Russia - threadbanned users in OP

cj maxx

I ,for one, am extremely concerned that Putin will start WWIII. **** Psychopath . This is what it must have been like in the sixties and even the 30's when Hitler went on the rampage.

Cody montana

Did they ever open their stock market?

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724093#Comment_118724093

More the fifties than the sixties. Post Bay of Pigs it was a scenario of detente, even though the spectre of MAD was there until the SALT talks starting in the 1970s.

Bayonet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724049#Comment_118724049

Russia sent them letters demanding assurances for Russian security. The chutzpah is off the scale with this lot at the Kremlin.

Bayonet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724099#Comment_118724099

Just waiting on the elites to sort out their finances before opening up for the inevitable disaster.

Dohnjoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724099#Comment_118724099

"How can stock market crash when it is not open, checkmate West"

Bayonet

One of the few remaining dissenting voices in Russia gets shut down.

Ekho Moskvy, a liberal radio station in Moscow, has been dissolved by its board, its editor Alexei Venediktov said, in a move eliminating one of the few remaining liberal media that the Kremlin has tolerated until now.

The move came shortly after the prosecutor general's office demanded that access be restricted to Ekho Moskvy and the TV Rain online news channel because of their coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Any scientists on thread? Got the below from EuroScience this morning. (Edited for brevity)

We encourage all members of EuroScience, and all researchers and science professionals working in the Russian Federation, to evaluate critically the action of the Russian government and to join in the signature of the open letter of Russian scientists and science journalists against the war with Ukraine. 

SIGN THE OPEN LETTER HERE

(Founded in 1724 by Peter the Great and based in Moscow, the National Academy is the highest-ranking research institution in the Russian Federation.)

The Letter

We, Russian scientists and scientific journalists, declare a strong protest against the hostilities launched by the armed forces of our country on the territory of Ukraine. This fatal step leads to huge human losses and undermines the foundations of the established system of international security. The responsibility for unleashing a new war in Europe lies entirely with Russia.

There is no rational justification for this war. Attempts to use the situation in Donbass as a pretext for launching a military operation do not inspire any confidence. It is clear that Ukraine does not pose a threat to the security of our country. The war against her is unfair and frankly senseless.

Ukraine has been and remains a country close to us. Many of us have relatives, friends, and scientific colleagues living in Ukraine. Our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers fought together against Nazism. Unleashing a war for the sake of the geopolitical ambitions of the leadership of the Russian Federation, driven by dubious historiosophical fantasies, is a cynical betrayal of their memory.

We respect Ukrainian statehood, which rests on functional democratic institutions. We treat the European choice of our neighbors with understanding. We are convinced that all problems in relations between our countries can be resolved peacefully.

Having unleashed the war, Russia doomed itself to international isolation, to the position of a pariah country. This means that we, scientists, will no longer be able to do our job normally: after all, conducting scientific research is unthinkable without full cooperation with colleagues from other countries. The isolation of Russia from the world means further cultural and technological degradation of our country in the complete absence of positive prospects. War with Ukraine is a step to nowhere.

It is bitter for us to realize that our country, together with other republics of the former USSR, which made a decisive contribution to the victory over Nazism, has now become the instigator of a new war on the European continent. We demand an immediate halt to all military operations directed against Ukraine. We demand respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. We demand peace for our countries.

trv-science.ru/2022/02/we-are-against-war/

Addmagnet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724065#Comment_118724065

You are probably right.

I'm finding it difficult to articulate how dismayed, enraged, scared ... <insert any and all strong emotion here> this thing is making me feel. On the one hand I'd want to see the killing stop ASAP (on both sides!), but on the other, believing that if Ukraine and yes, by proxy, most of the rest of the world, capitulates or surrenders or makes concessions, we doom ourselves. Maybe not immediately and maybe not in an apocalyptically sudden 'End Of The World' style, but death by a thousand cuts - despots threatening other countries about who and how they make alliances, backing up their threats by effectively saying "it would be a shame if we had do what Russia did to Ukraine, wouldn't it?".

I have no grand plan to solve this war. I believe that what Putin has done is illegal and I don't believe that he should profit by it in any way. Easy for me to say, sitting here in comfort and ease in Ireland. And that's also something that's causing me strong emotions, shame being one. Shame that I'm allowing people in Ukraine to fight and die for me and I feel like there's f*ck all I'm doing for them.

So I apologise for lashing out at you.

Nermal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724068#Comment_118724068

Does he elaborate on the 'plenty' of other options they had?

Are they anything other than 'sit there and watch while we expand our 'defensive' military alliance to within a few hundred kilometers of your capital'?

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118723778#Comment_118723778

I don't disagree but are Ireland not one of the most food secure countries in the world?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724078#Comment_118724078

No idea. Personally I think they'll have to put it to Russia that they have to fully withdraw, FULLY, from ALL Ukraine regions including Crimea etc and reparations to be paid to cover the damage and losses.

Wont happen though, Putin is a basket case.

At this stage I don't see how we avoid a WW

The hashtag #Istandwithputin is trending on twitter. Some of it is people asking 'why the **** is #Istandwithputin trending?' but a lot is genuine support.

As someone said earlier we live in a bit of an information media bubble here in the west. If most of Russia, India, Pakistan, China, Central America, and even a significant group in the USA support Putin, that's a Lot of people.

Dohnjoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724147#Comment_118724147

Perhaps not invading a sovereign country and butchering innocents to rewrite history?

