Ukraine (Mod Note & Threadbanned Users in OP)

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119676121#Comment_119676121

There is no wrong answer on Russian ballot paper,it's usually

A- Putin.

B- Putin

irishgeo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119676134#Comment_119676134

A Putin

B A fall out a window.

fash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119676096#Comment_119676096

There was an interesting Twitter thread saying it - like its Soviet predecessors - is considered part of the performative psychological theatre of annexation.

Force some people to vote. Some people vote "yes" because of threats & what's the point in not when they will be falsified anyway, then afterwards the Russians have a "well, you voted for it - or you know in your heart that at least some people did vote for it" - it slightly blurs the lines in the occupied territories & forces the local population to participate in a deliberately humiliating act.

So the audience for the referendums is not third parties - it's more the victims of the annexation

Nody

More than 260,000 Russians have fled since Vladimir Putin announced partial military mobilisation following serious battlefield defeats in Ukraine, according to Western officials and the country’s independent media.

Some estimates now put the number who have gone into exile since the invasion in February at 400,000.

The independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe, now banned in Russia, reported that officials in Moscow have acknowledged 261,000 have left Russia in just four days.

All going as per the plan; Putin never wanted them because they are all cowards anyway.

rgossip30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119664558#Comment_119664558

Pro Putin threads do they exist here ??

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119679287#Comment_119679287

There's been a few

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119679304#Comment_119679304

I'm only aware of one that could be considered as you call it "pro Putin" although personally I saw the discussion as balanced that thread was in the conspiracy theory forum and it was shut down.

Could you point me to any other supposed pro-Russian threads?

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119679605#Comment_119679605

Balanced,

If you live in an alternative reality.

Threads opened by low level posters who make a single post then run away only to see multiple other low level posters support the op post , followed by a few randomers telling us how they putin for standing up to the "Man" followed by America did this and America did that.

Yeah balanced

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119679605#Comment_119679605

Treating Russian (dis)information as equally credible, and treating Russian aggression as equally valid to Ukrainian defence is not "balanced". People appear to deeply misunderstand the term.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119679849#Comment_119679849

There's a Russian youtube account (he talks in English) that I watch sometimes just to get an idea what the pro-Kremlin propagandists are saying. In almost every video you'll get people with Western names absolutely gushing about his content and thanking him for his "balanced outlook".

I think they confuse balance with counter-balance. They perceive the "Western" media to be massively biased against Russia so all a guy has to to is parrot the fantastical lies of the Russian Military of Defence and pro-Russian bloggers to be perceived as "balanced".

Christy42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119680873#Comment_119680873

Balance just means whatever the person watching believes most of the time. I am sure I am guilty of it though hopefully not close to the same scale as Russian propoganda!

bear1

Reports growing that an attack from Belarus may be in the works. Probably with the aim to draw the Ukrainians away from the east.

You'd have to ask, who can Ukraine then call on as an ally to come in and help?

I can't see Poland being too happy about three countries fighting which borders their country.

beggars_bush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119681758#Comment_119681758

who will attack from Belarus?

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119682322#Comment_119682322

Russian and Belarusian militaries of course, seems Iranian drones have been spotted arriving in Belarus

bear1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119682322#Comment_119682322

You really need to ask the question? The Jamaicans of course.

pixelburp

The annexation is obviously the bigger news, but this little nugget says volumes: the newly mobilised russian reservists will need to source their own first aid, being advised sanitary products are a good stopgap.

As we suspected these were not going to be the best, most morale-infused troops heading to the front - they're not even the best equipped at a basics level.

https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1575710415803355136

Christy42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119677627#Comment_119677627

Weirdly when the Soviets came to power first they held elections that I believe were fair. I believe they were fair because they lost that election. Obviously they ignored those results given the rest of history and just didn't hold free and fair elections again.

bear1

I would say the bigger news this morning is the killing of 25 civilians who went to pick up loved ones from one of the occupied cities.

Tragic pictures coming out

nigeldaniel

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-63077272?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6336b4cb59bb920430c25daf%26Zaporizhzhia%3A%20%27People%20were%20screaming%20and%20running%27%262022-09-30T09%3A25%3A39.343Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:f031c699-d174-46ba-9825-86889b8a30e9&pinned_post_asset_id=6336b4cb59bb920430c25daf&pinned_post_type=share

As previously reported, the Russian attack on a civilian convey. The civilian convoy was hit as people were preparing to travel to the Russian-occupied part of the region to pick up their relatives and also deliver humanitarian aid. How many civilians have Russia now murdered in Ukraine?

