Russian Invasion of Ukraine Part VI

Link to part V

Violinists around the world play for Ukraine.

Kind of surprised at lol the warm, happy comments in the money exchange story posted above (with people exchanging their Ukrainian currency for rubles at a mobile bank). Once, Russia takes all of Ukraine it looks like things are going to be OK after all.

This served them right in the cuntbone!

Thousands of Russian tourists are stranded in Thailand’s beach resorts because of the war in Ukraine, many unable to pay their bills or return home because of sanctions and canceled flights.

Glenn Greenwald's take on the US-financed biological labs in Ukraine, which he links to the falsehoods that led to the invasion of Iraq.

Boris must be having trouble sleeping.

R3, this?

That's eastern Ukraine, where the people are overwhelmingly Russian. That's why they're happy. West of the Dnieper, half of the country hates Russia.

When you help the animals, you help their humans.

My husband's cousin had been in Ukraine for a medical conference/program and evacuated through Hungary with with two big Ukrainian cats. They're safe at her parents' home in Rajasthan now.

I wish she'd have brought dogs instead but I'm only allowed to say that here.

For the “just asking” poster in part V - I, too, wondered where all of the shelling was originating. Turns out, most of the attacks aren’t planes but artillery batteries firing FROM Russia into Ukraine. This is according to a retired General on CNN.

He said the range on some of these artillery guns is up to 20-30 miles, depending on the weapon. (Which is fucking horrifying, when you think about it).

It was a short clip on YouTube so it’s out there. The Ukrainians would have to fly into Russia to knock these artillery batteries out, I “think”. I do not know and the General did not say. If they are mobile artillery “Stalin’s Organ” as my fuck buddy calls them, then they can be taken out the same way one takes out a tank or similar.

Can also be hauled off with a tractor, one would imagine.

Posting Glenn Greenwald's garbage is the red flag of a troll.

They’ve kidnapped a mayor and now a journalist. The mayor is reportedly being tortured in captivity. (And this is only the beginning.)

Despite what the idiotic pro-Putin troll has to say, even the ethnic Russians in the eastern part of the country hate Russia now. When a few years ago the country was very much divided.

Disgusting

Russians gunned down the humanitarian convoy of women and children during an evacuation from Peremoha village, Kyiv region, along pre-approved “green” corridor. Seven killed, including one child. Total casualties unknown.

They're still bombing Mariupol. Smithereens.

They're still bombing because after 2 weeks they don't have control of any of these cities.

"Russian warship, go fuck yourself" is going in the history books right next to Churchill's "we shall fight" speech.

12 predictions.

Am I supposed to be surprised to hear a Russia-paid propaganda artist Glenn Greenwald say something pro-Russia? I'm surprised that he finds time for all that multitasking with all those Brazilian underage boywhores he and his husband are boinking.

R2 that was really lovely, thanks for sharing.

They’re flying in planeloads of Chechen fighters,in addition to Syrians. So much cannon fodder. Putin doesn’t give a fuck.

It's past midnight in Ukraine; we're approaching the dawn of the eighteenth day of fighting, and the invading Russian forces are becoming more entrenched—themselves besieged by a hostile nation and dwindling supply lines, even as they keep on blowing up thousands of civilians.

R22 I wonder if the Chechens and other mercenaries made sure the Russians could feed them since regular Russian troops have had to raid chicken coops and grocery stores.

Here's some snow - enjoy!

Taking into account that the 87 people in Snake Island surrendered immediately, and the cheesy story that they had only been 13 heroes who resisted 'till the end turned out to be an utter and complete lie, R18, I don't think that the Ukrainian government should be making any competitions.

And it's rather fresh for you to add an article written by neocon supreme Francis Fukuyama, R19 - this is the same man who has been wrong time and time again since 1992 and was best friends with Paul Wolfowitz! He only distanced himself from the neoconservative movement when the Iraq war became a PR disaster for the Republican party and he didn't want to be associated with Bush's and Cheney's unpopularity.

And Russia isn't taking Syrians to Ukraine, R22. Chechens have been part of this conflict from the beginning (why do you think that the members of the Azov Battalion produced a video in which they were greasing bullets with pig lard, so they could kill "Muslim ogres"?), and Russia is sending the military operatives that defeated ISIS in Syria. The lie that they're the ones bringing ISIS fighters into Ukraine is ridiculous: why would they want to bring into Ukraine the people against whom they've been fighting for years?

Don't worry, R24, there are plenty of MREs left over from the Second Chechen War. Quite nourishing and not very expired at all.

R20 I'm surprised nobody has put a poster with a bounty out for Glenwald's head in the favelas yet

R25, in future please try to divide your various non-sequiturs and straw men between different posts. It's easier on your readers, and will earn you more beets.

Remember George Galloway? MP who opposed the Iraq War.

But, but, but... R29, he isn't saying that all Russians deserve to die! He isn't saying that Ukrainians are blond and blue-eyed and thus, deserving of our compassion! Joe Biden and Killary Cunton haven't said that his opinions matter, and he challenges the stupid and puerile arguments that we like to hear from MSNBC, CNN, PBS and most of FOX's pundits!

In short, he is a Russian propagandist and you are a Russian bot... *inserts fingers in ears* LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA

Apparently Russian troops also raided a humanitarian convoy outside Mariupol R24 so they must be truly desperate. Such a scumbag thing to do.

Nothing too interesting in ISW's report today. Russia is apparently still reorganizing outside Kyiv. They've done that multiple times though so I imagine it'll be just as effective as rearranging puzzle pieces from different sets.

Are they fighting a war in Syria still? Doesn’t that mean they are fighting 2 wars at the same time?

R32, the Russian military is still “assisting” (ie, killing lots of civilians) in the Syrian civil war.

The main thing is Putin can't fight this war with his own army because they are weak, unmotivated, poorly trained, poorly armed and demoralized. After 18 days of failure he's been reduced to outsourcing.

Russians are being arrested for holding up blank sheets of paper now.

This is so tragic. A mother and her 12-year-old son are buried in a parking lot by an apartment block in Irpin, a town near Kyiv that saw heavy fighting in recent days. Can you imagine seeing these graves in your parking lot?

"Seeing some “Z”-festooned pro-Putin channels attempt a switch to the underdog narrative, of all things — Russia is fighting one of the world’s most advanced armies, basically the U.S. itself! I believe that’s called the bargaining stage, boys"

R2, I’m a violinist and that actually got me more than I anticipated

Mariupol is particularly ugly because Azov aren't allowing residents to leave, as civilians are useful shields. That said, things are moving along.

This is all over Twitter.

The Russians have appointed a new unelected mayor for Melitopol (the former mayor was kidnapped and has not been seen since). She's a former member of the city council. She made a video statement saying her main task is to lead the city to adjust to “a new reality.” She has immediately been denounced by regional officials as a “traitor.”

Bill Kristol: This is a bit pedantic, but indulge me: People call Tucker Carlson a useful idiot. But a useful idiot doesn't know the truth; he's taken in & taken advantage of. Carlson knows what he's doing. He's not a useful idiot for the liars & dictators. He's their knowing co-conspirator.

@KyivIndependent

⚡️Multiple explosions heard in Lviv and Kherson and reports that Lviv is under Russian missile attacks.

Minute 13:40 of this interview of a former boss of Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB guy who now lives in the US).

Anyway, he says that a former classmate of Putin was revealing details of Putin's youth - saying this guy knew that Putin wasn't interested in women and he knew of hookups Putin had with other men - anyway, Putin had the guy murdered.

So, the closet kills again. and again. and again...

Hospital workers are having to bury hundreds of people in mass graves now, some of them unidentified. The really sick thing is that this is Russians killing a lot of ethnic Russians in the mix - so much for their claim that they're supposedly protecting 'their' people from 'Nazis'. History is not going to be kind to every Russian that went along with this - the paid trolls still working in this thread, the soldiers, the people at home who shrugged their shoulders, and the officials for whom money is more important than doing the right thing.

They're not trolls posting here anymore, they're just bots reposting tweets apropos of nothing. That's why there's no context to their posts-- they're Russian or Chinese bots.

This is a comparison of Russian and Ukrainian military capacity (very imbalanced in Russia's favour). The Ukrainians have done so well to hold out so far.

R46 strong disagree - just try ignoring some of them and looking at their post histories.

What did r45 post? she’s blocked

They are going to destroy Lviv now. Scumbags.

"⚡️Russian forces fire at least eight missiles at the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security military training base in Lviv Oblast early on March 13, according to the Lviv regional administration."

Re Ukraine, most of you only know what CNN has told you in the last month.

One of the rockets apparently landed ten miles from the Polish border. Jesus.

I kinda love the thought of a remilitarized Japan annexing the Kuril Islands back.

This guy's maps are great. He's objective.

R53, that's never going to happen.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R39/R40 - yes, the bots/trolls are BACK. These two posts got my two FFs of the day.

Half this thread is missing

It's all so sad because despite all the rah-rah Ukraine doesn't have a chance. And no one is going to help them.

Putin is cleverly getting rid of all his dissenters by turning them into refugees. There will be no one left but loyal followers. Russia has destroyed 100s of apartment building highrises, so there will be no homes to come back to anyway.

He's also planning the war according to the weather. I predict that when the blizzard that just hit New England reaches Ukraine in a few days, that's when Russia will take Kyiv. Maximum inpact.

Lviv is now being attacked. They're going to demolish it. It has symbolic value as the most Westernized major city.

R57, thanks for saying who you blocked. Sometimes I'm not clear on who the trolls are. I had them blocked too. I don't mind hearing different points of view. Just looking for the truth.

Now that Russia is hitting air bases in western Ukraine, Zelenskyy should up the ante and move his remaining fighters to Uzhhorod airport. The western end of its runway is 80 meters from the Slovak border. Thus making it inevitable that a Russian missile will fall on Slovakia, because Putin is insane.

Got into a conversation today with someone who thinks that if Trump were still President, Putin wouldn't have gone to war. He said Trump had imposed sanctions that Biden removed, which lead to Putin attacking.

....I had to remind him Trump and Biden were friends and Trump wanted to also be a dictator. He disagreed.

I just.....don't get it. HOW do some people still think these assholes have limits or integrity? Or that a cheater like Trump would do anything except what's in his own best interest?

***Trump and PUTIN***

Sorry

Damn, Lviv. There are so many refugees there. Now they and the residents of Lviv will be fleeing too.

R59, even if Russia "wins", they'll struggle to manage it, and whoever they put in place will always be in danger of being killed by Ukraine loyalists.

Keep it up bots, we're onto you.

Anderson Cooper was in Lviv just a couple days ago.

Pretty sure he's back in the US now. but I hadn't been watching CNN and wasn't aware he was there.

He showed video of authorities arrested a woman in her 80s holding up a protest sign - in Russia I think. This is going to get a lot bloodier than I expected. Vlad is doubling down.

All those dead bodies, mostly young men I guess but a lot of trapped children and their mothers - just for one man's dream of personal glory and "patriotism" I guess (for Mother Russia yada yada)

So R60, a military base that is 25 miles away from Lviv is the city centre? That is sensationalism at its worst, and you're a fool for promoting it. 🙄

Overnight an evacuation train was hit by shrapnel in Donetsk Oblast. As a result of the attack, one train conductor was killed and another wounded.

The mayor of occupied Dniprorudne kidnapped by Russian troops. That's the 2nd one now.

Lviv Oblast Governor: Russian attack on Yavoriv kills 9, injures 57. According to Governor Maksym Kozytsky, overnight Russia launched at least 30 missiles on the Yavoriv millitary training centre.

R68 I think you're naive if you don't think that they'll start moving onto the city center like they have other cities, to take it.

Reading this thread is quick because half of the replies are blocked. So many trolls. Please fuck off and I hope your pay is blocked by our sanctions.

Any word on the Ballet Twinks of Ukraine? Are they okay?

There are reports (unconfirmed) that a New York Times video journalist, Brent Renaud, has been killed in Ukraine.

Also, the death rate from the missile strike on Lviv's Yavoriv center has been increased to 35, and 134 injured.

Russian media reports that there has been a major "break through" in the ongoing direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Apparently, they are just finalising some legal language to proceed to the signing stage.

R72, those are Hungarian ballet twinks (or rather, twunks).

FYI,R74 posted this (I checked his post history so that you don't have to):

"R4, what happened was that the Ukrainian nazi scum set up their camp near the hospital in Mariupol with the evil intent that Russians won't hit it. Using pregnant women as a shield.

Thanks to a precision strike by the glorious Russian military nobody died, babies are alive and all everyone escaped safely with just some cuts and bruises.

Don't believe Zelensky propaganda."

Does anyone think maybe Russia is even more messed up than we thought? CNN made a big deal out of Russia rolling thermobaric bomb launchers toward Kyiv. They launch, they land and the nature of the explosion literally sucks the area out of the area, collapsing buildings and killing people because in addition to collapsing buildings, they can't breathe.

But they haven't, to the best of my knowledge, done it yet. Does that perhaps to say they don't have much ordinance? Or that they are afraid of using it for fear of the repercussions? And if they have that fear is there then some hope the nuclear chatter is just sabre rattling?

R77 I think it's a difficult conundrum for the Russians. Because on the one hand they want to take over Ukraine and keep the people there onside because otherwise occupation of an unwilling people (many ethnic Russians) will be very difficult, and unpopular) but on the other hand the Russians are finding it impossible to get the Ukrainians to surrender, so are increasingly resorting to destruction tactics as an attempt to raze them into submission. Just explaining why the Russians are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place now in terms of their tactics.

We're definitely infested with trolls. Russian, Chinese, Serbian, Iranian, Nigerian, take your pick.

Bots would require hackers to hijack/automate the posting process here, which unless you're an admin would be tricky.

I could be wrong of course. But it seems like automated responses would be difficult to post here.

Thanks, R76. One so dislikes to resort to ad hominem suspicions, but sometimes one's instincts are right.

R77, sounds like you are disappointed they are not using them??? Or maybe your favourite news source CNN is lying to you?

I have an image in my mind of all advanced nations sitting with their bare asses on a barrel of TNT. Any single thing, maybe a fart, and their asses are blown to smithereens.

Some more information about the 26 biological research laboratories that the US government has been financing in Ukraine.

[quote]Russian media reports...

Just three words which signal there's no reason whatsoever to read on - unless your taste for grotesque lies isn't yet satisfied.

Who is quoting the russian media?

R74 is paraphrasing Russian media:

[quote]Russian media reports that there has been a major "break through" in the ongoing direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Apparently, they are just finalising some legal language to proceed to the signing stage.

Does not provide a link. You, R85, may have R74 blocked, which suggests that you are a sensible person.

It looks increasingly that a mishap by the most inept military in the world (I.e. Russia) will by mistake bomb a mere inch into Poland and we can seize on this to unleash all hell on Poutine. It’s just a matter of time.