Countries are free to join NATO, now we see why. Finland and Sweden are now considering joining for the glaringly obvious.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724152#Comment_118724152

Yes we are. And we are incredibly privileged because of that. But the impact beyond Ireland will be massive. Even within Ireland it will be serious. The IFA put out a statement about the conflict recently that's worth reading: https://www.ifa.ie/campaigns/impact-of-the-russia-ukraine-conflict/

Heraclius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724153#Comment_118724153

Hopefully China can persuade him to pull back with some promises of internationally run referendums but I'm not optimistic

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724142#Comment_118724142

Actually I think the West missed a trick by not inviting the Russians into NATO in the 90's when the future of the country was in flux. We were pretty quick to welcome the ex Soviet vassal states into the fold, but with Russia herself the ball was dropped IMHO. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but it did seem like an opportunity lost.

Like you said we could have had Norway++ and even a more local manufacturing base instead of China, which in day to day terms holds us more by the short hairs than Russia does. The astonishing and welcome speed of sanctions against Russia will come back and bite a few sectors in the West, but now imagine the same level of sanctions against China. Well for a start I'd highly doubt they'd be imposed to nearly the same extent or with nearly the same haste if they went for Taiwan.

cj maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724105#Comment_118724105

True. Putin has by all accounts surrounded himself by KGB yes-men. Scary times with that headcase in charge of 6,000 nuclear warheads and nobody seemingly wanting or able to reign him in .

deise08

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1499259886189830148?s=20&t=-EtjX-zm_s9LwQ0OJpkoPA

He also quoted in his feed an article from the FT, Turkey blocking passage to Russian Navy?

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1499257376087674880?s=20&t=-EtjX-zm_s9LwQ0OJpkoPA

Dohnjoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724195#Comment_118724195

Indeed sanctions hurt us, but they hurt Russia 100x more.

Mecanudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724147#Comment_118724147

Another Putin Apologist? OK.

I presume your thinking is that Putin had no other option other than to invade Ukraine, bomb the **** out of it and undertake the ethnic cleansing of the Ukranian people even though its not part of any "defensive military alliance"

So you're asking me - why would countries like Ukraine (who's just been invaded by Russia), Sweden and Finland (who've just be threatened by Russia) seek to be part of a defensive network, which appears to be the only thing holding Putins land grabbing megalomaniac ambitions at bay? No sorry absolutely stumped on that one. >insert irony emoji<.

Edit. Thanks @Dohnjoe you bet me to it!

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724153#Comment_118724153

No idea. Personally I think they'll have to put it to Russia that they have to fully withdraw, FULLY, from ALL Ukraine regions including Crimea etc and reparations to be paid to cover the damage and losses.

Wont happen though, Putin is a basket case.

I agree, that won't happen, but not because Putin is a basket case, more because no leader in his position would accept that. Not when the threat of mushroom clouds is in the room. Those across the table from him know this too and beyond the rhetoric that's attractive in the early days, they'll be looking for a longterm practical way out to 'save face' all around.

At this stage I don't see how we avoid a WW

Well for me we've been in WW3 since 911 happened with ideology against idelogy and hundreds of thousands dead in many places in the world. It just wasn't a massed army against army type. I would say today we're more in WWTF? I don't see Putin invading Poland or any of that. Sabres will be rattled alright, but IMHO his generals would stop him, especially after the cock up of this invasion. Their military have been a complete amateur hour for the most part and the Ukrainians have won the hearts and minds on Twitter war by overwhelming force and held back his forces to a degree that no way did he or his advisors envisage going in. They may have 'poked the bear' but said bear turned out to be arthritic, mangy and blind in one eye.

And let's face it this isn't a proxy war fought elsewhere with brown people doing the dying because I'm not paying three dollars a gallon for my SUV! It's White people killing other White people in Europe. Clearly this has a much bigger impact on how things play out as we've seen in the last week.

Mecanudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724158#Comment_118724158

I agree.

Twitter famously booted the President of America off its Social media platform for inciting violence and other things.

Today twitter is hosting Putins official account. The same guy who just invaded a sovereign country and who is now undertaking a mass programe of ethnic cleansing there.

I reckon twitter desperately needs to get its **** together.

seamus

It's always telling when someone describes NATO practically as an autocratic nation "expanding into" (read: taking over) other countries.

They never ask the question of why Russia's neighbours feel the need to voluntarily join a defensive military alliance in the first place.

Obviously the notion of democracy and self-determination is a difficult one for Russia and their apologists to grasp.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724152#Comment_118724152

We are,6th biggest beef exporter etc etc but our grain isn't really good enough for bread compared to others.

"No country can improve their security at the expense of another country's security". From the Russians who've just invaded a neighbour. 🤣

AxleAddict

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724295#Comment_118724295

Yeah - Lavrov's diatribe was pretty thick with irony - pretty much everything he accused the west of could be applied ten-fold to Russia. Bizzare logic.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724322#Comment_118724322

That's how they operate I guess. I mean sure they're invading Ukraine but someone said something 4 years ago so there.

https://www.reuters.com/business/oracle-says-it-has-suspended-all-operations-russia-2022-03-02/

If you are in Oil and Gas then you can assume you are using the SAP industry solution for Oil and Gas.

Not obvious to the general public.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118724289#Comment_118724289

Let's call a spade a spade here, if you towed Ireland to the middle of the Black Sea and plonked it there, every single person in this thread would be scrambling to join NATO.

We live on a windy rock, far away from the direct threat of Russia, but only because there's a couple of dozen NATO members in between that effectively gartuntee our security.

All the sh*t talkers making excuses for Putin would be singing to a different tune if they lived in a country bordering a Russia led by that creep.

Have Finland suddenly been transformed into a country of warmongerers? Of course not, it's a country that doesn't want to have its way of life f*cked around with by a fascist and Nato is the means to prevent that.