Russia - threadbanned users in OP

It's inevitable.

The one thing Putin always did well was he projected an air of infallibility, propped up with a brazen don't care attitude.

That's charade is gone, he is nearly 70, fleeting and he has authorised decisions that will effect his country for at least a generation.

There has been a noticeable change in Ukrainian tactics this week, largely down to the fact that they are now receiving vast amounts of munitions with a steady supply of more coming.

He is fighting an experienced army now backed up by rage and weaponry whilst simultaneously getting battered in an economic war.

You are going to see a lot more rats legging it in the weeks and months ahead.

There was never going to be a winner in this, just a sliding scale of mammoth loses.

So a rigged market, in other words.

Wow, that's a very emotional response.

Zelesnky is doing his best to squeeze the absolute maximum support out of the Western allies and is using all the tools at his disposal to do so. And frankly I can't blame him one bit. He's right too, we can do more.

Well if European countries who buy from them do not get gas, Russia will get nothing from them. Ends the decision about what to do about more gradually/safely weakening Russia's chokehold over their gas supplies if Russia go down that route. The pain of it would just have to be dealt with as best as can be, and it can be blamed by the politicians on Putin/Russia for cutting off the gas supply (as it should be, given he started a war with/invaded Ukraine and fired first shots of a Cold War 2.0).

As far as I understand it, they'll be a while getting the infrastructure together to sell these gas supplies to others as well so in meantime they get nothing unless like of China buy it on tick (edit: meant pay in advance...so Russia is one owing them) or something + give them money to make good their losses on energy trade with Europe with an expectation of gas in future when infrastructure is ready.

A good video to help people understand the situation. Just spend some time and listen to what he is saying and then you can make your own mind up.

Lads I don't know about the oligarchs and the connected ones deserting the sinking ship rumours.

Most of them were smart enough to move their own ships, sorry yachts, out of harms way to safe destinations like Turkey, Maldives, etc.

Actually very interesting to see how two of Abramovich's mega yachts made it through the Med and to Turkey.

Once EU sanctions kicked in they stayed in international waters, skirting totally around Greek waters, until they reached Turkish coast.

Quite a few boats, including some linked to Putin himself made it back to Kailingrad or Maldives.

They other thing they have been doing for months is turning off their mandatory trackers.

1 Hour and 20 minutes.

Could you just give us a breakdown of the stoned lad that looks like he is streaming from a soup kitchen?

The patreon is called "coach red pill" so think will maybe give it a miss + save 1hr 20 min.

Also saw this: but I have not had time to read it yet.

I randomly picked a couple of points in the video and listened for like 30 seconds: I'm pretty sure he has fundamental misunderstandings about things like oil production and grain exports which would render any of his conclusions worthless. Also in general I find it a good rule of thumb to avoid people who can monologue for literal hours on end.

The article misrepresents what was actually said; aside from anything else.

There's also an argument to be made that diplomatic and potentially peacekeeping efforts through the UN would benefit from an Ireland who didn't send lethal aid to Ukraine. Granted we're nowhere near the same league as Israel or Turkey in terms of access to Russia but it's still likely our diplomatic and humanitarian aid could be more useful in the long-term than whatever tiny amount of arms we might supply in the short term.

I'm all for emptying our warehouses of non-lethal aid if that's something Ukraine actually wants and needs.

The Ukrainian invasion defence seems to have entered a new phase.

The Russians have always appeared to be able to rain ARTILLERY missiles down, with impunity, on anywhere within range but as they're pushed back out of range, all they will be able to do is further destroy those cities and towns still within range.

Therefore a no-fly zone is becoming more relevant as it could deter AERIAL bombardments, and it's becoming more politically feasible to call it a humanitarian action.

Unfortunately, the Russians have shown themselves to be filthy, dirty, bsatards who would be quite capable of employing chemical weapons now that their arses have been branded. On the bright side, they have been warned, so are possibly fearful of the kind of further humiliation that would ensue.

Also, it has to be remembered that this dark age excuse for a nation is still a superpower based on its volume of nuclear warheads alone.

It is cruelly unfair that the Ukrainians have had to do all the heavy lifting for the "West".

If a Ukrainian ever asks me to kiss their boots, I will thank them for the privilege.