Strazdas

Fascinating thread from this Ukrainian woman living in Scotland with a lot of Russian relatives. She's probably bang on the money with her assertion that many tens of millions of Russians (even educated ones) have gone down the rabbit hole of right wing Russian nationalism and actively support Putin and his war.

https://twitter.com/nastasiaKlimash/status/1575649514261618688

bear1

We've officially moved closer to a nuclear war, incredible that this is actually a worry in this day and age.

Biden really needs to get China and India on his side and shut up mentioning they'd intervene militarily in Taiwan..

In other news, Lyman appears close to fully encircled.

Nody

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119685207#Comment_119685207

We're exactly as close as we were a month ago and will be by end of October as well. Russia has already had attacks on Crimea which they claim as their own since 2014; exactly how many nukes have been launched because of it? Nothing has changed; nothing will change except more people will be sent to die as cannon fodder with subpar equipment.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119685545#Comment_119685545

That's a very good point, I had kinda forgotten that myself: the gloves could have come off the moment Ukraine struck Crimea - but Russia didn't. And by all accounts the sum total that might happen is Russia can legally throw more bodies into the meat-grinder.

bear1

Ukraine has officially applied for NATO membership.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119685714#Comment_119685714

Won't make a blind bit of difference

Sam Russell

I think the sinking of the Moskva was the most provocative act so far.

They have sunk several other vessels, but to sink the flag ship of the fleet must have hurt.

murphaph

The NATO application was Ukraine's response to the annexation order. I wonder was it discussed with NATO beforehand.

beggars_bush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119682622#Comment_119682622

If Belarus attack they'll be a huge liability

murphaph

Lukashenko would be very cautious about committing troops to Ukraine. His grip on power isn't quite as firm as Putin's.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686123#Comment_119686123

Belarusian losses wouldn't help quell the pro-democracy movement there either; their own despot doesn't quite have the country locked in as well as his master, Putin.

Russia could at least send Chechans and relative experienced troops -, what would Belarus send?

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686109#Comment_119686109

I am hoping so. IMHO accepting Ukraine into NATO would be a good response to Russia's land grab.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686360#Comment_119686360

Even if he sent 20,000 on top of a few thousand Russians , they would force ukraine to divert forces away from the east to hold off another offensive behind their current lines ,it could be a dangerous play for ukraine, It has always been believed Putin wants to turn ukraine into a small landlocked country,he's already partly achieved this , only he hasn't gone all out hitting Odessa yet .

Nody

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686406#Comment_119686406

Never going to happen as long as the war is ongoing and highly unlikely even after the war unless Nato feels the peace deal is iron clad and Putin is dead. Same deal with joining EU; they will keep offering a carrot but it will never happen until the war is over and even then it will be a long process for Ukraine to get up to the required standards.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686407#Comment_119686407

Indeed though Belarus has been threatening to join the war for a while now. Maybe it's just "the cheque is in the post" stalling from Lukashenko, knowing he can't spare the troops, or would be strong enough to fight NATO armed Ukrainians with their dander up.

Sam Russell

Or Poland.

Calling for an end to the fighting and all of the violence it brings is never nonsense. He is right. We should be looking for a peaceful solution to this conflict rather than dragging it out unnecessarily and causing more death and devastation to both sides.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686856#Comment_119686856

The only way this ends is a total annihilation of Russian forces in Ukraine and elsewhere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686864#Comment_119686864

So basically the war is never going to end then that's your solution?

interlocked

Oh, the war will end alright, but it won't be on Russia's terms.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686109#Comment_119686109

I presume this is a pre-planned response for when Putin annexed the four occupied regions and agreed with NATO in advance. It's a handy thing to havein the back pocket to offer to Russia as a "win" for them as part of a negotiated settlement. Much of their reason for the invasion is fear of NATO on their doorstep. Ukraine withdrawing the NATO application, that's as good as it will get for Russia at this stage. The other option for them is to send a large portion of their male population to the slaughter.