I was watching PBS News Hour coverage of the UN and there’s talk of sending humanitarian aid via “safe corridors” to heavily bombarded cities in Ukraine. If there’s a shelling upon these UN forces, the shit will hit the proverbial fan. I just don’t understand why the “West” is tapdancing around the issue. If you’re going to go in, then fucking in! Why try to to brace yourself on TV? Just do it! Putin has already stated that sending armory to Ukraine is tantamount to a declaration of war. Once again, we don’t believe his own words.

Years from now - God willing - we will dissect this historic moment in time and see what we did right and what we did wrong. However, we must now make choices based on what unfolds by the hour, by the day and just respond as best as we can. Let us not condemn ourselves in the future for a disaster that was imposed on us in what appears as coming from out of the blue.

R84 That was what made me check that poster's history in the first place. Because the Russians just constantly lie and gaslight... so it seemed odd that he was taking them at their word..

R81, I'd call that stupid statement absurd if it weren't so ugly. Apologize or shut your stupid mouth.

R73, it's true. (Daily Maul.) Not working for NYT, but freelance.

R87, more warmongering.

r89 r90

Any world leader, at any time, could become unhinged and go mad, given unforeseen forces. Realistically, it’s next to impossible to factor this into any equation regarding international relations and agreements. Due to COVID-19, it’s been suggested that Putin became increasingly isolated and developed an echo chamber around himself and experienced increasing paranoia.

Shit just happens.

R93 You forgot the alleged steroids.

R93, I would be worried about Biden too given some suggestions about his continued mental decline.

R95 Biden is not attacking any sovereign countries. Wtf is up with that stupid repug attack line about his mental condition ESPECIALLY when Trump is very old too and even more mentally infirm.

your point?

How are you guys even seeing r95? He's been posting Russian propaganda not only in this thread, but in the previous threads, too. Who is still talking to him? And why?

[quote]I just don’t understand why the “West” is tapdancing around the issue. If you’re going to go in, then fucking in!

Tell me you know nothing about nuclear weapons without telling me.

r98, I only see a couple posts been this and r90

Vijay Prashad's fascinating take on the conflict in Ukraine. He explains how the entire global South is cheering Russia on as they vicariously take revenge on Europe and the US for the abuses and constant subjugations they've been forced to endure for centuries. He also highlights the intentions to dismember Russia and to atomize its political and military forces and steal the country's many resources, while denouncing Hillary Clinton for saying that Ukraine must become a new Afghanistan - while the reminding the US that their Afghan adventure had dire consequences for them.

A rather interesting take from a third party that is not directly involved in this conflict.

The Guardian: Ukrainian Nazis will cause hunger in the poorest parts of the world.

[quote] He explains how the entire global South is cheering Russia on as they vicariously take revenge on Europe and the US for the abuses and constant subjugations they've been forced to endure for centuries

Apparently they don't notice that it's not Europe and the US who are suffering particularly, but Ukraine—itself a country long colonized and exploited by bigger powers, especially Russia—and increasingly the Russians themselves, as they strain their resources with even greater tensions to come as they try to occupy and hold down the whole country. Not to mention the futility of cheering on an autocratic, colonialist power in the belief that its taking revenge for autocracy and colonialism.

*it's*

RIP to the American who was killed. I'm sure he knew the risks involved...

Though he was initially identified as a New York Times journalist, he had not been on assignment for the newspaper at the time of his death, the spokesperson said.

“Early reports that he worked for Times circulated because he was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for an assignment many years ago,” the spokesperson said.

Renaud has won a Peabody Award for his work alongside his brother, Craig, according to the bio on his website. The brothers have worked on documentary projects for their company, the Renaud Brothers, from Iran, Afghanistan, Haiti, Egypt, Libya and Mosul.

r105, shit, he was handsome

R105, Very sad story. However no evidence it was the Russian troops, NYP is misleading their readers once again.

R106, perhaps a "war tourist"? That's why people should stay away and not be encouraged by their governments to volunteer or travel there.

R108

[quote] I think you're naive if you don't think that they'll start moving onto the city center like they have other cities, to take it.

Stalingrad in reverse, with the Ukrainians getting more and better support than the Germans had.

An interesting take by a Chilean-American journalist who is in Ukraine, and explains the effects that the war and the sanctions against Russia will have on the conomy at a global level.

Who’s posting all these bullshit links? Why attack the US? This is about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. If you are trying to make us atone for historical wrongdoings, please be so kind as to start a separate fucking thread. This thread is titled “Russian Invasion of Ukraine”. So take your fucking shit and make another thread or shut up. It’s hard to follow because half this thread is blocked by you asshat trolls.

BLOCK EM. Arguing with assholes wastes everyone"s time.

So far the US and Europe aren’t suffering much. It’s the Ukrainians and Russians who are dying. So I don’t see what the South is cheering about.

The media are finally starting to cover the cauldron in the east, which is about to destroy Ukraine's most skilled forces (they were fighting in Donbas before Russia invaded).

I think they're finally covering the cauldron because they know it's about to close. They don't want to seem as they've been neglecting it.

Not all of the global South is cheering on Russia; the Kenyan ambassador to the UN was famously eloquent in recognizing the same processes of imperialism in Ukraine that his country suffered from the British.

The Guardian is reporting (via Reuters) that both sides are signalling that progress might be made soon.

Russia is the epitome and incarnation of imperialism. Shut up!

The Kenyan Ambassador gave an amazing speech.

Video for the base near Lviv that was attacked. A base for foreign experts to train the UA military.

I’m so happy for your personal enchantment. However, who gives a fuck?

R120, a perfect example of Russians doing what they said they would. Precision attacks to demlitarize the Ukrainian nazis are at work.

R53 nobody should be happy with a remilitarized Japan

in fact nobody should be happy with a remilitarized Germany either

12:40 notice what the analyst says. The western media are going to have to face reality soon: they've only really been reporting what the UA government has been feeding them.

The reality is that Russia should have installed a puppet government in Kiev by now. Ukraine can not win this war but Russia will lose even when they win. A destroyed country full of 40 million bitter people will be theirs. And then what?

Jesus Christ, do something, Muriel...

the *rather cute analyst

Also, he says that urban fighting will rely on Russian artillery, as in Syria. They're not entering the cities in tanks; tactical teams will enter areas softened by artillery.

Just posted. Update map.

R127, the merciless Chechen spetznas are already there just a sone throw away from Kiyv and ready to go, including Kavyrov himself.

Analysis from India.

Russia will never be able to occupy a hostile Ukrainian country. A most tragic and devastating miscalculation. They can’t even provide logistical and food supplies to their own forces. Soon, Russia will default and go bankrupt and their own civilians will be forced to scratch out some type of existence. The phrase ‘this won’t end well’ while meant to be facetious will become a very harsh reality for them soon.

However, sanctions can just as quickly be lifted as they are imposed. A silver lining, perhaps.

R131, they're not going to occupy. They're keeping Zelensky alive for a reason. This isn't 1980.

What do you think they will do now, R132? I think they want Ukraine to pledge no NATO and let Donbas and Crimea go.

Hello? Zelenskyy said Nyet to this proposal.

If Zelensky keeps saying no their only option is a puppet government. And an occupation.

Are you illiterate? There’s no fucking way on God’s earth that Russia can occupy a hostile Ukraine? Not even for a day! Go back with your crayons and draw another picture. Teacher says Not Passing.

The sun is about to set in Ukraine on another day of Russian aggression and violence without taking the major cities. Just inching along toward the most deflatingly Pyrrhic of victories they are.

What’s the end game for Russia then?

R133, a nationwide version of what they just did in Melitopol. Ideally using Zelensky and/or ambitious members of his coterie (high-level staff, military, ministers). Plus maybe take a chunk of the country (the very Russian part).

Vichy almost. There'll be unrest, plenty at first, but surveillance tech, secret police, and cash can quell that.

Russian"technical experts" installed within the bureaucracy, too. To ensure the state machinery cooperates.

Discussion re the training base near Lviv.

They are fucked…in every sense of the word and in every way! They will be transported back into the Cold War days and have a blubbering idiot like Yeltsin (Perestroika) speaking on behalf of them. All of Russia’s progress since the collapse of the USSR will have to be regained/re-earned.

The West underinvested in Ukraine. That's why they're not already part of NATO.

R138, Annex whatever they can, pretty much the entire South coast and the East. Then do some old fashioned ethnic cleansing of whoever resists there. Then Russia announces the victory and create a buffer territory. They will finally start the real negotiation process where they will carve up with Americans the remaining rubble in the less useful areas in the West and Central West. American and NATO will claim that Russians did not achieve their original goal. Of course. Most sanctions end. Everyone declares a victory.

The inbred corrupt nature of Ukrainians will make those goals much more accomplishable once Russians firmly on the ground and Kyiv and the Western enablers are cut off from the rest of the country.

Good luck getting those sanctions lifted "quickly" R131.

It’s a very slim possibility, yes. On the other hand, its not something permanent like, say, a nuclear disaster.

R131, uhhh, no. Economic sanctions can’t be lifted quickly. And they certainly won’t be in this case.

R147, let's see. that's why I said SOME not all. I think Americans will probably continue their posturing until Putin finds another Trump to elect there. But EU will eventually fold as soon as the peace treaties are signed.

Pretty sure Zelensky and his allies will not collaborate Let’s see how successful the new Russian mayor of Melitopol is without Russian troops occupying the town.

REUTERS: Russia’s defence ministry has admitted responsibility for the rocket attack on the International Centre for Peacekeeping & Security, a military base, near Lviv on Sunday.

It said that the facility in Yavoriv was being used to store military equipment delivered from foreign nations, according to Reuters. A spokesperson said it killed up to 180 “foreign mercenaries” and a “large amount” of weapons.

The defence ministry said it will continue attacks against foreign mercenaries.

Touché. However, in the vast scheme of things, we are simply replacing one humanitarian crisis for another. I still believe that ordinary Russian civilians bear little responsibility for what Puttie has chosen to do. He doesn’t give a shit about them or their welfare. He might believe each of their bodies belongs to the Russian state. Why make them suffer for something they had no control over?

R148 Your understanding of the US is weak. Putin is loathed here now. Any association with him is political suicide. Russia us us a pariah nation now and China will follow if it aligns with Russia too much. US is not EU and has enough energy and food without Russia. Ditto for the shit that China makes. US can make it’s own stuff. Aside from some chemicals and minerals the US is self sufficient. If China wants to trade Russia for EU or US okay.

I like how the pro-Putin troll at R144 relishes "some old fashioned ethnic cleansing of whoever resists there" in reference to what he considers "the inbred corrupt nature of Ukrainians." No, troll, it's not likely that "some" sanctions will quickly end with a simple agreement between Russia and NATO, no matter how much you dehumanize the Ukrainians and discount their experience and wishes.

R151, Putin is going to roll out the gravy train soon. Did you see what they did in Crimea and Chechnya?

r154

r151, is this a rhetorical question?

I think Putin believes that we have some deep misunderstanding of Russian society and culture. We believe that economic pressure will make Russians to turn on their government. While he thinks that nationalism, national security, and deep rooted dislike of America is more important for Russians.

Russians do enjoy the Western food and clothing and luxuries etc.. but since the collapse of Soviet Union they have become more and more disillusioned about Western society's values and culture. They do not want to be part of it. At least that's what I am seeing from Russians I know (and those are the ones who are supposed be more pro-Western).

We know Russia as a country run by and full of oligarchs. However for most ordinary Russians, the majority that supports Putin, life will not change significantly. They will remain as poor as they were before this war. Sanctions rarely deterred any war or made any dictator regime to collapse. Just look at their track record.

But let's see who is right.

Also while we are just learning about Ukraine, the Russian brainwashing of their own citizens started years ago and they have already been prepared for this.

Some Russians I spoke to recently feel even more emboldened and say that Putin was right to point out that the West was never Russia's friend and everything they see is happening proves that he is right.

The documentary Ukraine: The Everlasting Present, which addresses the role that the US played in the creation of the current Ukrainian nation and the emergence of the ultra-nationalistic radicals that participated in the 2014 coup and have taken full control of the Ukrainian governmental and military institutions.

It also addresses the ruyle that Russiagate played in accelerating the collision between the US-controlled NATO entente and Russia.

[quote]RIP to the American who was killed. I'm sure he knew the risks involved...

Well, shit. The Renaud brothers produced a beautiful 9/11 documentary about 10 years ago based on their day with the NY fire department.

R138, it’s apparently just kill, kill some more, and somehow the world’s attention shifts. And no, that does not seem likely.

Damn these brothers are hot This is some big dick energy right here.

The endgame was this was all supposed to go down like Crimea.

(Spoiler alert: it didn't)

Quickly morphed into "pick your own adventure".

I thought Russia was losing 😏

More from REUTERS: Russian Defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov told a briefing Russia had used high precision long range weapons to strike Yavoriv and a separate facility in the village of Starichi. He claimed both bases were being used to train foreign mercenaries and store weapons.

“As a result of the strike, up to 180 foreign mercenaries and a large amount of foreign weapons were destroyed,” he said.

The attack came one day after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow considered convoys of Western arms shipments to Ukraine to be legitimate targets.

R163, the Russians consider everything in Ukraine to be “legitimate targets.” I’m surprised that they bothered trying to justify this.

They are bombing only 10 kilometers from polish border .

Lots of Putin apologists on this thread, furiously rewriting Russian intentions and lowering expectations.

Putin is not losing I’m sorry to say

Ukraine’s besieged port city of Mariupol faces “a worst-case scenario” if both warring parties do not urgently reach a “concrete humanitarian agreement”, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned on Sunday.

“The ICRC stands ready to act as a neutral intermediary to facilitate dialogue on such humanitarian issues,” it said in a statement.

The Azov Sea port city of around half a million has been under siege since early this month.

More than 2,100 residents have been killed since hostilities began, the local authorities said Sunday.

“Time is running out for the hundreds of thousands trapped by the fighting,” the ICRC said.

“History will look back at what is now happening in Mariupol with horror if no agreement is reached by both sides as quickly as possible.”

ICRC president Peter Maurer called, in the statement, on all parties involved in the fighting to “place humanitarian imperatives first”.

The ICRC said that people in Mariupol, including its own staff, were “sheltering in unheated basements, risking their lives to make short runs outside for food and water”.

It added that “a concrete, precise, actionable agreement” was needed without delay so civilians wanting to leave can reach safety, and life-saving aid can reach those who stay.

R158, it’s the Naudet brothers who filmed that 9/11 documentary, not the Renaud brothers.

