Ukraine

[Wrathbone]

I'd also say poorly educated conscripts with shit equipment don't cost a huge amount.

Isn't that what he just said?

I do feel for some of these Russian soldiers though. I know people will say they could just not fight, but there has to be people in this army, don't want to be in the army, need the pittance for their family etc.

Maybe that's a naive thing to say. Obivously they aren't high up on my list of people I sympathise with though.

It’s not naive at all. Russia has a 1 year mandatory military service requirement for all males between 18 and 27, so there will be plenty of soldiers being forced into the conflict against their will.

[Tommy]

I'd also say poorly educated conscripts with shit equipment don't cost a huge amount.

Isn't that what he just said?

I do feel for some of these Russian soldiers though. I know people will say they could just not fight, but there has to be people in this army, don't want to be in the army, need the pittance for their family etc.

Maybe that's a naive thing to say. Obivously they aren't high up on my list of people I sympathise with though.

It’s not naive at all. Russia has a 1 year mandatory military service requirement for all males between 18 and 27, so there will be plenty of soldiers being forced into the conflict against their will.

Didn't know that. Out of curiousity, what's the sentence for disobeying orders?

[Rossell]

Starts with G, ends with G, has "ula" in the middle?

[Sly Boots]

Starts with G, ends with G, has "ula" in the middle?

GshotintheulaheadG?

[Rossell]

Yeah that one.

[Mantis]

I know pretty much nothing about this. What is the likelihood of them actually failing in this initial endeavour in Ukraine?

Highly unlikely. With NATO not able to send in support without triggering a significantly larger conflict, the Ukrainian's are on their own and Putin has vastly more troops. They're already launching a large scale assault on the capital tonight. They encountered more resistance than anticipated and took a number of losses on the first day, but Russian military victory is still guaranteed in the end.

The unknown is just exactly the longer term repercussions of this will be. Between the president telling the citizenry to make molotov cocktails to defend their homes, the island guards telling a warship to go fuck itself before it blew them to smithereens and people in the capital forming civil defense groups with SMGs and loudly blasting the national anthem; the endgame of this won't be pretty even if Putin does succeed in removing the government and installing a puppet ruler. The Ukrainian people are riled up and will fight this tooth and nail and many innocents will die. Even if Putin succeeds in rendering them a defacto part of Russia, he will be facing armed insurgency and terror attacks back in Russia for a long time as people keep on fighting.

The greater significance of this is that the power of western liberal democracies in the world of geopolitics has diminished greatly to the extent that despots like Putin know they can act freely in such barbaric ways now. It'll be a tense future if a Russia/China/India political alliance takes shape. Expect China will make similar moves on Taiwan soon.

[Animalmother]

And you'll get Chechens, Georgians, Poles and everyone else the Russian's ever pissed off turning up to fight no doubt. Once the first Molotov cocktail gets thrown and a Russian soldier gets killed by a civilian with a gun, the city will be shelled into ruins. I think that's how Grozny panned out.

[Lenny Solidus]

https://cybernews.com/news/anonymous-le ... f-defence/

[Solitaire]

Starts with G, ends with G, has "ula" in the middle?

GshotintheulaheadG?

Old Soviet joke:
"Lubyanka (KGB headquarters) is the tallest building in Moscow. You can see Siberia from its basement." Always thought this was a clever joke.

My ex-sister-in-law's son was conscripted soon as he turned 18. He survived his couple of years in service and is now married and has a toddler. It's just a fact that they've got lots of young men in this war that had no choice but show up, hoping that the years would go by without another major conflict like Afghanistan, etc, but here we go.

[Animalmother]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... tions.html
So yeah, he's fucking insane.

[Rossell]

I've said this elsewhere but I think the Finnish/Swedish response should be "You're doing whatever the hell you like so we can to" apply for Nato membership and mic drop.

[Animalmother]

Lot of videos online of wreaked Russian vehicles and terrified looking prisoners. Looks like they're slowly advancing but also getting decimated at the same time. Ukraine claims over 3000 Russian dead already, I doubt that's true but if it was that's WW2 type battle casualties after just 3 days!

Putin is now flooding Nato countries with refugees, all part of the plan I assume.

[eny]

The Ukraine has asked the international red cross for assistance with 3000 dead russian soldiers, because they want it recorded and their help identifying them for their families.

Some amazing footage circling of Russian tracked vehicles getting covered in molotov's—there is a great community sharing urban warfare tips, like on how to blind and deal with tanks etc. Another clip of a Ukrainian stopping alongside a Russian tank crew and joking about towing them back to Russia...

Apparently Putin has sent in his psychopaths—the Chechen crew—general Magomed Tushayev managed to put up his stinking flag, but he's dead now!

[eny]

#Anonymous have hacked Russian state TV channels, and are playing videos of the civilian impact of the war.

[Lenny Solidus]

Lviv based Pravda brewery switches from making beer to making Molotov cocktails. The brewery announced the plans after Ukraine’s Defense Ministry instructed civilians to make Molotov cocktails to resist invading Russian forces. The label says ‘Putin is a dickhead’.