor here in Utah has called Putin a "madman' and run "Utah stands wsith Ukraine" on the highway signage. I wouldn't think many people would object, either, to "Utah stands with the UN", but I think that's a wrong step.

If you want to negotiate a peace, you have to start with some gesture of respect and maybe even understand what it's all about. Well this is about it for me for a while.
 

People have their reasons. Just saying he believed the other narrative would normally be fairly healthy slice of any population. What you should worry more about is where there is only one narrative.

Inside Russia, people seem pretty careful not to upset authorities. We don't want that here....... well.... you shouldn't.

Hardly a "troll". he's been there over 7 years carrying a gun with separatist faction units.

A lot of Americans are apparently going over there now to fight for the Euromaidan revolution which overthrew a probably corrupt pro-Russian government, to sustain a "heroic" corrupt President who won on promises to end corruption, and who apparently does have a separatist faction opposed to him. From here, I can't see really, just how realistic the prospect of genocide is for those people. The Euromaidan thing was an overthrow of a pro-Russian "elected" president. I don't see this as really being resolved no matter who wins this war.

I don't think Putin gets beat without nukes.

As insane and unjustified as an attempt to just run over Ukraine with tanks may be, it's worse and even more insane to just run over even Putin's Russia. That's what escalation here means.

What I see is a full-court press to overthrow Putin. I think that has been the reason for Putin's belief that it's necessary to rebuild the USSR, so to speak.

It's all about the oil. Well, and other stuff.

The problem with any plan for global governance will always be either overt attempts to overthrow or eliminate top dogs, or subversive attempts to carve out some niche if not whole hog global power and wealth. We do this to Putin, and Xi will take note. He migt become more careful, and yet more determined to overthrow the UN world order than even Putin is.

I'm pretty sure the Brit/Am world order will see it's day come to an end, unless somehow it returns to some credible "rule of law" that doesn't just outrage significant slices of the world populace.

many serial wars, even global wars, continuing endlessly.
 
Last edited:
Putin would agree to a withdrawal on terms of a treaty that restricts further expansion of NATO and "neutral" Ukraine that is not going to become an EU or NATO party.
Unfortunately I doubt it. This invasion has cost Russia dearly. Any money made by the spike in oil prices has been consumed hundreds of times over with the collapse of the Ruble and divestment by nearly everyone on the globe. Their standing in the world has cratered as even formerly staunch Russian allies are now turning their backs. Their feared military has been exposed as they seem to have no answer for the Bayraktar TB2 drones which are too slow to be engaged by the Russian air superiority jets.

281429.jpg


For all that cost in money, standing, and prestige, Russia has nothing to show for it. If Russia withdraws now it will cement that into history. I really want to be wrong. I really, REALLY want to be wrong but I fear things are about to get very ugly and I do not entirely discount the idea of a nuke being used before this is over.
 
Back
Top