Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Dohnjoe

Apparently unverified video around of Ukrainians shooting Russian prisoners in the legs. If true, it needs to be investigated and the perpetrators punished. I understand these Ukrainian soldiers didn't ask for this war, have seen horrific things and may have had friends/family killed, but there is no excuse. They should know that Russia will immediately seize on this as propaganda, and it will give Ru soldiers an excuse to do the same (and worse) to Ukrainian POWs.

It's a war, it's nasty and beyond brutal, people crack, incidents like this will happen, but it's important they try to keep incidents to a minimum. Russia wants incidents and atrocities like this to occur, they want to drag Ukrainians down to their level, they absolutely want to turn Ukraine into Syria.

Dohnjoe

https://twitter.com/lapatina_/status/1507975405571121160

Dohnjoe

Looks like Russia will try to chop Ukraine up, a North/South Korea type situation. Ironically, at the peak in 2014, multiple polls in these areas showed a majority of people in LNR and DNR wanted some independence from Kyiv (e.g. federal) but a majority did not want to join Russia. Of course, Moscow has always had other designs for these regions.

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1508008609992617987

goldenmick

For all those who keep espousing "make love not war",.. happy to oblige...

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842036#Comment_118842036

I'd like to see that ballot.

" Should the Luhansk People's Republic be absorbed into Russia? "

[ ] Yes

[ ] I wish to be deported to central Siberia

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842036#Comment_118842036

That was always the one claim he was going to hide behind, riding to the rescue of those new democratic republics. As has already been suggested by other posters they will take that as a victory plus whatever bits of land they can hold onto to link to Crimea. I'm not all that convinced that they can even achieve this new plan as there is little evidence they'll suddenly improve as an attacking force. Added to their problems will be all the Ukrainian troops that a pull-out from around Kyiv will free up. Korea is not a model and absolutely nobody will go for it. They will also be very hard pushed to hold onto any areas where there is a belligerent local population. Then there are the sanctions to deal with.

Kermit.de.frog

https://mobile.twitter.com/BILD/status/1508034329254969346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1508034329254969346%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skyscrapercity.com%2Fthreads%2Fukraine-ongoing-events.1703213%2Fpage-2916

Bild website latest to be banned in Russia. They are incrementally cutting the population out of receiving foreign news. The minority that can even access that is.

Dohnjoe

From the Guardian:

Ukraine will “not be silent” about the “horror” of rapes being committed against women during the Russian invasion, a politician in the country has said.

The Ukrainian MP Maria Mezentseva said while one particularly shocking case had been publicly talked about, there are “many more victims” who will need support in the future.

She referred to a case that Ukraine’s prosecutor is investigating, in which a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted in front of her child, PA Media reported.

Mezentseva, who is head of the permanent delegation of Ukraine to the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, said details of incidents must be recorded as they happen because “justice has to prevail”.

She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme:

There is one case which was very widely discussed recently because it’s been recorded and proceeded with [by] the prosecutor’s office, and we’re not going into details, but it’s quite a scary scene when a civilian was shot dead in his house in a small town next to Kyiv.

His wife was – I’m sorry but I have to say it – raped several times in front of her underage child.

Mezentseva, who was speaking to Sky from western Ukraine, said the country could benefit from the experience of other countries, such as the UK, in how to help victims in the aftermath of war.

She said:

There are many more victims rather than just this one case which has been made public by the prosecutor general. And of course, we are expecting many more of them, which will be public once victims will be ready to talk about that.

Dohnjoe

https://twitter.com/uacrisis/status/1508014347330674695

gandalf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842020#Comment_118842020

I've seen the video. The only caveat I'd throw out is it's only been shared by an account known to spew pro Russian propaganda so it may be bollix.

If it isn't then it should be dealt with and I've seen comments claiming to be someone within the Ukrainian authorities saying if it is their forces the book will be thrown at them.

cnocbui

https://twitter.com/HromadskeRadio/status/1507990973472808961

White phosphorous, cluster munitions, thermobarics. Unfortunately I can see where this going. As usual, the France24 panel debates seem to be setting the standard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_6E_xu4830

Elena Volochine seems to have the more realistic cognition as to how serious events are and how crowing about Putin failing isn't appreciating the true danger.

Full program here: https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-world-this-week/20220325-putin-s-war-one-month-on-nato-on-high-alert-as-russia-recalibrates-its-strategy-in-ukraine

Dohnjoe

Russians are only going to get more and more nasty the longer this goes on. They are already using rocket launched mines in N Ukraine, an army moving forward doesn't use those. If they can't have Ukraine, looks like they are going to annihilate as much of it as possible, whilst trying to turn what they do have into Russian territory, so any attacks on it will be "an attack on Russian soil".

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842200#Comment_118842200

The idea that Putin will do something crazy in order to be able to claim some sort of victory is an idea that has been broached in this discussion, so Elena's insight isn't all that revolutionary, although it could maybe stand to be said a bit more.