R167, Putin has destroyed his own reputation for steely intelligence. He's rolled back thirty years of Russian economic progress. He's given NATO and the US an extensive overview of the strengths and weaknesses of his military. He's lost a lot of soldiers. He's restored NATO. He's bought himself a ten or twenty year quagmire if he intends to occupy Ukraine. He's "winning" in the Charlie Sheen sense.

Surely its long-past time for a special forces team to take Putin out.

What R170 said. These apologists who keep saying "Putin is winning" are thinking in simplistic terms. Putin's winning in the killing of Ukrainians (including many ethnic Russians) and seizing of (some) territory in Ukraine, but he's also causing long-term problems for Russia and ultimately his own political position. Most conspicuously, he's dispelled any illusion that Russia can be an equal partner with China, or anything but a poorly-funded client state.

Kiev's ballet studs are now in the fight defending their country.

This is what a police state looks like. The few protesters who still dare to show up are outnumbered by the police. Anyone who speaks to the press is grabbed up and hustled off to a police van.

18 days into invasion and Putin hasn’t stopped .

R83 is def a troll

This thread is so filled with Pro-Putin trolls and Russian disinformation bots that almost all legitimate discussion is impossible.

In this badly executed folly, Putin has proven that Obama made a correct assessment:

“Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors — not out of strength but out of weakness."

Question for all you Putin bootlickers:

1. Has Ukraine killed even a single Russian soldier or civilian on Russian soil?

2. Has Ukraine banned all dissent and shut down pro-Russian news outlets?

No?

Then fuck off, you fascist morons.

France24 reporting Mariupol is littered with dead bodies that cannot be collected because of constant shelling. Same for the dead in bombed buildings.

Yes, R177, it's unfortunate that for the last couple of threads we haven't been able to have a more interesting discussion, with all the diversionary nonsense and Poot-apologetics. Maybe all their protestations are yet another sign that things aren't going as easily for the Russians as they expected and they're starting to lose their shit.

R179, 1. YES, and 2. YES

Or maybe certain people should block the trolls instead of constantly engaging with them?

Here's a somewhat hopeful analysis.

[quote] This thread is so filled with Pro-Putin trolls and Russian disinformation bots that almost all legitimate discussion is impossible.

Well then, they’ve accomplished their goal. R183 has given some sound advice — block and ignore the ones who sneak in.

R184, we've already noted that Francis Fukuyama essay; R25 opined that it was "rather fresh"—whatever that's supposed to mean—to link to this well-known neocon. He makes some reasonable points, though I think we've seen them elsewhere.

Yup. As soon as I see a pro Putin/pro invasion post, I block. Makes the thread so much better to read.

I don’t engage with reprobates or people of low intellect IRL, so won’t online, either.

At least on Russian troll has been banned, as all her posts are gone from my ignore feed.

Found an Ukrainian guy from Kyiv writing his diary. Pretty interesting to have an idea how the people are organising and how their morale is.

Seems like Putin banning Instagram will hit own people pretty bad.

"I don't know about your countries, but out here instagram is a huuuuuuuge business platform — you don't need a website, but every business needs an instagram. There is a huge market of, well, everything, sold directly through insta, be it cosmetics, food, car parts or clothes. Now all these businesses won't be able to work and find clients.

Somehow this is a bigger 'sanction' than arresting some super yachts, and the best part is that russia is doing it themselves. Instagram, facebook are banned. Youtube banned monetizing for russia so I don't think anyone is going to produce much stuff anymore. Nice. I wish they'd somehow block tiktok and then the entertainment market would just implode"

Here's the link

Sources, r182?

(RT, Sputnik, OAN don’t count, because they are mouthpieces for the fascist Putin régime.)

I don't know if this has been verified but if true...damn.

Igor Sushko @igorsushko · 28m RUSSIAN MILITARY NEWS: Multiple instances have been reported where the paratroopers' (VDV - Russian special forces) parachutes failed to open in Ukraine. Inline with Russia's utter lack of maintenance of military equipment. #WindofChange

R192, LOL. Yeah, sure.

Whatever helps Ukrainians to feel less pain of the inevitable.

Sherlock star - and Oscar contender - Benedict Cumberbatch has intimated he is considering hosting a Ukrainian refugee.

Earlier today, Housing Secretary Michael Gove launched the Homes for Ukraine scheme, calling on British households to offer a room - or spare flat - to a nominated individual or family fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking on the red carpet, ahead of Sunday's Bafta film awards, Cumberbatch - who was wearing a badge with the colours of the Ukrainian flag - said he hoped to take in a refugee.

"What we all have to do is continue to put pressure on our politicians as far as the refugee crisis goes, continue to put pressure on the Putin regime, continue to help in any which way we can - whether that's through donations or housing refugees, all of which I'm looking to do - and have done."

Actually, R191, Zelensky banned three media outlets that were critical of the Ukrainian government. The link below is from Deutsche Welle, which is FAR from being pro-Russian. So R179, the answer to your second question is a loud and resounding YES.

[quote]parachutes failed to open

OMG that's horrible! Putin has a lot to answer for. R193, why does this seem so implausible, given the photographic evidence of faulty tires and so on? Or are you just a knee-jerk denier of anything that makes Russia look bad?

Not so awful for the Ukrainians they were invading.

193 is a Russian fascist troll, R196. Best not engage.

Hahaha,R192. Karma’s a bitch.

94 violins for Ukraine

Ejection parachutes are not opening, attributed to "deliberate improper installation." Maybe Russia doesn’t want their pilots taken prisoner.

Oopsie.

This whole thing is tragic.

So, r195, does Zelenskyy’s decision to ban pro-Russian media a year ago justify Russia’s current and ongoing obliteration of Mariupol, its bombing of hospitals, etc?

And how does any of this square with Putin’s stated goal of sending in “peacekeepers” to protect the “sovereignty” of the fake Donetsk and Luhansk “Republics”?

And finally, how does it feel to be in the wrong side of history?

Goddamn, this thread is infested. 32 new posts since I last visited and I can only see about 10 of them.

Why are you engaging a known troll, R204?

Just to clarify r204, Russian media is available in Ukraine, even today. I know this as I have relatives across Ukraine. Ukrainian media is blocked in Russia. I know this from relatives in Russia.

I wonder if Cumberbatch really took in a refugee. It's great if he did and all rich celebrities should.

Is Putin just going to arrest everybody in Russia?

Sorry R204, but when have I said that? R179 asked whether Ukraine had ever banned any media outlets that were critical with the government, and I've given proof of it.

Also, the Azov Battalion are the ones shooting civilians in Mariupol. So no, I am not justifying the war nor any particular side's actions. I am just telling the truth as I see it.

R206, go fuck yourself. No one is talking to you, so shut your snout, you beast.

The vatniki need to understand that no matter how much they post in support of a sick, demented old genocidal dictator, they will never win.

The trolls know full well what “vatnik” means. And here’s a pre-emptive “иди на хуй» to their inevitable rejoinder that the dictator in question is Joe Biden.

We see you.

R40 She's an instagram influencer and was also pregnant, are those two supposed to be mutually exclusive?

[quote]so shut your snout, you beast

No, you go off, sis!

[quote]I am just telling the truth as I see it.

And that, r210 is where the problem arises.

About the attack on the western training base.

Translation of the tweet above:

Two words and you’re in the paddy wagon: how many seconds until you’re detained in Manezh Square? Spoiler: one and a half.

The “two words” in question are of course “net voine,” “no to war.

The few remaining free Russian media are now just referring to the war as “…”.

[quote]This thread is so filled with Pro-Putin trolls and Russian disinformation bots that almost all legitimate discussion is impossible.

I think that's the idea.

Fascinating is that the gaps in posts made by already blocked cunts were all posters who I had blocked Long ago

Hahaha, it was fun seeing the oligarch’s bitch suddenly get arrested when she was actually saying she was fine with the “special operation.” Thanks, R209.

And thanks for posting that video, R203. It’s really quite sad. That lovely young blonde lady definitely has her head screwed on tight and knows that things will get very bad. And I hope someday the elderly lady will believr the “experts” who say that she’s a citizen of a country where its leader is ordering mass murder of women and children.

One interesting thing to notice as these people are being detained in Russia is that nobody around them spares them even a look. Masha Gesson made this point. In the US if you saw massive police presence and arrests, there would be crowds of people watching, taking pictures, video etc. The people walking around in Russia? Seem to be pretending this isn't happening.

Russians realize that even if they did take photos or video of people being arrested for holding up blank pieces of paper, it would be illegal to share them anywhere.

God, the sidebar showed me that this thread had 130+ posts since I last checked and I can see maybe 30 at most. The troll infestation must be off the charts. Are they trying to earn those Rubles while they are still worth anything, even a pack of chewing gums?

Apparently, so often I read only a response from some troll having no clue what they posted

I always thought he was hot.

A public statement from Ivan Dremin aka FACE, a leading Russian rapper: "As a Russian artist and as a citizen, I no longer exist. I have left. I will not pay taxes in Russia. I will not perform there. "I ask forgiveness of the Ukrainian people for the suffering our country has put them through. I apologize for our state, for myself, for my people, because someone has to do it and it falls to people like me. The truly wicked will never admit their villainy even to themselves. PS: "All my concerts in Russia are off. You want your money back, talk to the promoters. I'm canceling them myself, no one made me do it, suck my dick.”

Wow.

Isn’t Lviv a beautiful city?

Wasn't Lviv a beautiful city?

So has Clarissa Ward left Kiev yet?

Will CNN pull Anderson out of Lviv (and all of Ukraine) now that the area has been bombed?

The Financial Times reports that US officials say Russia has sought military support from China since the start of the invasion and that the White House fears Beijing may undermine the West’s efforts to help Ukraine.

I think he left this weekend.

I do agree with the trolls when they say it is pathetic for trolls to be on DataLounge so there’s one little bit of common ground.

Four things give me hope right now despite the horror of what is going on in Ukraine.

1) The extraordinary heroism, bravery and ingenuity of the Ukrainian people.

2) The manner in which the EU, the US and the UK have acted in coordination. It has far exceeded what I anticipated.

3) I believe the nuclear threat is a bluff because China would not allow Putin to destroy the world.

4) Clearly there’s a mole in Putin’s inner circle.

The 94 violins activated my feefees

It is, r227. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site.

And now Putin is going to destroy it, just because he can.

Putin has asked China for military assistance against Ukraine.

All of you vatniki must be so proud that in addition to slurping Putin’s scrotum, you are now delicately tonguing the balls of Xi Jinping.

NY Times alert about Russia asking China for military assistance and money to offset sanctions.

Russia is SO going to be China’s bitch from now on.

America is fucked once Russia and China unites.

That's quite embarrassing for the bear.

China will NEVER provide military assistance since that's not their style. Money, however, is a different story...

And now here come the trolls dismissing the news about China as “Biden administration propaganda.”

But the Biden administration was spot-on when it predicted that Putin would attack Ukraine in the first place.

Combination of China and Russia is unstoppable. A new BETTER world order is coming!!!!

Russia is the Donald Trump of countries.

R242, разве ты хочешь, чтобы Россия стала 29-ой провинцией Китая? LOL.

Why would China want a failed state dumpster fire such as Russia?

R241 My blocking trolls is kind of useless if you continue to mention them. What about me, hun?

[quote]America is fucked once Russia and China unites.

Rephrase this as "once Russia, which only a month ago was considered a formidable military power with a certain clout on the world financial markets, is client state to Beijing." Then rethink the whole sentence.

R245, R244, LOL, bitches are jealous.

Russia’s economy is smaller than Italy’s or Texas’. But Russia has lots of land, which China needs. And oil, obviously.

All of you vatniki had better start learning Mandarin.

Instagram is officially caput as of 15min ago in Russia. Arguably the biggest Russian social media platform after VK.

It has always been my opinion that the end goal of this invasion has been China getting Taiwan, not anything good for Russians.

It is unclear to me if Xi entirely bamboozled Putin, promised something for Putin personally to betray his people or convinced Putin that being a vassal state to China (with the neon gas?) was the best available outcome for a Russia rotting from within.

R251, the problem with China’s partnership with Russia is that the U.S. gets good information from its Russian sources. If Russia and China have worked out some mutual assistance agreement concerning Taiwan, we probably now know quite a bit about that already.

Re: a mole. I've had the same thought, probably for the same reason (the US apparently knowing everything the Russians are going to do/say before they do/say them). My thought was a listening device of some sort because wouldn't a mole be too vulnerable in this situation - where the US is just going to continue to make it clear they have some access to internal Russian discussions? US is obviously openly taunting Putin, trying to unsettle him and increase his paranoia. But if they are getting their intel from a human I imagine it's likely that human could end up dead at any moment.

Russia has land and lots of natural resources and being China's neighbor, it would be practical to import those resources at a reasonable cost.

So, yeah, China will provide money in exchange for various rights to Russian resources, but I don't see them going the military route. No point in pissing off the US and the EU who are big trading partners. China doesn't care about Ukraine.

It does care about Taiwan, but you can't do a land invasion of Taiwan.

[quote]Why would China want a failed state dumpster fire such as Russia?

To strip it of natural resources, just as China aims to do in Africa.

Also this post, from R170, was excellent and deserves to be quoted:

[quote]Putin has destroyed his own reputation for steely intelligence. He's rolled back thirty years of Russian economic progress. He's given NATO and the US an extensive overview of the strengths and weaknesses of his military. He's lost a lot of soldiers. He's restored NATO. He's bought himself a ten or twenty year quagmire if he intends to occupy Ukraine. He's "winning" in the Charlie Sheen sense.

I guess the only question now is whether China will bring down the hammer on Russia before or after Putin’s war spreads beyond Ukraine.

I’m guessing before, since World War III would be bad for China’s economy.

There are a lot of Chinese students and workers in Russia’s far east.

Meanwhile, latest rumour

If it's true that Kadyrov is on the ground in Ukraine I hope he gets killed as soon as possible. This is the man who denied homosexuality existed in Chechnya and ordered a series of anti-gay purges that included imprisonment, torture and murder of gays. He is a violent thug who sold out his own country to Putin.

Natural resources that make the products you use every day, r255.

R254 Russia provides 46% of the world’s palladium, for one. Palladium is used in catalytic converters.

Don’t see how they can do this without controlling Odessa but w/e.

R253. US Intelligence has been astounding but if there is an inner circle mole I suspect it is an unwitting one. Probably someone, or a number of people, who aren't following proper security protocols with regards to communication, or are perhaps using an unsecured device(s). NSA is very adept at tapping into sources that result from human error like this.

It would be perfectly in line with what we're seeing from Russia's army. They seemingly don't even understand how their own secure communication system works (taking out the 3g towers) and are forced to rely on easily surveilled radio or local cellphones to communicate.

Probably explains why Putin tried to purge his FSB staff and generals, aside from their numerous strategic failures. Given that such incompetence appears systematic in his inner circle he'll probably find it won't help much.

