Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Anne as usual hits nail on head .. Donald Trump wants Ukraine to lose. Why??

Hi president Trump, goodbye Alaska!

Quote" So they think it is fair game for a foreign power(eg CIA) to mount a terrorist operation in Moscow?

If they believe that that has happened,what do they think should be the reaction? They will believe what the Kremlin tells them to believe (at least publicly) because they are powerless to do otherwise. They don't really have much say in it. The friend I was talking to, is convinced that the evil west, US, CIA, UK etc is behind all of Russia's problems including the war. Although there's a slight change in the story now, what Putin is doing is only because he is being forced to do, because you know, he's not really that kind of person at all.

How do they imagine they can prevent it happening again?(hint:stop pathetic wars of aggression and territorial acquisition against your neighbours,perhaps so that you can protect your own population?) All depends on Putin, and he has convinced them that he's the only one who can protect them against the evil west, US etc. Putin cannot prevent it happening again, and neither does he want to. Its his main leverage on power. However, he does need to keep it at an "acceptable" level, failure to do this might lead people to think that maybe, he's not the right man for the job.

Edit:This may well be something the CIA could orchestrate and keep its hands clean but I don't see how it could be perceived to be in their interest. I'm sure that the CIA (and others) are working every way they can against Putin. I don't know what their thinking was to give Putin advance warning of the ISIS attack, unless it was to alert Americans or others who might have been caught up in it? It's pretty standard practice for Embassys to give warnings to its citizens about impending events. But to officially warn Putin? For sure, there was method in their madness, maybe to dis- associate themselves from it and prove they had nothing to do with it?

Noone suspected Putin of ever staging comparable events in the West (maybe he has considered it and is now projecting?) Putin has been waging war on the west for many years and in many country's, and western Intelligence agencys are fully aware of this. Any attacks, assassinations or attacks like the Moscow theatre etc. will have Putin's fingerprints all over them

ps If this is the start of an Isis campaign in Russia ,can they fight on that front as well? How much help would the West be Putiprepared to give? ISIS has been fighting Putins military anywhere they have met in the world, so it's nothing new, but the theatre attack was a different matter. Taking the fight to Moscow was a big statement. And it proves to be the first of many, then Putin will have no choice but to try and contain it. Putin cannot expect any help whatsoever from the west, UK, US etc.

What does it say about security around Moscow and for Putin himself?

Putin and his Windows again..

Why are the French so exercised with Russia lately? With the death of Wagner, the Russians have created a regular military Africa Corps. Wagner were active before the expansion of Russians offensive into Ukraine. The Sahel region of the Francophone part of Africa is fully "in play" now, with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger all exited ECOWAS. Don't know the implications for the CFA franc.

Yeah my bad. russia’s long term strategy and how their country’s fundamentals are not good

Interesting question. With the losses putin's forces have been experiencing in Ukraine it would not surprise me if they were now scrapping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to artillery systems they have to use. Ukrainians count 44 artillery systems destroyed yesterday bringing putin's artillery system losses to 10,855 since the more widespread invasion started in 2022. I'd have thought putin would have led the attack with the more up to date systems which hopefully are all gone now and the moskovytes are having problems replacing the more modern types.

A very simple answer to your question would be that Putin was involved in it himself. Security services paid no heed to the threat, despite being given advance warning by the US. There were more than 6'000 people in the complex, only very light police presence, and those that were there ran as soon as the shooting started. Police/Military barracks only 4 klms away, yet reinforcements took more than an hour to arrive. Supposed terrorists picked up heading for the Ukrainian border...stinks to high heaven. And yes, you are right about ordinary Russian civilians having concerns about their own( and families) security. Thats something that my Russian spoke about this morning during our chat. There's a lot of worry about their own security and safety now, especially after the attack in the theater. This is the first time that I've heard anything like this.

France’s covert exploitation of its former colonies in Africa is really unedifying and does not reflect well on them at all. It’s basically still the 19th century relationship. Regardless of the Russian involvement which is very recent and relatively small in number. There is huge pushback from the local populations in those regions against French exploitation. And it’s justified. Impoverished economies pegged to the Euro currency having their monetary policy decided thousands of miles away by economies that are alien to them.

There is a uranium mine in Mali which supplies a huge chunk of France’s nuclear power if that comes under threat expect fireworks.

Did NATO just realise that if Ukraine falls then inevitably russia will attack a NATO state next, maybe Poland maybe Romania. Then NATO responds and destroys russian forces and then russia launch their nukes ? Victory for Putin = a nuclear holocaust ?

I haven’t followed this in a couple of days. Just wondering, the 4 Russia have arrested is it likely they carried it out or did Russia just arrest 4 randoms with a Muslim background?

Any list yet of who was killed in the attack on the theatre?

Owners of the theatre who know too much of the shady goings on with Putin and Trump or political and environmental opponents who happened to be in the audience?

There's not much occurs in russia without Putin and fsb involvement.

Oooph... You'd hope that was a 100% successful strike on designated target. You're not walking away from that one!

BBC2 tonight. Enemy in the woods. Ukraine documentary filmed on body cams