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118841913#Comment_118841913

Genuinely not nit picking but i have to ask; would you really include Anwar Sadat in that list? Im not saying he was a white knight (not by a long shot) - but he genuinely tried to improve Egypt's domestic political situation. He was not a fundamentalist, and in fact restricted Islamism's function within Egypt. Yes he went to war with Israel but then, historically, signed a peace treaty with them. Joint Nobel Peace Prize for that

He was assassinated by Muslim extremists for being too liberal (i recall that one assassin screamed 'i have killed the Pharaoh' as the murdered him)

Like i said, he was no saint - but i think it a bit extreme to include him in that list?

No offense intended at all btw - just a thought :)

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842231#Comment_118842231

No offence taken, but you are perhaps reading to much into it. I was just listing the lifespan of dictators and wasn't applying any value judgements and differentiating between good dictators and bad, just dictators as a class.

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842247#Comment_118842247

Absolutely yea - i understand. The reason i commented relates to various discussions i have had RE Sadat. Some people do view him negatively, but i tend to look on him with a more sympathetic eye. Certainly his restriction of Islamism (muslim brotherhood et al) was due to his concern about where that ideology could (sadly did) lead. I would have to check but think im right in saying he was one of the first Arab leaders to visit Israel and at least attempt normalization of relations.

But look point taken - it was just one of those moments where i was reading the list - and nodding in agreement - only to suddenly go 'SADAT!! ah come on .. etc etc'

anyway its cool - thanks for reply! :)

Strazdas

Some people have been suggesting that there is a need to 'appease' Putin, not humiliate him and let him keep the Donbass (or part of the Donbass) in order that he doesn't do something crazy.

But it seems a very naïve viewpoint. That would just leave him time to rebuild his forces and then have another go at seizing territory he fancies subsuming into Russia. Any so called peace agreement he signs will be meaningless to him and not worth the paper its written on. He's going to pose a danger, no matter what the outcome of the war.

dasdog

Husarivka is a village in Kharkiv which the Ukrainians took control back of today - cows must be shell shocked.

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842302#Comment_118842302

They've been rebuilding for two decades and it's still a crap military force. He does need to be seen to get enough to end the war. Like others I think Putin is done after this and we will not have to deal with any future misadventures as he's seen just how strongly the West will respond to him. At some point in the very near future there will need to be a conversation about nuclear weapons.

bucketybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842302#Comment_118842302

While I understand the point, I think people gloss over the fact that all sides can make use of that same time. Yes Russia might go away for a year and build up their forces before coming back, but Ukraine will hardly be sitting idle for the year either. How much foreign aid and supplies will be flooding into Ukraine during that period of peace?

A sanctioned Russia versus a western backed Ukraine with time to prepare, I don't think round 2 would be pretty for Russia either.

JoChervil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118841969#Comment_118841969

They always can blame COVID for death

JoChervil

https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1508016837346398211?

briany

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842437#Comment_118842437

But Ukraine doesn't want 'round 2'. They didn't want round 1 to begin with. Any war carries with it the risk of terrible infrastructural damage and casualties (and we're seeing that bear out), both military and civilian. Another imminent helping of that isn't really a good shadow to live under and makes it very difficult to move forward as a country. They need some sort of security guarantee, and that has to be backed by the U.S.A. or NATO or even just a number of larger European countries. Russia cannot be trusted on the matter.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842386#Comment_118842386

They shove these big coke can size magnets into the stomachs of cows who graze on WW1 battle sites, so the shrapnel they eat doesn't cut up their digestive system.

Dohnjoe

What a regime.

https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1508077425086849036

joseywhales

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842435#Comment_118842435

This depends on the assumption that Putin 2.0 will be much more amenable. A price must be paid by Russia for acts of aggression. I would suggest a de nazification of St Petersburg or if that's a bit extreme, just take Crimea and dombas and return Ukraine to it's original borders + give them some adjoining Russia. How can we allow Russia to be rewarded for aggression? Why won't they try again in 10 years and every ten years for the next 100 years?

JoChervil

I remember how I laughed watching this inspection by Putin.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-36285525

Yet he didn't think it was relevant and showed the state of his army.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842533#Comment_118842533

even just a number of larger European countries

I've been thinking a security guarantee based around this might offer Putin a way out of the current crisis short of total humiliation if he genuinely doesn't intend to intefere with Ukraine again...

ronivek

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842437#Comment_118842437

I suspect the problem will be that any ceasefire or peace agreement will very likely have significant stipulations about Ukraine's military; or at least that's what Russia desires at this point. I would also be amazed if the "neutrality" they're always talking about doesn't include restrictions on imports and foreign investment in general.

Also let's be real here: if NATO/EU aren't willing to put boots on the ground in Ukraine to defend them right now then why would they do anything remotely similar in the future? I don't see how Ukraine are going to get any actual security guarantees from anyone but themselves.

Dyr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842585#Comment_118842585

The amount of people on here who think the Ukranians are going to run the Russians out of Ukraine at least and possibly reclaim Donbas then chase the Russkies back to Moscow is becoming a bit much