Idlib is coming to Ukraine. Title of the video is absurd but the rest is informative.

The longer this goes, the worse it'll get.

That Igor fella referenced above translates some of those FSB and other communications and posts them on Twitter. He’s a fascinating follow, if you’re interested in the mechanics of this Putin clusterfuck.

I can’t believe they’re bombing Lviv! They must be doing that by plane since their other positions don’t seem to be in ground artillery range.

Fuck! That goddamned idiot it going to hit Poland and then the shit is gonna hit his fan in a BIG way.

Read this piece (written 3/5, translated/published in the U.S. China Perception Monitor yesterday 3/12, updated today 3/13), written by Hu Wei, vice-chairman of the Public Policy Research Center of the Counselor’s Office of the State Council, the chairman of Shanghai Public Policy Research Association, the chairman of the Academic Committee of the Chahar Institute, a professor, and a doctoral supervisor.

The gist is that China has nothing to gain in this war by supporting Putin, and would do itself a favor in terms of the global influence it expects to attain in this century by joining the obvious global fucking (my word) consensus and breaking with Putin. Otherwise China will be seen as a co-conspirator with Russia and face further "containment" (which it hates) by not just the U.S., but with a revitalized, better armed, and more distrustful Europe (and Western allies).

China failing to break decisively and visibly with this world-historical fuckup Putin makes the U.S. stronger, and will make "the West" cling ever closer to American leadership, which China claims to resent above all else. So, the ball's in your court, Xi. Are you gonna fuck it up or not?

Also, for all you mouth-breathing Russian trolls out there, I just want you to know that I pulled my hybrid right up to the pickup window today and ordered an all-beef burger free of McSanctions, and even had a side of fries without SELLING MY ASS to pay for them.

So in the past few days, Russia:

1. waiving usual standards to recruit for combat in Ukraine 2. seeking to recruit thousands of Syrian mercenaries 3. asking China for help.

Each one spells trouble. Together, they spell desperation.

He's going to screw it up R266. Xi doesn't trust the West enough and he thinks that joining the worlds in sanctions and condemnations would be seen as weakness and kowtowing to Western pressure. If he was seriously considering a break with Putin he would have purged all that idiotic Putin propaganda from Chinese State Media.

Of course, why he trusts Putin of all people is even more bizarre. I think he sees China in similar grievance terms as Putin sees Russia and thinks the West will never trust China. Or perhaps he thinks moronic authoritarians should stick together.

Hopefully they'll drown together too.

Urban warfare in Kyiv pitting Ukrainians against Syrians and Chechens is gonna be ugly. God help any civilians still there.

Oh, Jeangenie, thank God you're back. You have no idea what we've been going through here.

R268, there are reports that Russia’s missile supplies are running low.

Xi backing Putin politically and militarily when Putin cannot do jack-shit for him politically, militarily or economically would be such a fuckup! China can buy Vlad's cheap-ass oil regardless of how this shit turns out. Their global influence will never become "normalized" or accepted. It will be ETERNALLY stained by the association with Russia. The U.S. and its Allies will pound the table with reminders of this fuckup and the world will never let them forget it.

"The West" will have it printed on their brochures that China backed Putin.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russian troops have destroyed seven hospitals that cannot be rebuilt and damaged 104 more.

Fuck Putin. I hope he dies soon.

I'm not a bot, but if I were, that's what I would say in every thread from here to kingdom come, where Russia's national honor and economic viability are being blown every minute of every hour.

[quote]The gist is that China has nothing to gain in this war by supporting Putin, and would do itself a favor in terms of the global influence it expects to attain in this century by joining the obvious global fucking (my word) consensus and breaking with Putin. Otherwise China will be seen as a co-conspirator with Russia and face further "containment" (which it hates) by not just the U.S., but with a revitalized, better armed, and more distrustful Europe (and Western allies).

Haven't read the article (am going to do so now, though - thank you) but I agree this is a/the likely outcome. Russia is in a worse position now than it was 17 days ago, because now everyone including China knows their military capability, outside the possibly not working nukes, is shite. China has no reason to cozy up to them. Even wanting to tweak the West's nose is better accomplished on their own. Xi strikes me as more pragmatic than Putin, and more patient.

R269 - Xi doesn't trust Putin.

Anderson’s still hanging in in Lviv.

Before Putin's Illegal War Against Ukraine, There Were Trump's Crimes Against President Zelensky

Poland is nervous

Putin’s daughter’s villa in Biarritz was invaded by a local activist, who then declared it open to Ukrainian refugees.

HAHAHAHAHA

Poland should be R279. Their history with Russia isn't exactly favorable and those missiles landing nearby will no doubt have brought up some bad memories.

As a side note, sexy YouTuber Luke Ranieri (aka Polymathy) has done an etymological analysis of Ukraine.

I’ve blocked a lot of trolls, but now it’s difficult to know who is replying to the trolls reply. These trolls are directing the narrative off course, thus is not constructive to an intelligent discussion.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

-MSNBC is now reporting that Russia is asking China for re-supply of weapons.

Haha….the Chinese will never “give weapons for free” to anyone! Sell it to them, maybe. The Chinese are like the Jews of Asia. Not trying to be pejorative, but their are similarities for pro-commerce. Plus China at UN said they want more negotiations and peace. Sending weapons to Russia would hardly support their pledge.

-Puttie has shelled a Ukrainian air base very close to the Polish Border. Poland is nervous.

-reports that Russia has control of Chernobyl and the other nuclear facility further south, Europe’s largest nuclear plant. One must wonder why?

Pathetic. It would be if the US invaded Mexico and after 2 weeks went begging for military scraps from Canada.

China will want other things in return for sure...nothing is free in this world.

How could Russia need more weapons after only 3 weeks? How pathetic is their military?

India's top military thinker war-gamed this with fellow experts. Things have so far unfolded essentially as their exercise suggested/predicted. He's the first speaker here.

Today Latvian President calls for permanent NATO troops in the Baltics.

So, they are happy?

Russia took control of the nuclear sites to make the rest of the world nervous. With the still working one, they control the power supply for a good chunk of Ukraine, and can use it as blackmail. They would not be stupid enough to do anything to Chernobyl. The worst of the nuclear fallout would hit Belarus and their own land. Chernobyl is only 10 miles from the Belarusian border.

While it is not ideal, I would not be overly concerned about it.

That's my sense as well R292. It seems a reasonable assumption to use that power to force a surrender.

What concerns me is that the US is warning about Russian nuclear false-flags and they seem to have really good intel.

"How could Russia need more weapons after only 3 weeks? How pathetic is their military?"

Because the whole invasion is just an attempt to get Biden to attack Russia so they can retaliate by lobbing nukes into the big cities that cost Trump the election.

In Trump/Putin's "Lex Luthor-ian" delusions, if they can get rid of the liberal-infested cities, all that would be left is red counties. Then he would win.

Come on. The Chinese aren"t like "the Jews," they are like the Chinese.

On France24 news a U female soldier spoke on a phone then turned to the camera man in a happy, excited manner and stated that she just learned weapons from another country had just arrived in Kiev. She was careful not to mention the country.

Where would these weapons come from?

This guy is great to follow - he's a journalist for the Kyiv Independent and tweets about the bombardments. He's holed up in Kyiv til the bitter end.

[QUOTE] predict that when the blizzard that just hit New England reaches Ukraine in a few days, that's when Russia will take Kyiv.

These trolls really are dunderheads. Zero understanding of the weather.

R291, they are happy they don't have to go to work anymore and deal with Karen customers. Wouldn't you be happy not to go to work tomorrow? BTW, that's the whitest McDonald's I've ever seen.

Why wouldn't it be, race obsessed ahistorical freak?

Interesting. A possibly neurodivergent type uses his powers to analyze what's going on.

Not for CNN watchers newly aware of and passionate about Ukraine, which can do no wrong.

Disgusting.

Also the Russians have now killed more civilians in Mariupol than they have soldiers in the whole war.

ISW's report today is just as bleak for Russia as the past reports.

"Russian forces continue to assemble reinforcements and attempt to improve logistical support in both the Kyiv and southern operational directions. Russian forces may intend to resume larger-scale attacks on both axes of advance in the coming week, but will likely take longer to (or may never) cohere the combat power necessary to complete the encirclement of Kyiv."

[I'm betting on never]

"Russia is diluting its international deployments in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh to reinforce operations in Ukraine and pulling additional forces from Russia’s far east."

"Ukrainian intelligence reported Russia will deploy preexisting pro-Assad Syrian units to Ukraine, in addition to previously announced plans to recruit new Syrian and Libyan mercenaries. These forces are unlikely to enable Russia to favorably change the balance of forces around Kyiv in the next week but may provide a longer-term pool of low-quality replacements."

With the news that Russia was asking China for assistance it seems they are really scraping together all available military forces to try and salvage the invasion.

[quote] when the blizzard that just hit New England reaches Ukraine in a few days, that's when Russia will take Kyiv.

You’re assuming that their vehicles will start and run in that weather. Don’t count on it.

r288 the propaganda goes both ways-always. For some reason, people think if the West is in the right (& I believe they are) that they don't engage in the same propaganda tactics. IMHO, you also have to factor in that this is not East/West, Russia/US, etc. It's really about global elites, too who have their own interests (and corruption) to conceal, including those in the US.

The Russian military does have issues, but they still have massive air and fire superiority. Putin sent in conscripts and limited armored vehicles to gauge the response, and to potentially limit damage among his true supporters who are 'patriotic' and likely from traditional military families. I think they did take more losses than anticipated, but I don't think Putin gives a shit b/c he knows it's a) only the first wave, & b) most of the big cities are along the edges of the country. [Many are near the sea, Russia or Belarus.] Although the supply lines will be longer, he's unlikely to meet as much resistance if the main cities are under his control, he can clamp down on the rest of the country and push west. I think this is also why he brought in the pro-Russian Chechens. IIRC, they are experienced in urban warfare, and as Muslim minority, don't have the shared Slavic blood. They brought the Spetznaz (Russian Special Forces) in early to link up with agents they already had in place before the invasion, & IMHO to secure nuclear facilities. According to accounts on the ground, there are also more regular army, and they are much more organized and dangerous than the conscripts.I know we have some current/former military on here. I wish they'd chime in on this.

I'm sure I'll be accused of being a Russian troll/bot/sympathizer now.

I don't think you are a troll R305 but your analysis seems a bit off. I'm not at all involved in the military but surely nobody sends in cannon fodder to test defenses like that. It seems bad for morale, accomplishes little, slows momentum and gets people angry at home when they don't come back.

I do think the Chechens and Syrians are being brought in because he no longer feels he can spill Russian blood, fearing the political blowback. I don't think they will make a material difference though. Analysis I've read indicates that they just don't have the training or equipment.

Perhaps Putin did think the supply line issue wouldn't matter once he had captured the cities. Fortunately, that plan has been completely screwed over and supplies are reportedly a big issue.

I won't disagree on the air and fire superiority. Obviously we wouldn't be seeing scenes from Mariupol and elsewhere if the Ukrainians could viable contest Russia's bombing strategy. However, with the recent news it seems right to speculate how many arms Russia really has at their disposal.

How many missiles do they have? They have fired over 600 in Ukraine to date.

[quote]In this badly executed folly, Putin has proven that Obama made a correct assessment:

[quote]“Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors — not out of strength but out of weakness."

[quote]US is obviously openly taunting Putin, trying to unsettle him and increase his paranoia.

Obama's blissful put-down undoubtedly helped fuel Putin's bumpkin rage. Just as Obama publicly mocking Trump fuelled the latter.

Problem being when such stunted no-hopers don't get their way, but think they should: Trump's smashing up of The Capitol, death not discouraged, is being multiplied a million by Putin in Ukraine.

Putin will do anything - anything - to show the world he isn't just 'a regional power' acting out of 'weakness.' The more that weakness is signalled (sub-contracting for more military) the more desperate the over-compensation. Just hope the US can continue to play him to provoke fatal implosion rather than seismic explosion.

r250 VK is the only good thing coming out from Russia now thanks to its HUGE collections of ad-free porn.

A Twitter account about Kadyrov.

Obama's comment isn't why Putin's invading Ukraine. He wants Ukraine's natural gas/oil, so they're not competing with Russia, because Russia is a total petrostate. He also doesn't want NATO that close to Moscow.

His reasons for invading Ukraine make a certain sense, but the corruption in Russia means their army is a shambles (as someone who grew up during the Cold War it's kind of shocking) and that they didn't use their oil money to build a stronger and more diversified economy.

Basically all Putin's got is land and nukes. I see China benefitting from the weakness of its neighbor.

Wow that's vile R310. Assuming that's true then Anonymous needs to broadcast that all over Russia.

If you saw that picture of a pregnant woman being carried on a stetcher, AP says that she and her baby have now died.

R310, that's not true. The translation is incorrect.

You wouldn’t understand because you are not Chinese and did not grow up in their culture. Tiger mom's force their children to be the best, get the best education to bring pride and prosperity to their families. They are tired of being poor and most aspire to be middle-class and they crave acceptance and respect. If we make stereotypes then they are less aggressive and dislike war than other countries/religions.

Im referring to the average Chinese citizen and not their current Chinese Hitler who wants to be President for life. The suppression of his people and his brutality against the Uyghurs and in Hong Kong is abhorrent. We/west may be better served if we take him out sooner rather than later. We need to learn a lesson here with the Ukraine situation and never let it repeat.

Russian bombs and shelling have damaged 379 schools, 59 of which were completely destroyed, the Prosecutor General’s Office said. Most were in the east and south of Ukraine.

The Prosecutor General also says that so far 90 children have been killed and 100 wounded.

From the article at R313:

[quote]The woman was rushed to another hospital, yet closer to the frontline, where doctors labored to keep her alive. Realizing she was losing her baby, medics said, she cried out to them, “Kill me now!” Surgeon Timur Marin found the woman’s pelvis crushed and hip detached. Medics delivered the baby via cesarean section, but it showed “no signs of life,” the surgeon said. Then, they focused on the mother. “More than 30 minutes of resuscitation of the mother didn’t produce results,” Marin said Saturday. “Both died.”

In the chaos after Wednesday’s airstrike, medics didn’t have time to get the woman’s name before her husband and father came to take away her body. At least someone came to retrieve her, they said — so she didn’t end up in the mass graves being dug for many of Mariupol’s growing number of dead.

R316 I agree. China seemed relatively calm when their Party was ruling, perhaps trending to more openness as a leftover from Deng and Jiang. Not that Tiananmen wasn't horrific but now that Xi has installed himself as their next core... well I feel they've reached a new level of brutality with what's going on with the Uyghurs.