Gatling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686877#Comment_119686877

The war will end with the annihilation of all Russian forces in ukraine,at last count they were north of 55,000 soldiers killed in 6 months, do the Math Russia hasn't an infinite supply of trained soldiers and equipment,they are already using stocks from the 1960s

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686877#Comment_119686877

This is not a normal 'war' where two equal protagonists squared up to each other and declared war on each other (such a war could definitely be ended by negotiations). One country brutally invaded another without any warning or provocation and now claims that the territory it is illegally occupying is part of its own territory.

Nody

I'm bored so let's play game here @olestoepoke seeing how Russia broke the last agreement after their illegal invasion of Crimea why would Ukraine ever believe Russia would stick to the peace deal this time? This is beyond the fact that Russia is being pushed back, are sending in untrained reservists who're told to get their own first aid and buying weapons from North Korea. In short Russia is short on everything from weapons to equipment and the only thing they do in fact have is cannon fodder (i.e. untrained soldiers). In the words of a Ukrainian general "We've beaten the professional Russian army; now we will beat the unprofessional Russian army as well" and as someone who's been in Ukraine in the winter if the soldiers think it is bad now they got a whole new experience coming their way in a month or two...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119687221#Comment_119687221

Both sides are employing conscripts, Ukraine has called tens of thousands of civilians to serve in their military, often throwing them into combat with very little training so don't pretend that they are saints in any way. Ukraine even went as far as to stop men from leaving and being with their families, or is constipation ok with you when the supposed "good side" does it?

Nody

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119687305#Comment_119687305

Nice whataboutery there without actually addressing anything brought up. Let's break it down:

• Russia does not have equipment to arm their soldiers and are grasping for the drags of the barrel; Ukraine do and keep getting more advanced weapons every day
• Russia is sending in untrained soldiers to the front line to fill up the gaps; Ukraine's soldiers are being trained more and more every day
• Russia is losing ground; Ukraine is gaining it
• Russia has broken the previous peace agreements; Ukraine has not
• Russia has had over 260.000 men fleeing with in four days of announcement mobilization AND doubled or more the penalties for failing to show up; Ukraine has not

Now try to whataboutery that one about the good side etc. The simple fact is Ukraine is kicking Russia's "fearsome" army around and making progress and once winter comes Ukraine's army will be full equipped to handle it unlike the Russian army of mainly untrained cannon fodder sent in to try to work as a stop gap. Ukraine has zero reason to talk peace atm because they are winning and Putin is losing and Russian opinion is swinging against Putin rapidly and will only accelerate as the losses increase. Peace will come with Russia kicked out of Ukraine negotiated with the new leader of Russia once Putin has had an accident with a window as is so common these days in Russia.

ilkhanid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119683256#Comment_119683256

Didn't somebody once say-might have been Sun Tzu-that raw recruits resemble an army the way that a heap of building materials resembles a house.

In case you forgot, Ukraine is also begging constantly for weaponry and supplies from Western nations both nations are sending untrained soldiers to the front that's a fact that shouldn't be denied.

You can believe whatever you want. Nothing I say can convince you but from what I have seen Russia doesn't appear to be losing just yet. Although I will admit, I am surprised that they haven't completely destroyed Ukraine's electricity grid just yet. Although perhaps they are waiting for the cold weather in the winter in order to plunge Ukraine into darkness and possibly target their gas infrastructure as well. I feel sorry for the civilians who are going to be left without electricity and heat if some sort of compromise doesn't happen before then.

ilkhanid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686818#Comment_119686818

Maybe the French living in German-occupied France felt the same way? What do you think? Did they object to D-Day?

moon2

In case you forgot, Ukraine is also constantly receiving weaponry and supplies from Western nations 

I fixed your statement to make it more accurate! I hope that helps! It really highlights the superior level of equipment the Ukrainian forces have, just like nody was saying.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119687443#Comment_119687443

You talk about Ukraine receiving weapons from other countries as if it is a negative! Russia is also receiving weapons fom other countries, although only pariah states with very few allies (NK, Iran). Russia would be begging other nations for weapons but they know nobody will listen and they would be wasting their breath as nobody wants to deal with a warmongering mafia state who indiscriminately target civilians.

You seem excited at the thought of Russia (further) targeting civilian infrastructure and further suffering of the Ukrainian people. I'm sure it is because you know that such tactics are the only way Russia can gain an advantage as they are getting beaten on the battlefield. It just shows how disingenuous your claims to want peace are.

Perhaps you could address yesterdays targeting of a humanitarian convoy by Russia?