Russia - threadbanned users in OP

It's amazing how many people take an interest in a regional crisis such as this, and think they have the whole dynamic figured out after reading a few biased western opinion pieces in the guardian or new york times (or whatever your chosen rag is). 😂

If Ukraine is so interested in their own safety as nation, then why have they been embracing such high levels of organised crime since the fall of the iron curtain? Can you explain that one to me?

And I'm not just talking about Ukrainian society, either, we're talking about very well developed and deep mafia connections throughout the whole of the Ukrainian political and economic structures. Ukrainian, Russian and even Israeli mafia, have their grubby hands in every pie. And they are on both sides of this conflict too btw.

These US weapons flooding into the country, they will likely end up in the hands of various organised crime syndicates. But of course the US has been up to this racket for decades, so it's nothing new to them. This entire thing is a power grab, between many different factions.

The whole good guy Vs bad guy over simplistic BS is always trotted out during these things. People can't resist the temptation I suppose.

I love reading the idealistic nonsense from many Irish people around this conflict. It makes for highly entertaining reading.

"Joining NATO for safety"... lol. That's a lovely bedtime story! 🤣

Which countries were invaded by NATO again?

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Units of Russia's Western and Southern Military Districts are heading back to base by rail and by truck at the conclusion of their training, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Units of the Southern and Western Military Districts, which have accomplished their missions, are boarding trains and trucks and will head for their garrisons later today. Some units will join military convoys and will perform self-propelled marches," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Later, the Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing Russian armored vehicles returning to base from exercises.

The video features an off-road march of tanks, as well as tanks, infantry combat vehicles and self-propelled artillery systems being loaded onto a train.

They don’t really do invasions.

Their preferred way of doing things is destroying civilian infrastructure such as bridges, water and sewage treatment plants, power stations etc as they did in Serbia, Libya and Iraq.

Robert Fisk was in Baghdad in 2003 and described the stench of raw sewage in the Tigris in the 45 degree heat, no air con either with no power.

Armoured units returning to trains to be loaded for return to base.

Given the domestic rhetoric of Russian media of "Ukranian's killing Ukranian's" in eastern Ukraine, with mentions of people in east Ukraine just wanting to enjoy a safe life speaking Russian, they have been conditioned to think that Ukraine is killing and torturing people Donbass etc...

Want proof, watch Russia 1 for a couple of hours. Only issue is that they haven't an English outlet that directly correlates the Russian site, so as people are lazy and it's not in English, it's a bit carte blanche for them to say what they want on there, but anything that simmers out into translated western media, it's clouded in "oh, that was just a phrase mis-translated" ... "you don't get the context, it's something Russian people would get" etc.... and if they know they have been caught out, you get the "well America did X" approach....

Obfuscation, gaslighting, whataboutism ... all rolled into one.

looking at our prime examples of this here in thread, any thoughts guys? @BurgerFace @MFPM @BluePlanet

Is Russia 1 not broadcasting these things? Maybe they have been infiltrated by the west and are trying to spread a false flag?

incorrect, it has been domestic rhetoric in Russia for a good while now, that Russia needs to end the Ukrainian war with "themselves" by putting boots on the ground in Donbass etc... to stop civilians being killed in their 1000's.... give Russia 1 TV a go, it's like RT on steroids.

Russia claiming they have absolutely Destroyed and humiliated the wests propaganda ,

But if putins pulling his troops back it's him that's being humiliated.

It's not over yet

Ukraine is the little brother next door.

(Stick with me here for moment, I'm taking a trip down the whimsical rabbit hole!😋)

They've been getting a bit cocky and reckless lately, making friends with the wrong people and bringing some less than impressive girlfriends home. You know the deal. 😂

Big brother Russia has decided it's time to step in and get them back in line. Straighten their wayward life out a bit, before they disgrace the family name. 😉

Big shot swanky yanky doodle, thought he could just waltz into a neighborhood he knew nothing about (do they ever know much about the culture or politics of these places?) and rule the roost. Big miscalculation on their part. The only people who can run eastern europe, are eastern europeans. (Russia being the biggest swinging d!ck on the block)

The worrying thing if you're the yanks, there are very significant signs that the EU is starting to lose patience with their blundering and lack of ability to sort anything out with any degree of efficiency. The likes of Germany and France are not going to remain closely aligned to an increasingly erratic superpower, drunk on their own sense of self-importance and self-image.

Does that mean they will become best friends with Russia? No, not too likely. But they might just decide that they can live without clumsy yank interference and economic self sabotage. And live very comfortably without.

I would not be surprised if Putin has many diverse objectives behind Ukraine. Obvious ones, and some not so readily obvious.

this is just an argument against your own argument 🤣

Wat?

Putin has absolutely no intention of invading Ukraine. Placing 60% of your entire ground forces on their border is just brinkmanship. The russians could invade them with 5% of their army.

The UK and US have driven this "crisis".