OH Boris, that guy in your post at R301 post himself the X-Google, X-Facebook Millionaire. He's been fired from everywhere he works. His wife left him and took the kids. Now he wants you to buy his own Crypto. He's basically half joking and snarking everything for attention as a Youtuber. He's NOT some well thought out alternative viewpoint.

And if you bothered to watch it, here's summery. Ukraine people should just all give up so that fewer people die. No concept of invasion, destruction of a society or being forced to live under a dictatorship. His followers dont even agree with him. Only a Russian troll would post this. I said it before and I will say it again. You trolls live in the past when "alternative viewpoints" was a thing Americans cared about. LMFAO at your poor training over there. Get a clue. Throw out that old soviet playbook, it's beyond dated.

[quote]They would not be stupid enough to do anything to Chernobyl.

They're stupid enough to kill American journalists and blow up families in front of the New York Times and bomb hospitals and maternity wards and schools. Putin was stupid enough to immediately threaten nuclear war twice at the beginning of this invasion. Multiple people who are experts in Putin and in Russian warfare have said he will use nuclear weapons if he feels cornered and trapped.

It's a mistake to think he won't pull a little "warning shot" stunt with Chernobyl, just to show people he's not bluffing.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

It must be particularly horrific in Mariupol. There is little coming out about it because communications have been cut off and journalists can't get in. Aerial footage shows that all of it has been damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of thousands are besieged without water, food, medicines and are under constant bombardment. Russia doesn't allow humanitarian aid to enter the city.

Yeah, it's got to be worse than Stalingrad in there R323. I hope if Russian troops ever do enter the city they kill themselves once they realize the enormity of the visceral horror they are perpetuating.

Looks like Ukraine and Russia are getting closer to a deal that will end the war and lead to a political settlement of the issues between them.

Russia and Ukraine give brightest assessment yet of progress in talks

March 13 (Reuters) - Russian and Ukrainian officials gave their most upbeat assessments yet on Sunday of progress in their talks on the war in Ukraine, suggesting there could be positive results within days.

"We will not concede in principle on any positions. Russia now understands this. Russia is already beginning to talk constructively," Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a video posted online.

"I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days," he said.

RIA news agency quoted a Russian delegate, Leonid Slutsky, as saying the talks had made substantial progress.

"According to my personal expectations, this progress may grow in the coming days into a joint position of both delegations, into documents for signing," Slutsky said.

Neither side indicated what the scope of any agreement might be.

Their public comments were issued almost at the same time. They came on day 18 of the war which began when Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what the Kremlin terms a special military operation.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 2.5 million people have fled the fighting. Ukraine has said it is willing to negotiate, but not to surrender or accept any ultimatums.

In a tweet, Podolyak said Russia was carefully listening to Ukraine's proposals. "Our demands are - the end of the war and the withdrawal of (Russian) troops. I see the understanding and there is a dialogue," he said.

Three rounds of talks between the two sides in Belarus, most recently last Monday, had focused mainly on humanitarian issues and led to the limited opening of some corridors for civilians to escape fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday there had been some "positive shifts" in the talks, but did not elaborate. On Saturday the Kremlin said the discussions between Russian and Ukrainian officials had been continuing "in video format".

Why is that link from the Archive R325?

Oh never mind, it's to get round the paywall. Appreciate it R325.

I have been following along on this thread with great interest and am praying that Ukraine win the right to be a free and peaceful republic.

Here is an interesting, current article which says many of the soldiers from Chechnya are helping the Ukranians keep their country and freedom! It's so nice that people from all around the world want to help Ukraine. I'm from the U.S. and Ukraine reminds me of a mini-U.S, from the 18th century when so many of our great great great grandparents fought for and died so we can be free.

Hopefully Zelenskyy is opposed to de-militarization. That demand is a step too far. No country should become a vassal state. The rest is possible: neutrality and Crimea/Doneskt/Lukhanst.

I don't think neutrality is possible either R329 but the separatist regions might be acceptable.

Of course, no coverage of Ukrainians committing the war crimes. Today in Donetsk, Ukraine shelling kills 15 civilians.

Where is the Western outcry now?

MSNBC live Morning Joe=Poutine may want Moldova. Ukraine needs to draw a line that he does not get Odessa, let alone an inch of Moldova. Blinken has already met with Moldovan authorities promising support and Moldova’s future inclusion into the EU. FUCK OFF Poutine!

I should cite the link, but all you smart posters have made me learn about Russia and its, like, 88 Russian Republics. I saw a great map of like 22ish little satellite republics, e.g., Chechnya and all these other republics with names I've never heard of, who want freedom and independence like Ukraine. It's a great thing. What Ukraine is going through has happened over and over throughout history with these other republics who want to be also free and independent --- and fought with Putin's Russia! Maybe they all will help each other fight to be independent nations. It looks like we are in the middle of a great change, rather than WW3.

We all need to support these people to be free and independent too, if they want to be their own nation.

Fair enough, R331, but that's kind of dwarfed by what the Russians are doing in every city and village within reach of their bombs. No equivalence.

Any word at this point whether the people in the two breakaway regions and Crimea still *want* to be part of Russia? Might have sounded good in 2014, but given the choice between a relatively free country with a small but determined military, and an increasingly repressive dictatorship with a glaringly weak military and serious economic problems ....

Russia sees Tucker and other pro-Russia Americans as part of their “Victory in Information War.” They're urging their own journalists to push his broadcasts to the max.

I didn't realize there is nuance in Czechen participation, and need to see the guys with yellow armbands, since they are scary as hell. Otherwise they are creeping on to Twitter as part of Russia's propaganda push.

Donald Trump told Jeanine Pirro yesterday there is also "a lot of love" behind Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

"You say, what's the purpose of this? They had a country. You could see it was a country where there was a lot of love and we're doing it because, you know, somebody wants to make his country larger or he wants to put it back the way it was when actually it didn't work very well," Trump said.

A word salad like that is one of the signs of the con artist.

Dragging China into this is pathetic; it's like the US and EU, self-appointed leaders of the world, can't handle the war on their own. They just make shit up to get them involved.

China and the rest of the world aren't interested. They need to get that through their thick skulls.

[quote]Dragging China into this is pathetic; it's like the US and EU, self-appointed leaders of the world, can't handle the war on their own.

Guess you missed the part about Russia asking China for assistance.

R341, did China provide it? China denies it. The West is making stuff up to get China involved.

And, if Russia asks third parties for help, they're suddenly involved?

It's imperialistic bullshit.

R341, you just assume that's true?

White people can't handle their own drama. Have to get POC involved by lying.

[quote]A word salad like that is one of the signs of the con artist.

A word salad like that is one of the signs of dementia.

R342, R344, FINALLY some sane voices!!!!

Looks like the trolls have awoken from their vodka-and-borscht stupor. The clock on the wall tells me that they're a bit late, and also that we're already only a couple of hours till sunset in Ukraine on the nineteenth day of fighting, and Russia still hasn't taken the major cities, for all their wanton, pointless destruction.

[quote]did China provide it?

No, they're busy committing atrocities against their own people.

They don't have to take any cities, r347. They just have to cause enough destruction to make Ukraine come to a compromise that satisfies Russia. Which appears to be what's happening right now.

Sorry mate, Ukraine is not in the business of satisfying Russia.

Meanwhile, R349, Russia will have lost its most important markets—perhaps for a long, long time—and its reputation for being even a semi-competent military power.

Russian McDonald’s fan chains himself to eatery in attempt to prevent closing

Yes and no, r351. If the point of the sanctions was to end the war then some might ask why sanctions are continuing. Sanctions are only effective tools when used with a specific goal. Across the board sanctions simply to get rid of a political leader you don't like (i.e. regime change) will never be effective and will simply harm ordinary people in both the west and Russia, as well as Ukraine if the west insists that Ukraine will also have to adopt its sanctions against Russia once the war is over and Ukraine and Russia have come to an agreement. Continued western sanctions after the war will only help bolster Putin's position - ordinary Russians will see them as the west unfairly targeting the Russian people. Moreover, there's nothing more that Putin would like than a return to the Cold War, when there were minimal contacts between the west and the Soviet bloc.

As for Russia's military, for the non-western world, Putin will be seen as someone who took on the west and won. As for our (Nato's) military capabilities, what does it say about us that we boast that we're the most powerful military alliance in history yet do nothing to defend a country that we say is fighting to protect the freedoms of all of us? The west has framed this war as a battle for democracy, yet we are willing to risk nothing and have no desire to use our armies to fight for democracy.

The US is acting like the loud, imperious rich white girl everyone on the playground kind of hates, just making up lies to pull others into her shit because she's that entitled. She's blonde, and the EU is her slightly quieter rich mean-girl bestie; she's a brunette.

Russia is like a snot-nosed fat white boy in the sandbox, kicking sand in a really pale, skinny white nerd's face. The white girls made themselves the playground police, and are getting in the former's face. They're waiting for others to admire them, acknowledging their role as queens of the playground.

All the Asian, African, and Latin American kids are just trying to play among themselves, learning to play jacks. They're trying to do their own thing, and are freaked out and somewhat hushed by the screaming back and forth, but the rich white girls are trying to wrangle them in, because they already know how to play jacks, and they're not sure they can get their way with the drama they've inserted themselves in.

They're saying the Chinese girl over there is the bully's boyfriend, because she saw them sitting next o each other during snack time, and she needs to get him to stop (i.e., do the work the white girls appointed themselves to do). The Chinese girl is like "WTF... these white girls are crazy; like hell I have anything to do with this. I'm trying to learn to play jacks over here."

The white girls will probably get their way again, because the white teachers, who write the report cards to inform the parents, always believe the white girls.

Yeah, R353, blah blah blah. You can spin and misrepresent the goals of NATO all you want, but western democracies are coming out of this politically and economically more united, and Russia is coming out of this exposed as militarily feeble and economically vulnerable. "Took on the west and won"? More like, invaded Ukraine only to beg for help from China. You must be living in the alternative universe where Putin quickly and decisively replaced the Ukrainian government the way he expected.

I love how the trolls blame the US for inaction in Ukraine while in the same paragraph blame the US for bullying other countries for not joining in sanctions against Russia.

The US has shown restraint and patience in this fiasco because the potential outcome of outright hostility will have dire consequences for all.

Chechens in Mariupol.

The Duran just posted.

The bots and trolls are just desperate now, throwing any crap out there to see what sticks, not even trying to make sense.

That is incorrect, R355. NATO countries have abandoned their economic interests and whatever semblance of political independence they had, and subsumed them to US authority. The effects that Russia's withdrawal from the West will have are enormous, as in Europe we will lose our main energy supplier and we'll be forced to pay much higher prices - this is translated into higher inflation and rising costs for basic services, and less disposable income to maintain the economy working.

The US energy sector will have a bonanza, but this will be at the expense of Europe's economic decline. This will drag down the US and further limit its influence, because its Western Eurasian flank will be weakened. On the other hand, Russia only needs two years in order to build new pipelines to China, which is the strongest economy in the world. This will only strengthen their position and consolidate the anti-US front. In the past, the US got an extremely impoverished China to turn their back on Russia, but now China is too big to remain content with the role of a gigantic sweatshop, and it wants to build a commercial network that will allow it to expand even further. The Russian bear can only win by taking the rising dragon's side, whereas we will all lose due to our incompetent leaders' arrogance.

And let's not forget that Russia, China, India and Saudi Arabia (who has just aligned itself with China) have the largest gold reserves int he world, which would enable them to create their own gold-backed currency to utterly shatter the dollar's supremacy... In fact, this was attempted before: Gaddafi was already initiating the process in Africa, and that is why the US precipitated his downfall during the chaos of the Arab Spring. The problem is that this time we're not talking about a single country, but a group of very strong economies with enormous military power. Unless the US wants to go down in flames and take the entire world with it, they've just signed their own death sentence - and they've just killed Europe as well.

A journalist on site in Ukraine denounces that the US is planning a false flag operation involving biological / chemical weapons, as a means of escalating the war and having an excuse to force NATO to join the war.

I thought Nato's goal was to prevent Russia from taking over Ukraine, r355, not for "western democracies to come out of this politically and economically more united".

Russia will have achieved its goal, which is to prevent Ukraine from joining Nato and extending its influence over Ukraine.

The Russian trolls clocking in at work, I see.

R356, if you're referring to r353 then you completely misunderstood what I wrote.

Sure r363, anyone who raises questions about how this war is turning out and the impacts its aftermath will have on the west is nothing but a paid Russian troll. How Stalinist of you.

I block anyone who says anyone else is a troll, or claims generally that there are Russian trolls on the site.

It just shows them to be childish, paranoid, and/or weak-minded; I don't need the input of that type.

Now the Borises are reduced to spreading QAnon bullshit.

Sure R366, because posting videos like the one at R301 is only with the intent of furthering intelligent discussion.

Bless your heart r366.

R366, don't even bother. These imbeciles have no arguments and their one and only objective is to harass and intimidate anyone who disagrees with the into silence - especially when their only arguments are "Russia is bad", "Putin is crazy" and "They've already lost the war, against all evidence". Whenever you provide them with information that challenges their assertions, their default response is "Russian bot", just as before it was "you're a right wing anti-vaxxer", "Chinese bot", "you're a Trumper", "Iranian bot" and "you're racist".

Just don't even bother to pay any attention to them. They infantile arguments illustrate their utter lack of intelligence.

[quote]A journalist on site in Ukraine

"Coach Red Pill" does not qualify as a journalist, in any sense of the term.

Oh, and bless your heart as well, r370!

Trolls really hate having their tactics turned on them

They’re doing verbose cut and pastes now (you see one all over the “Is Covid Over?” thread) and whine that we won’t have “serious discussion”. After giving us five years of “fuck your feelings” politics

But their words are pure nonsense and lies. Upset we don’t take you traitors seriously? Boo fucking hoo, assholes.

Germany has warned that an immediate boycott of Russian gas and oil supplies could hurt its own population more than Vladimir Putin, bringing mass unemployment and poverty.

“If we flip a switch immediately, there will be supply shortages, even supply stops in Germany,” the economic and energy minister Robert Habeck told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday, as Europe’s largest economy intensely searches to diversify its energy supplies in the medium term.

Elon Musk challenges Putin to a duel In a bizarre turn of events, US tech billionaire Elon Musk appears to have challenged Russian president Vladimir Putin to a one-on-one fight, suggesting that the winner decide the fate of Ukraine.

Ukrainian politicians so far have welcomed the offer, which may have been made tongue-in-cheek. Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko, himself a former boxer, replied with three strong arm emojis.

The Russian president is yet to respond.

R384, the US's way of dealing with reductions in oil now that it's banned Russian oil imports is to rehabilitate the Venezuelan regime and for Joe Biden to be rebuffed by the murderous Saudi dictator prince and the slightly less murderous emirs of the UEA when Biden called them to beg them to increase oil supplies to the US.

