Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I agree with all of that. Putin is showing no signs of easing up on his murderous campaign in fact if anything he is threatening to ramp it up. I'm not militarily wise enough to know what should be done but I believe something drastic should be done to put an end to his campaign.

I suspect, given the responses to earlier posts, that this will be an unpopular opinion but regardless: I do not agree with the notion that all Russian people are complicit with what is happening in Ukraine unless they are actively fighting against it - especially those people actually living in Russia. Russia is not a democracy. Russia does not have freedom of speech. All of that stuff that conspiratorial nutcases in the USA talk about where the government show up at your house to arrest you for things that you have said. Well that is actually happening in Russia right now. They still can't even refer to what is going in as a "War". They can't legally protest. At the same time they are being inundated with propaganda and any independent media has been shut down or driven out of the country.

So if you were a regular person, living in Russia what would you be doing right now? It's very easy to say that you'd be walking up and down the street with a placard saying that "Putin is a Murderer" or that you'd be fire-bombing recruitment base. It's very easy to say that when you know that you will never have to makes those choices. Everyone can be brave in their imaginations. It's another thing when the very real possibility of ending up in a Russian penal colony is the inevitable result of your, most likely, futile protest. A place where rape, torture and murder is common practice.

Maybe you'd say that you'd leave the country and maybe you would. Maybe you don't have the resources though. Going into exile is hard. You might have family commitments - people who depend on you actually being there in person. Fleeing is an unimaginable luxury for many people.

Now I'm not for one moment defending the propagandists, the intelligence services, the oligarchs, the police and all of the rapists, murders and torturers in the Russian army. Those people are scum and I hope that if there is a hell that they'll end up in it.

I guess I'm defending ordinary Russian people from that charge that they're "a sub-human race" or whatever it was that someone said earlier. I understand where that poster is coming from. When I see the atrocities committed in Ukraine or when I see Russians in places like Germany obnoxiously marching down the street with their Russian flags spouting propaganda I too am disgusted. It doesn't sit right with me though to castigate the entire nation as, essentially vermin. Just because Putin is a monster doesn't mean that everyone in the country is too.

I said this last year. Russia would attack and attack then one day the attacks would suddenly stop because they ran out of ammo. When you hear them questioning NATO's ability to maintain their ammo supplies they are really speaking about their own. They often project their weaknesses onto the west in a sort of reverse psychology for simpletons.

The voice of reason? You should have chosen loaderballs, it would have been more apt. 😛 And we're off with the "feeble minded ignoramus".

Any more garbage to report? 🤣

Broadly agree with the sentiment here; although one thing to keep in mind is that Putin's rise to power didn't happen in a vacuum. Large numbers of Russian people did and continue to vote for and support him.

I suppose the question is: if Russia's people are not willing to keep their Government in check then who is going to do it?

I think the answer is: nobody else can. NATO cannot intervene within Russia because Russia has nuclear weapons and other capabilities which it would certainly use even in its death throes if a foreign power invaded.

If the entire world banded together and imposed sanctions on Russia maybe that would do it: but as we know that just isn't going to happen (China/India I'm looking at you).

So whilst I do agree with the sentiment I also think large scale civil disobedience is probably the only thing that would actually put a stop to the war (beyond Ukrainian military victory of course); but yet the Russian people seem to have zero appetite for that struggle. Compare and contrast with the Maidan in Ukraine for example.

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Not inhuman?

They really can't help themselves can they?

My wife, her family here and I were were outside the Russian Embassy immediately after and still campaign with the Russia diaspora here against the war. It is not for her to discuss rape to others, but the Russians back home are well aware as they all have access to Telegram. They're not as oblivious as you seem to think and definitely don't support the war by majority. That concept might make them easier to hate, but it just isn't true.

Fair play to you protesting against the war but to be honest I see little evidence of Russians protesting either here or back in Russia. And to be perfectly frank I care little for what Russians do at this stage ,they certainly won't be rising up against putins tyranny anyway. I care much more for those people that are being raped tortured and murdered by Russians and I hope Russia pays a very heavy price for this, slava Ukraine 🇺🇦

We're discussing russia,not mother and baby homes,so I'm not interested in your deflection.

What I am interested in is what do you think of the russian Nazi symbol of the war being spray painted onto a memorial for Holocaust victims?

Because in my book that is a Inhumane despicable act of hatred,you reap what you sow.

It's absolutely inhumane, childish, dim. The person who spray painted that symbol on the memorial is a thick-headed fool. Inhuman act for use, but that speaks to the person who did the act, not all Russians. So my point is, you're not responsible for all attrocities committed by Irish people just because you too may be Irish.

TBH I couldn't care less how Russians are regarded throughout the world but I'm sure you are aware that they are hated throughout the western world and with justification I might add. And seeing as Russians themselves are not going to bring about an end to this brutality I don't think they can have much grounds for complaint if outside forces put an end to it.

There is absolutely no justification to hate all Russians because of this war. That is the kind of mentality that leads to the genocide we're seeing today. A person who hates an entire nation of people are only a different path in life away from being a Putin or the Russians raping innocent Ukrainians. Most people are good and intelligent enough to understand the complexities of a situation like this.

This ^^

If you walk past the GPO most evenings you will see people protesting about dictator murderous regimes in their home countries.

I’ve seen Syrians, Lebanese, Myanmar all wave blood stained flags of their leaders to express their disapproval and need for change.

Now when it comes to Russians abroad yes we’ve seen protests… but all in support of Putin!

these range from Russians in Germany waving Z flags and protesting against Ukrainian refugees.

Russians waving Z flags in Dublin on the M50 and phoenix park.

Russians racially assaulting Ukrainians in Spain.

And then the sporting events be it boxing or motor racing, Russian athletes openly displaying Z flags or tattoos to express their support of the war.

But posters on here say the majority of Russians are against the war but yet we haven’t seen proof of that anywhere in the world.

Many of them are against the war, not for Ukraine's sake, but for their own sake. It upsets their apple cart. There's a difference.