The Venezuelan regime that is Russia's ally and which US sanctions had no effect on, that is. The Saudi state that Joe Biden had previously said he would treat as a “pariah” state and of which he said there is “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia”, that is.

Apologies, r376 is intended for r384.

And I am sure r384 will be most happy to receive it when she posts, r377.

Russian military in action.

And we give a flying fuck who you're blocking, darling troll @ R366, because....?

Whoa, a few minutes ago I could see R353 (and their other posts) and now I can't. I didn't take any action; did that happen just because other people were FFing them? Not sure how this works.

R376 The people of Venezuela will beg to differ with you with regards to how those sanctions have affected them .

I can still see R353, R381, you might want to check where you are set between delicate flower, and asbestos eyeballs.

Muriel: I require an "Asbestos Flower" designation.

This site sometimes resets everyone's "Flames and Freaks" settings back to the middle. You have to go to into your settings and adjust if you want it more or less sensitive.

My point is that I was able to see certain posts, then when I refreshed I wasn't able to see them. Does that mean that a lot of people FFed those posts in the meantime? (I didn't change my own setting (which is in the middle) and I didn't FF or block anyone.)

^ Yes, if your setting hasn't changed and you're not at Asbestos Eyeballs, then not being able to see a post you could before means it got some number of FFs.

Quick programming note:

Muriel has stated that the site does attract trolls from outside the US.

That doesn’t mean that every offensive or stupid poster is a foreign troll or even a domestic troll for that matter. However, it does mean I believe that it is the position of the board that trolls post on DataLounge.

Anyone who finds that offensive or childish should consider blocking the site entirely and never posting again.

Thanks, R387.

My setting is permanently stuck between delicate flower and asbestos eyeballs. I can't move it.

FT (paywalled - sorry) is reporting that the U.S. is telling its allies that China signaled "openness" to supplying arms to Russia.

If that is true, I think that is game over for any kind of 21st century detente with China. They can take their cheap-ass Huawei telephone poles and shove 'em you know where.

Archive link for R391.

I wouldn’t trust Putin as far as I could throw Sears Tower.

The fucker is a snake. He’s going to bide his time then invade again OR pull the shit in Ukraine that he did here in 2016 with the attack on our election.

Not only that, but you can bet he’s going to start fucking with the US midterms as soon as he has one cent free to pay his trolls and hackers.

Fuck Putin. He isn’t going to stop. He’s just going to be more subtle. Squeeze that fucker’s throat harder. Keep the sanctions in place. Make sure he can’t even buy a cheap thrill for the next five years. Fuck that prick.

[quote]Russia will have achieved its goal, which is to prevent Ukraine from joining Nato and extending its influence over Ukraine.

Too bad for Russia that its "success" in Ukraine will drive other neighboring countries to embrace NATO.

And not just that, R395, but what are the other costs of Russia's invasion? Generally, its exposure as a second-tier military power and a vulnerable financial power, toxic to most investors and now begging from China. All for the still dubious prospect of control over Ukraine. NOT Putin's goal.

I assume this brave woman will soon fall out of a window.

R382,I said the Venezuelan regime, not Venezuelan people. US sanctions have definitely had a negative effect on the people of Venezuela, but they haven't dislodged or damaged the regime that they were targeted at. That's the problem with sanctions, they hurt the ordinary people, not the politicians. In that sense, the US sanctions on Venezuela have failed.

Haha, yes 378. I shouldn't rush-post during my break.

Brent Renaud

The "sanctions" at issue here include an enormous number of voluntary exits from Russia by western companies, hastened by the Russian government's own actions. It's in part a market effect.

I just heard on MSNBC that children in Ukraine have hair turning gray. Enough with this war!

Wow, just like Toby in Sweeney Todd!

All roads lead to Stephen Sondheim.

Western companies that start to return to Russia, r401, once the war is over and a settlement is reached, which, according to the Ukrainians, may be relatively soon.

An Ukrainian from Gostomel, one of the town's near Kyiv:

"We spent 15 days in total occupation near Gostomel. We stayed 14 nights in the unheated basement where the temperature was 5 °C.

On the second day the connection was lost, on the third - the light. Without light, without gas, without heating, medicines, and gasoline. We were cut off from the whole world.We couldn't leave. They didn't let us out. A family was shot in a nearby village. The friend was killed when he was conducing food to civilians. ⠀

My friends' mom died these days. She was taken out and put on a bench in a bag in Gostomel. She hasn't been buried yet… A thick fragment of hail flew into our courtyard. We were cleaning aviation tags on our lawn. They flew over us every single day.Their military facilities were in the forest, where I walked with the dog "before". Every evening I quickly ran and stood paralyzed near the window to catch any telephone connection. And with all the surprise the window frames were pushing me back from these horrific explosive waves. ⠀

I learned to distinguish sounds - explosions of vacuum bombs, hail and hurricanes, flights of fighter jets, military aircrafts, and alligators. When it was "quiet", we were preparing mentally for new bombings.

On March 9, they broke into our house. 13 trained, dressed to the teeth Kadyrovtsev. With red beards, outfitted to the teeth. With RPGs over his shoulders and shabby machine guns. In St. George ribbons, on the backs with the inscription "intelligence". They tore out the gate, flew into the house in a second, moved in a special forces way, breaking into every room. This hell lasted no more than 30 minutes, but seemed like an eternity. They took phones, hunting weapons. They threatened my father. This was the last straw. We ventured out. It was impossible to stay any longer.

The worst thing was the decision to evacuate, because there was no green corridor to us. And there was a lot of video evidence of the executions of civilians. I knew that this day might be my last. I accepted it and resigned myself. We left. With white flags that we sewed from sheets and mops. In a column of 4 cars. With children and a baby who had run out of formula and was on the verge of death. We miraculously passed 3 enemy checkpoints. Hands went numb from the amount of equipment and the military.

I saw everything ... charred, frozen bodies, shot civilian cars, broken equipment. We stopped every time at the side of the road when columns of enemy vehicles rushed towards a meeting at crazy speed. We made our way under the GRADs....and prayed. We have learned to pray for real.

Now I can't listen to music. Loud noises annoy me. And in silence - I feel unthinkable tension. I keep waiting for it to start. There was everything: the fear of death and hunger. Couldn't feel my legs. I couldn't get my breath back after another bombing.

We left everything, but we survived."

Hostomel is one of the three towns right outside Kiev that got captured and destroyed in the first few days. There are numerous accounts of people being held hostage or just shot dead for fun, children dying from malnutrition and lots of maraudering.

Heartbreaking, R405.

The “Kadyrovtsy” she’s talking about are Chechens, commanded by Kadyrov.

Just in case someone tries to credit the right-wing, pro-Russia "bioweapons lab" crap again on these threads, here's a column for reference. It focuses on the irresponsible Putinesque mendacity of beloved DL villainess Tulsi.

R405 Almost unbearably sad. Why so much suffering. Somebody do something.

Shut up, delusional Tulsi. Not listening.

R404, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Russian prosecutors are threatening to arrest foreign business leaders and seize trademarks and other corporate assets. Western companies might not be in a rush to return.

The woman who interrupted the news broadcast in Russia with a No War sign has been arrested. She could face up to 15 years in prison.

And this:

Night update. The war is routine now. I worry about people in Kherson. My friends there say “people are arrested”. A friend said he knows at least 20. I asked him “arrested?” He replied “I hope so because we do not see them again”.

Forgot the link.

R411 damn!

She should have run straight to the US embassy to ask for asylum after that broadcast!

More annihilation of the bullshit biOLaBs! false flag. Anyone still pushing this should just be ignored--there's no more excuse for falling for or pushing this fact-free nonsense.

Guess who's NOT pulling out of Russia?

Several "blank sign" arrests.

Bless their hearts, truly.

Thank you, Walli!

pre-recorded statement of the woman who protested on tv. she was an editor for state TV and she apologises for producing propaganda to zombify the Russian people.

Attorneys are still looking for her...

"Given the noise that Russia's making at the U.N. and on their state media about how Ukraine is about to use chemical and biological weapons, it seems like they are preparing the ground for attacking Ukrainians with these kinds of weapons..." -- Julia Ioffe

It’s beyond tragic - what a waste of life. So many have left, but quite a few have stayed. I understand the desire to stand your ground, but at what cost? Anderson Cooper interviews Olena Gnes from her underground hideout every few nights. She thinks it’s important to stay, but she has three beautiful children and I do not understand why she didn’t leave for their sake. I think she’s irresponsible with their lives. There are some decisions childless people can make in a war, but once you have children, their safety comes first.

So sickening R414. I once said, somewhat semi-seriously, that we needed another HCUA. Understandably people called me a troll.

But seeing the Right defend Putin and propagate this ludicrous bio-weapons story... I really do think we need a committee to investigate these traitors.

Hate those people, but honestly, still think you are wrong r421. Killing our rights to save the rights of others is a bad road to travel down.

How does an investigating committee kill our rights?

Here's what U.S. intelligence says Russia asked China for:

“2 officials familiar with content of the cables said the US told allies Russia asked China for 5 types of equipment, including surface-to-air missiles. Other asks: drones, intelligence-related equipment, armoured vehicles, and vehicles used for logistics and support.”

And:

"Among the assistance Russia requested of China was prepackaged, nonperishable military food kits, known in the US as “meal, ready-to-eat,” or MREs, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Apparently corruption has seen a lot of Russia's MREs sold on the black market and that's why the soldiers haven't been given enough food.

Slowly at first, then all at once r423. But seriously, the McCarthy Era wasn't so much about throwing everyone in jail. It was about some "investigations" that led to a whole atmosphere that people who weren't acceptable, like ya know, homos, had to be shunned at all costs as dangerous subversives. It was a sick and twisted interplay between government, corporations, Hollywood, and society at large. It is not something to wish for.

Sounds like Russia is spent and can't sustain a long term invasion. One general on CNN said Russia won't be able to hold on beyond the next 10 days.

Let’s hope China doesn’t supply Russia, and that the parties negotiate a peace this week.

I hope that is true r426. Suspicious of hearing what I want to hear, but still, they are certainly finding it harder than I think most of us would have thought at the beginning of this invasion. They have issues that weren't obvious at first. But still, I'm always leery of wishful thinking. It would be great, though to see them actually defeated and in retreat.

I don't wish for it R425 and you're right about how gays were thought as lacking moral fiber and easily manipulated into Communist sympathies. Obviously I have no wish for any committee to trample on our rights in a feverish desire to purge pro-Russian traitors.

At the same time I feel the Right are on the precipice of instigating their own Night of Long Knives and creating their own committees to hunt down outsiders (gays included). If we don't deal with them now, definitively, I fear for the next election.

I think US intelligence released this story (China providing weapons to Russia) to scare and shame China into backing away from Putin. It also humiliates Russia. The great Russian army has to go begging after 2 and a half weeks of fighting.

R430 That is what think is happening as well, the US is trolling Russia and China. I believe Joe is masterfully releasing information to steer this conflict to resolution.

I fear for the next elections too r429, but a couple of things: the Night of the Long Knives was actually Nazi-on-Nazi violence. Like them, the Right may be about to go wilding on itself. Hope so, because they all pretty much suck, even the so-called responsible right, establishment right, whatever. They all fucking suck and really have since Reagan.

But that said, yeah, buckle up, November is going to suck I fear, and what comes out of that, well, I don't really know.

War economy:

“We cancel all inspections for all businesses,” said Zelensky.

“The only condition is that you ensure the normal operation of your business,” he added.

“Instead of VAT & income tax we give you a 2% tax rate and simplified accounting. For small businesses - we set a voluntary payment of a single tax. If you can - pay. You can't - no questions asked.”

Joe has been nothing short is masterful in how he has navigated all of this. Could you imagine Trump at the helm? I can't even bring myself to let that thought in my head.

It's too bad the American population is no saavy enough to give him credit.

No, well sort of r434. I can imagine either just selling out, quite literally. Or flailing around like the dumb fuck failure he has always been and always will be, never having the faintest fucking idea what is actually going on, but still determined to make every stupid decision that popped into his drug-addled head. Yeah, better without that piece of shit.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Interesting. Russian military missiles are landing just 10km from Poland. That's 6 miles for us in the U.S. Let him attack Poland - they're a NATO member.

A drone already landed near Zagreb in Switzerland but I guess it was taken as an accident.

WHY did I write Switzerland?? I meant Croatia, sorry.

Zagreb, Croatia / Zurich, Switzerland

"A Soviet-era drone that crashed near Croatia's capital city Zagreb last Thursday was not a scout drone as previously thought, with explosive traces and bomb parts found in the crater where it crashed, Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic said, according to Croatian media.

The bomb it was carrying weighed around 120 kilograms. Luckily, the drone had a relatively soft landing when it crashed into the ground, meaning it exploded underground, according to Croatian state broadcaster HRT, citing the Croatian Defense Ministry.

If it had hit concrete or asphalt, the situation would have been much worse.

The six-ton drone, flying at 1,300 meters, came from Hungary and crashed seven minutes after entering Croatia's air space, the government said last Friday. Both Hungary and Croatia are NATO members.

At the time, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said that according to preliminary information the drone originally came from Ukraine and crashed once it had run out of fuel."

If what's reported at R424 is halfway true, it's even pathetic that I thought—this is supposed to be a superpower, running out of basic weaponry and food supplies after less than three weeks in the field?

In the link at R436 you can almost see the Rococo panels rolling their eyes.

Ha Russia is already China’s bitch, they are already running out of food and supplies.

Let’s go Ukraine hold out a little longer, Russia is almost toast.

"@HannaLiubakova

Propaganda works. I had a call with my family in #Belarus. I was surprised by a question: “Is the EU happy that civilians have been killed by “banderivtsi”? We have just seen it on TV”.

Two weeks ago,we were on the same page.

We need support and access to free media in Belarus"

[quote] Dragging China into this is pathetic; it's like the US and EU, self-appointed leaders of the world, can't handle the war on their own. They just make shit up to get them involved. China and the rest of the world aren't interested

Oh look, Madam Wrong the Chinese Troll has spoken.

Sorry Madam Wrong, yes, in fact the US is the leader of the world, both in terms of power, innovation and economics as well as social influence. You need to get that through your head. Sorry that pisses you off, we know you want to be us but sadly, just a poor imitation like most of your products.

Secondly, you must have brain damage from all that MSG in your food. Putin and China have been having a bromance the last few years. Didnt he just ask for your help with money and weapons? If you have issues being dragged into a war, maybe you should blame your reckless boyfriend Vlad Putin.

I liked that young guy who was on with Anderson tonight, the American who’s trying to get his grandmother out of Moscow. He said he thinks the Channel One employee who disrupted the newscast with the truth will make a very important impact.

I love this gem.

"The Ukrainian General Staff claimed that Russian servicemen are increasingly refusing to travel to Ukraine despite promises of veteran status and higher salaries."

Explains why Russia is trying to bring in Syrians and PMCs.

The UK says that they think that Russia can sustain full fighting capacity for another 10-14 days but beyond that Ukraine's resistance forces should be greater.

Nobody is dragging China anywhere. They are a sideshow, and I think we all get it. They are dicking around, ineffectively and pretty much without purpose at this point. They are just another second rate power pretending to matter at this point. Might as well ask how Malaysia feels about all this.

Putin is looking more and more like Trump.

I wonder what Monaco thinks of this? Don't want to upset Monaco. I hear Marshall island is upset too, maybe Grenada can chime in.

Huge explosions in downtown Kyiv going on now.

"@juliaioffe

This is only the beginning. Look at how Putin subdued Chechnya: sheer, bloody terror."

The Guardian.- Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits wounded soldiers to award them state honours.

Chechnya didnt fight back like Ukraine. That's the flaw with Putin's war. He can blow up every city into rubble and they will still be there snipping and the Russians as they try to roll in. Putin has backed himself into a corner. Too much pride to admit he fucked up. Will kill every one just to save face.

They tasted real freedom, r454. Ukraine is also a kleptocracy, but life was improving for the young.

BLOCK R25 NOW if you haven't already. Russian Troll.

HIs flaw was he pissed off the U.S. As I say, kind of over and over and ad nauseum, it takes a while, but when it happens, well, shit, it is going to get ugly like you cannot imagine.

"@DAlperovitch

Valery Kudinov, head of Russian civilian aviation's airworthiness mgmt department, has been fired after telling reporters about China's refusal to supply aircraft parts to Russia"

What that guy who got fired suddenly "fall off the top of a building" or poisoned.

Vlad, killing all your generals is fun, at first, but eventually it becomes a burden.

Russia just fucked itself. Even if they take Ukraine, what then? Economy in the crapper, Ruble worth nothing, western companies refusing to by oil and run businesses back there. Cut off from the rest of the world. Life is going to get really really harsh for Boris. I hope it was worth it. Oh but hey they got more land full of rubble and millions of people who hate Putin. They wont even have enough money to clean up the mess.

yup, r461. They may win the short game, but long game, the world is pissed and honestly it ain't just gonna forget this time. sorry Vlad, it ain't good for you.

Panic selling of Chinese tech stocks. Russia is so toxic, China’s closeness is cratering it’s stock market. Biggest drop since 2008.

That's why people inside Russia are leaving in droves right now. Getting out before they get trapped in there. Apparently there is a massive brain trust of intellectuals, doctors, scientists, computer programmers, engineers, etc all leaving Russia before it turns back into the shit hole it was during the cold war. The country will be left with one ultra rich billionaire AKA Putin, the military and a society similar to American deplorables.

Calling out traitors.

Hang Seng is down again as investors dump Chinese technology stocks. China paying the price for supporting Putin. Trillions lost in market value.

[quote]Macron is being so cringe, aping Zelenskyy - showing up to work unshaven and in jeans, a hoodie.

I'm so damned slow. I had my suspicions but he's hot and I didn't want to believe it.

But only a malignant narcissist would be jealous of Zelenskiy at this moment in time.

GOOD! Americans should all dump their Chinese stocks to send a massage.

Azov is done. Mopping up now. That's why the convoy was able to leave; everything outside of the city center was cleared of Azov B.

On to Odessa, the last piece to control the southern coast.

How they might carve it up.

No carve up, going to be all or nothing. Just watch.

Even the Russian speaking part of Ukraine would not want to be part of a failed pariah state like Russia. I guess they’ll occupy with the military to keep control.The only scary thing is the entire global economy will be affected by this collapse in Chinese markets. I don’t think the crash in Russia will have any effect.

Italian school kids cheering new Ukrainian refugee students Italians know about war.

Relatives in Kyiv telling me Russian troops are in the centre of the city. Pray for Zelensky and Ukraine’s soldiers.

How is Russia going to feed 40 million people who just lost their houses and had their city destroyed? They cant even keep their own troops supplied efficiently. It will be another humanitarian crisis and Putin will be begging for international help. Maybe time to sell some of those super yachts.

How far will 700 million go?

They won’t be able to feed them, or rebuild everything they have destroyed. But I don’t think it will be easy for them. The hatred they have sown will last a generation.

R477 - About ONE TORPEDO.

That yacht is magnificent. I want a yacht DAMMIT.

Spain has seized this $140m yacht, called 'Valerie' which is owned by Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB officer who heads state conglomerate Rostec.

I can't find any credible reports of Russian troops being in Kyiv but they are destroying residential districts in Kyiv. Podil and Osokorky were hit with missiles during night and in early morning. Podil is a huge tetritory, downtown Kyiv. Osokorky is a former left bank village that became a home for thousands Kyiv residents in the 1990s.

And the aid convoy is still not allowed into Mariupol.

They really are just being outright evil now.

No Russian troops in Kyiv. Missile strikes continue in and around Kyiv.

The missiles are actually coming from outside Ukraine now. They can easily go that far and they are too chicken shit to actually put more boots on the ground based on how much they have failed so far.

Well, one thing we can all agree on is that Greenwald has lost any sliver of credibility that may have remained. One of the many “journalists” that gave into bias and embraced conspiracies as it justified and comforted their bitterness. Another professional victim working out his trauma through shared paranoia

[quote]Never mess with the Chechens.

Yeah, don't mess with the Chechens. Remind me, R469, how it is that Russia was doing to Chechnya what it's now doing to Ukraine only a few years ago and now the Chechen leader and his thugs are fighting on Russia's side? Did someone's dad completely sell out their country to the people attempting to destroy it? And is his clownish son continuing to tongue Putin's taint in order to live out his alpha male fantasies unmolested?

Zelensky is 100x the man Kadyrov Sr. was or Kadyrov Jr. is. 1000x. "Don't mess with the Chechens." Lol fuck off.

Podil and central Kyiv, other than Kreshchatyk, contain beautiful old buildings-tsarist era apartments, cathedrals.

R470, thank god. The city is now liberated and returned to Russia where it belongs. After so many headlines that the city is destroyed, it looks pretty fine in the footage.

Very articulate explanation here. Didn't see the ending coming.

A British man who travelled to Ukraine to join the military fight against Russia's invasion says he left the warzone amid fears he was facing a "suicide mission".

Ben Spann told Sky News he did not tell his wife or 16-year-old son that he was going to Ukraine to take up arms, despite the fact he has never served in the military and has no ties to the war-torn country.

The 36-year-old, from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, said he spent five days in a safe house in western Ukraine with four ex-British soldiers - and at one point had a gun pointed at his head after the property was searched by a "Ukrainian SWAT team".

So a wanabe idiot in R490 was a pussy. Got it.

*20,000* dead in Mariupol, according to the mayor of the city. That's about 5% of the population.

Who's going to dig the mass graves? That's going to make for some hard video to explain on Russian propaganda Tucker Carlson TV. Awkward.

R492, that mayor is a lier.

Macron's getting nailed to the cross in the French Press for his performance art What a stupid move just before elections.

Macron's Bromance. Oh well, better than Putin's Bromance with Trump. Have you noticed he is starting to look and act like Trump? Fake news ring a bell?

The truth is coming out now that people are liberated.

Thanks for posting this, R497. One of the very few good things about Twitter and YouTube is that they cannot control EVERYTHING and thus, the truth comes out through the cracks in their system.

Since you are so brave yourself, R491, I imagine that you're rushing to join the international voluntaries that have gone to fight in Ukraine as I type this, right? Please, remember that it's very easy to categorize people as cowardly from the comfort of your home, as you hide behind your computer screen and keyboard.

The Russian lady news editor who held up anti war poster on tv took it too far. You don't protest a war while your soldiers are being shot. Pure Jane Fonda moment.

Thanks for chiming in, Carlson @R500.

"pure Jane Fonda moment" = Tell me you're a Boomer MAGAT piece of shit without telling me you're a Boomer MAGAT piece of shit.

Macron has the biggest first-round lead since Mitterrand in 88. You’re a troll and a liar, R496.

From the NYT: Ukraine Live Updates: 3 European Leaders Head to Kyiv

The leaders of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia crossed into Ukraine on Tuesday morning as fighting rages around the city, with a half dozen loud blasts shaking central Kyiv.

KYIV, Ukraine — Three European leaders were traveling to Kyiv on Tuesday to express the European Union’s “unequivocal support” for Ukraine and offer financial help, the Czech and Polish governments said, even as fighting rages around the city, with half a dozen loud blasts shaking central Kyiv in the pre-dawn hours. The leaders of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia were traveling by train and crossed into Ukraine on Tuesday morning, officials said.

As evidence grows that Russia’s advance has stalled across multiple fronts, talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were set to resume on Tuesday, presenting a narrow path to a diplomatic solution.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine sought to step up pressure on the Kremlin by reiterating appeals to Russian soldiers and citizens appalled by the war to end the fighting. “As long as your country has not completely closed itself off from the whole world, turning into a very large North Korea, you must fight,” he said in a video address in Russian.

There was little sign that the Kremlin would ease its assault, however, as it relies on long-range missiles and heavy artillery to bombard cities and other targets across Ukraine.

Here are some of the latest developments:

President Biden is considering convening and traveling to a meeting of NATO leaders next week in Europe, according to White House officials.

Mr. Zelensky plans to address Congress on Wednesday in a virtual speech that could increase pressure on the Biden administration to send fighter jets to Kyiv.

The whereabouts of a Russian state television employee who was detained on Monday for an on-air anti-war protest were unknown on Tuesday morning, according to a rights lawyer following her case.

Britain’s defense ministry warned that Russia may be planning a chemical or biological attack in a “false-flag” operation to justify the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hundreds escaped Mariupol by car on Monday, according to the local government. A convoy carrying tons of food, water and medicine failed to break a blockade of the city that has been in place since the start of the war.

The Russian Central Bank said it would stop the purchase of gold from banks from Tuesday onward amid a spike in demand for it from Russian people. The country’s government cancelled a tax on the purchase of gold as some savings and investment options have become unavailable in the country because of sanctions.

Stephen Castle March 15, 2022, 6:16 a.m. ET22 minutes ago 22 minutes ago Stephen CastleReporting from London Britain said that it would ban exports of high-end luxury goods to Russia while hitting Russian products like vodka with new tariffs that represent a 35-percentage-point increase. That will deprive Russia of a World Trade Organization benefit known as most-favored nation status, which allows for preferential tariff rates.

March 15, 2022, 6:11 a.m. ET27 minutes ago 27 minutes ago Monika Pronczuk

The leaders of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia head to Kyiv, a visit that was kept secret.

The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia traveled to Kyiv on Tuesday to express solidarity toward Ukraine and present “a broad package of support” from the European Union, in a visit that was kept secret until the last minute as fighting rages around the Ukrainian capital.

The European leaders are set to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal, the office of the Polish prime minister said in a statement, on a day when talks between Kyiv and Moscow are also set to continue.

The aim of the visit is to express the European Union’s “unequivocal support for sovereignty and independence of Ukraine” and present a broad package of support, said Michal Dworczyk, the head of the Polish prime minister’s office. He declined to provide further details.

“This delegation is de facto representing the European Union,” said Mr. Dworczyk. He added that preparations for the trip had been coordinated with the bloc’s top officials and that the decision to arrange the visit had been made last week at a meeting of all European leaders in Versailles, France.

The visit had been a closely held secret, however, and was announced only after the train carrying the leaders to Kyiv crossed into Ukraine on Tuesday morning.

Poland has been calling for a stronger E.U. response to the Russian invasion since it began last month, including by offering Ukraine membership to the bloc. Mr. Zelensky of Ukraine has also asked for his country to join the bloc, although that would involve a lengthy process that can take as long as a decade.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has thrust Poland into a critical position, with the country absorbing an increasing number of American military personnel and becoming a transit point for weapons and humanitarian aid into Ukraine. Poland is also hosting more Ukrainian refugees than any other European country — at least 1.5 million — and many have been staying in the homes of Polish families rather than in refugee camps.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland wrote on Facebook ahead of the visit that this was a crucial moment in world history. “This is not about us, but about the future of our children, who deserve to live in a world free from tyranny,” he wrote.

bloody extrovert politicians, they just HAVE to fly into a war zone for a meeting when they could just do it over video or phone.

Good on them R505. Amazing that they would head into the middle of a warzone and hopefully helps Zelenskyy realise he's not alone.

So Putin won't attack Kyiv now, right? Not while the leaders of NATO nations are there?

Don't be jaded R506.

R507, are they going to live in Kyiv? LOL

Another photo op.

Boris Alert R497. If there is any doubt that real Russian Trolls are on this site, this is a perfect example. Posting "the truth" ala Faux News style from Twiter as "the counter point". Classic Russian playbook.

Fun scroll through the twitter feed at R497: anti-vax, big fan of Putin, Modi, & Xi, retweets Trump Jr. yelling Biden must RESIGN, Bill Cosby is innocent.

LOL, trolls not even trying anymore, just taking whatever scraps they can find.

R507 It's not just a safety issue when they didn't need to, but also a security risk - the more people who knew where Zelenskyy was, the higher risk that could have got intercepted by the Russians. I stand by that I think it was stupid.

Troll, troll, troll. DL's resident hypocrites and nazi sympathisers' favourite retort when they can't face the reality and hard facts.

R512, well, she knew what she was doing. I feel bad for her. But according to Russian law that's a treason.

Just like every time Tucker Carlson opens his mouth he accused of treason by American woke crowds.

[quote] How is Russia going to feed 40 million people

"Feed"? What means, please?

[quote]Troll, troll, troll. DL's resident hypocrites and nazi sympathisers' favourite retort when they can't face the reality and hard facts.

Classic Russian Troll play book page 2. Accuse anyone who calls you out or identifies you as a Troll as someone who cant face facts or handle the truth. Turn the tables on them. Down play and change the narrative once they have identified you.

Just got up and scrolled through 65 or so new posts, and it's too early in the day for me to start squandering FFs on the lame trolls posting their transparent lies. We're halfway through the twentieth day of fighting and the Russians may or may not be running out of bombs; they're certainly running out of MREs.

"Nazi sympathizers" says the troll who then says a reporter facing 15 years in jail for holding up a sign is JUST LIKE Tucker Carlson "getting accused" of something by the "woke."

Keep digging for desperate scraps on RT and nutty conspiracy theorists on twitter--at least that's fun to read as opposed to your sad attempts at commentary.

The MREs are 20 years old apparently. Still eatable but not very tasty after all that time I am sure. Dont think the Russian military is happy about it. Probably ZERO nutritional value at that point.

Yummy!

France24 reporting Polish volunteers in Warsaw refugee centers are spotting creepy Polish guys coming around engaging with refugee children.

R521, they should have run to Russia. Fools, in Russia they are welcomed with open arms and have much better living conditions.

[quote] Mr. Zelensky plans to address Congress on Wednesday in a virtual speech that could increase pressure on the Biden administration to send fighter jets to Kyiv.

Where can we watch?

Most likely everywhere SylviaFowler.

Certainly on C-Span.

From Ian Bremmer this morning: Extraordinary move would be for PM's of Poland, Czech Rep, and Slovenia to stay in Kyiv

There’s no way Russia risks direct attack on leaders of 3 NATO states.

Sky News will cover it live on Youtube.

The trolls who claim that "the ones calling out the trolls are the trolls" are hoping we can't use our brains to sort out the actual content of the posts, and that we'll just throw up our hands at an aporetic choice between accusations. No, it's not the Ukrainians bombing their own cities, the Ukrainian government is not run by fascists, the Ukrainians aren't the ones depriving populations of food and medical care. The fog of war isn't so thick right now that we can't tell what's going on.

It's the Ides of March. C'mon Russians, do something historic.

R525, that's the stupidest comment ever. Putin will not even blink. You just watch. LOL.

Katie Halper interview journalis Alan McLeod, who highlights the fact that the war ub Ukraine has received 400% more coverage than the Saudi-led and US-backed genocide in Yemen, the US occupation of Syria and the fact that Israel bombs that country every week, or the US periodic bombing of Somalia. He surmises that if the public were aware of these other conflicts, given the strong response that there has been to condemn the war in Ukraine, the US would be forced to put an end to them immediately.

He also mentions that the messages of outrage and constant, melodramatized news about Ukraine are part of the techniques that governments utilize to manufacture consent. However, in the cas of conflicts initiated and supported by the US, the overriding principle used is 'out of sight, out of mind'. In short, they are deliberately HIDING information from the Western public in order to help US imperial goals, and exaggerating the impact of Russia's involvement in Ukraine for political reasons.

Catch Miz Lindz on Fox daily. Miz Lindz has all the answers.

Trollfarms must be considerably cheaper than missiles, as evidenced by these threads.

Hearing on Twitter that bigwigs in the Russian military fucked Pooty over massively, assuring him they had enough men/equipment to invade Ukraine while pocketing the money for themselves. They told Vlad he had10,000 tanks available for the invasion; turned out they had 1,000. Oops.

I imagine many Russian military bigwigs will be falling out of windows soon.

Apparently you can get a box of Russian MRE which will feed a person for two days for USD $3 which is a great deal for poor people. Those boxes and other supplies have "Not for sale" written on them but you can still find them on ebay-like sites in Russia and shops.

I'm all for commentary like that in R530 when it's in support of making people JUST AS aware of Yemen, Palestine, etc. as they are of Ukraine—many of us outraged at the Russian invasion have long been spreading the news about all these conflicts, signing petitions, writing to congresspeople, etc. But sometimes that sort of commentary seems to condone Russia's aggression and to belittle the suffering of Ukrainians, as in the crack about "constant, melodramatized news" used to manufacture consent in this case. Is their own news about Yemen etc. just "melodrama"? Perhaps a little inconsistency there?

Tucker Carlson is the mouthpiece for Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch who can be linked to Putin.

R527, as per White House's own admission just yesterday, only Russia knows how this war is going to end and only Putin can stop this war. Trying to gag the Russian side, continuing denying or simply hiding the information provided by the other side, looking the other way or calling that other side trolls and so on is not going to end the war or suffering of the Ukrainian people.

US and its allies are clearly not interested in ending this war ever because it was never about Ukrainian people, who are used as pawns in their games.

All this faux outrage is just simply insincere and not a genuine desire to save Ukraine.

R534 I only have 2 persistent trolls blocked and that post doesn't appear for me. It's one of the v. obvious trolls.

[quote]He surmises that if the public were aware of these other conflicts, given the strong response that there has been to condemn the war in Ukraine, the US would be forced to put an end to them immediately.

Was he asleep from 2002-2011? Iraq war protests were some of the largest in history yet failed to prevent or hastily end the war. The war continued another 6 years after majority public opinion turned against it.

R537, just out of curiosity, can you see R536? Because the underlying non-sequiturs and false equivalences there are similar to the rhetoric of R530.

R539 Nope, 536 nor 530 show up for me, so those are one or both of the two obvious trolls too.

Zelensky just announced that Ukraine will never join NATO at the meeting with the UK Joint Extraordinary Force today.

The Troll Farm of Turnips & Propaganda have showed.

They're basically guaranteeing his protection by risking their own lives R511. I don't know whether that's their intention but I think it's heroic - not on Zelenskyy's level but still.

Putin would have to be pretty stupid to bomb Zelenskyy's hiding place now, even if he did know where it was. And I'm sure Zelenskyy will move if/when the leaders leave.

R543 did you see what the Russians did to mayors? They kidnapped them. They would have kidnapped Zelenskyy but probably left the other ones alone.

[quote]There’s no way Russia risks direct attack on leaders of 3 NATO states.

Cold-blooded insanity, default blatant lies, barbaric aggression plus desperation are a heady brew. Putin gets what hardness he ever now knows from the world fearing he's capable of anything: because it's true.

What do DLs think of the idea that maybe Puttie just hates Zelenskyy’s guts so much that it drove him mad. This man, a former actor/comedian is elected in 2019 and refuses to buckle under pressure by Cheeto! A blackmail attempt to get dirt on Biden/Hunter. This man refused to compromise himself in order to get much- needed already-approved US Congressional military funding for Ukraine. Zelenskyy single-hardly fucked up a major Dump/Putie plot to eliminate Joe Biden from a possible Presidential run.

Me thinks Zelenskyy royally fucked up decades of careful planning to usurp Ukraine and I believe Puttie hates his half-Jewish guts. It’s very personal to Putie. Zelenskyy seemed to come from nowhere and in just 3 short years of his Presidency has derailed his years of patience. It would drive any world leader to madness.

I’m betting Putie won’t stop until Zelenskyy is dead. I’ll also wager Putie will never sit face to face and negotiate anything with him because he’ll lose all control.

^ Interesting theory, shades of Nixon's Kennedy obsession (which also ultimately undermined Nixon's judgment) and Trump's Obama obsession.

Lots more people responding to posters who I’ve blocked. More than I’ve ever seen on the DL

The troll strategy this morning seems to be to shitpost as much as possible to run out the thread.

Don't worry r549. We'll make more.

"@oryxspioenkop

Your occasional reminder that Russia has already claimed more Bayraktar TB2s shot down and destroyed on the ground than Ukraine possesses.

And hasn’t shown the wreckage of one.

PS: I don’t own any Bayraktar TB2s myself. "

Who’s reply are you referring to as a troll, exactly?

Whose, not who's. And yes, I agree, you should specify who you consider to be a troll.

Who knew that Tulsi Gabbard has been posting on this thread? I thought she was a raging homophobe. I guess in this (shit) storm any port will do.

It's fun to look at old troll posts and see the desperate predictions that fell flat. Like the one about Putin taking Kyiv in a blizzard that was supposed to hit right about now--couldn't even bother to check the weather forecast before spewing that one.

R549/r450. Are you engaging in self dialogue again?

Once again, which specific reply are you claiming is a troll?

How do journalists just write "according to one unnamed intelligence official" after some random bullshit and suddenly it's gospel truth?

WTF happened to journalism?

Are you and your imaginary pal w/w yourselves? I’ve seen this tactic before. (Don’t accept any payment in rubles, okay?). Ask for $US. Buys much more at your local supermarket even onRussian goods.

R554. She’s a raging bull dyke! There must be more than a few lickety split Republican log cabinets!

Slander, R559! Tulsi is a stylish lipstick lez!

Imagine! Trolls calling out themselves to misdirect a legitimate question and dialogue.

What cowards and POSs they are. Caught in the act! A pathetic dickless bunch!

HAHA R560. That lipstick gets rubbed off real quick during furious muff diving!

Tulsi is also an active reserve officer of the US Army. Which makes me wonder how the Army normally handles active officers actively trolling for dictators.

Again:

What do DLs think of the idea that maybe Puttie just hates Zelenskyy’s guts so much that it drove him mad. This man, a former actor/comedian is elected in 2019 and refuses to buckle under pressure by Cheeto! A blackmail attempt to get dirt on Biden/Hunter. This man refused to compromise himself in order to get much- needed already-approved US Congressional military funding for Ukraine. Zelenskyy single-hardly fucked up a major Dump/Putie plot to eliminate Joe Biden from a possible Presidential run.

Me thinks Zelenskyy royally fucked up decades of careful planning to usurp Ukraine and I believe Puttie hates his half-Jewish guts. It’s very personal to Putie. Zelenskyy seemed to come from nowhere and in just 3 short years of his Presidency has derailed his years of patience. It would drive any world leader to madness.

I’m betting Putie won’t stop until Zelenskyy is dead. I’ll also wager Putie will never sit face to face and negotiate anything with him because he’ll lose all control.

Well, r563, for some reason they aren't calling Flynn back to active duty for a court martial. If anyone deserved one...

Can we believe that Putin and Trump were not working together to ensure Dump’s re-election? Secret, no-media, no-notes talks in Finland between Putin and Dump? No-note meetings between Lavrov/Kalinsky and Dump in the Oval Office? Dump’s secret funding through a Cyprus bank associated with Russia. The fact that Dump was laundering Russian money through Deutsch Bank as well as in Cyprus? Dump being on the verge of Building Trump Hotel inRussia? I could go on and on….

And here we are today, with Putie having to go on after Biden’s stolen, “Big Lie”, post Jan. 6th insurrection desperate bid to nullify Biden’s Presidency. Is it all a giant co-incidence? Fake news ala Faux now a clarion call in Puttie’s censored media blitz. Yes, all a coincidence….

(I don’t care if we close this thread now because I’ll repost in the next thread).

SIA (Sorry In Advance). I can’t see blocked trolls replies. I just say FUCK THEM!

A real first rate army:

The Kyiv Independent @KyivIndependent ⚡️Ukraine’s military intelligence: Russia plans mass logging of Ukrainian forests.

According to a document published by Ukraine's military intelligence, the wood would be sold, and the money would go for the Russian army.

Putin wants entire Black Sea coastline:

My God, that's like something out of the continental wars of the early 18th century in R568. Who exactly would they sell the wood to, locals? And how many oak logs would it take to buy a tank?

Evidence of his plan:

Can we send warships? Frigates? Battleships? Non-nuclear subs? Take out troop transport ships? I hope we are not castrated again! FUCK!

"Zelensky says he understands Ukraine will not be able to join NATO. 'It's a truth and it must be recognized.'" - AFP

Lol, Putin says “I can haz sanctions TOO.”

Mariupol update.

R573 was already a truth BEFORE the Russians invaded - no country can join if they have disputed territory.

It's parroting the Russian line to pretend that this was ever about NATO. It never was, it was about imperialism.

Captured weapons.

R546, both of Zelensky’s parents are Jewish.

Ukraine can raise (is raising) a fucking army without NATO membership. I predict that this war will give rise to a Ukrainian military that becomes like the IDF of Europe. They know what the stakes are and they will have plenty of resources at their disposal.

The Artem factory in Kiev was destroyed by a Russian missile strike. It produced, among other things, aerial & anti-tank missiles.

Twitter link is suggesting Odessa has had weeks to fortify and set mines against Russian making it ashore.

Devotees of Saint Javelin can buy merchandising at the link below. Money goes towards Ukrainian refugees.

I saw the view from a drone above Mariupol this morning and there's basically nothing left of it.

Wow…just noting that so many replies are blocked. I’d say 50%. Assholes. Pathetic! Can’t Admin delete membership after a set number of blocks? Or are they that desperate $$$ that they need their $$$. After a certain point, I’ll guess be forced to quit DL. Too many trolls. Unable to conduct any discussion before flame wars.

To add to R576/R579, for all the bullshit that this was about NATO and Ukraine being overrun with nazis, this war is more likely to radicalizing Ukrainian nationalists who will form their own militias and would actively oppose any kind of alliance that would restrain Ukraine's military actions. This war will create exactly the problem the liars have been claiming justified it.

Just curious: how many of these people blocked and FF'd for pro-Putin crap on these threads are regular gay DLers?

I'm not including the obvious Natashas sent in to troll the site, like the guy a couple of threads ago who finally blurted out, "Thank God, good riddance American junk. You enjoy your shitburgers in whatever some shithole in Alabama you are. Fat ass, Yankee." Just out of the others, how many were on DL before and visit the other threads?

Fox News has confirmed its cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski was killed while reporting in Ukraine on Monday.

Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott wrote to employees this morning:

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the news this morning regarding our beloved cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski.

Zakrzewski was with correspondent Benjamin Hall “when their vehicle was struck by incoming fire”, Scott said. Hall remains hospitalised in Ukraine, he added.

Pierre was a war zone photographer who covered nearly every international story for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria during his long tenure with us.

His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched. Based in London, Pierre had been working in Ukraine since February.

LOL, America, you so fucked now!

Saudi Arabia Considers Accepting Yuan Instead of Dollars for Chinese Oil Sales. Talks between Riyadh and Beijing have accelerated as the Saudi unhappiness grows with Washington

This news follows the news of China and India switching to ruble/yuan/rupee for their trading.

Volodymyr Zelensky Says Ukraine Won't Join NATO

(Now the Rada needs to put it in the constitution. That leaves recognizing Russian Crimea and the breakaway republics, and permanently demilitarizing.)

[quote] I saw the view from a drone above Mariupol this morning and there's basically nothing left of it.

Now you're getting it.

I told you there was no real country there and soon it will be true.

BBC NEWS: World's number one ranked Russian tennis player Daniel Medvedev is banned from taking part in this year's Wimbledon tournament.

This is getting ridiculous!!!!!

Fox News cameraman killed in Ukraine:

That Canadian sniper didn't make it.

R593, what an idiot.

Now what say you, DL resident warmongers! Are we still winning?

Putin: "Kiev not serious to find mutually acceptable solution."

I think he realized the "talks" were basically stalling for more aid from the West. Market is dumping hard.

[quote]Fox News cameraman killed in Ukraine:

Looking forward to watching Tucker Carlson's moving tribute to a fellow journalist killed in-LOL oh who the fuck am I kidding?

Will Tucker make a statement, r592?

I think he wants this, plus all the rest of what's east of the Dniper.

Why wouldn't Tucker make a tribute? The journalist died senselessly because of his government is shitting everywhere they go and waging wars everywhere.

Tucker will just ask the very important question: What if he was killed by Ukrainians?

He's just asking, OK?!