Putin: "Stick to the timeline!"

[Top Gun]

17 minutes ago, tsar4 said:

Hmmmm....

 

[tsar4]

 

[tsar4]

This is happening in the Chicago area as well.  One bar owner was on our local news, saying it's the first time he's ever done anything like this, he's replacing the Russian Vodka with Ukrainian and will probably never buy Russian again.

https://www.axios.com/russia-vodka-boycott-us-canada-ukraine-cc6942df-0ffa-45c6-a0fa-ac4adab4cb1f.html

[Jman]

 

You know it's funny.  A lot of right-wingers liked to portray the Russian military as the toughest fighting force in the world in contrast with our pussified, soy, woke (insert any other buzzword for the left designed to make them seen un-masculine compared to the right) military.  And here they are getting that aura of power destroyed by a desperate group of Ukrainians.  Every Ukrainian victory makes the Russian military look more and more like a paper tiger whose nuclear armaments are their main asset.

But like I said before, every Ukrainian I've ever trained with has been a tough SOB.  

Edited February 27, 2022 by Jman

[Jman]

 

 

We'll see if the talks bring up anything.

[bnmjy]

Russia no longer has legal airspace access to Kaliningrad anymore.

[Poof]

42 minutes ago, bnmjy said:

Russia no longer has legal airspace access to Kaliningrad anymore.

They can get there over the Baltic Sea from st petersburg tho

[Master-Debater131]

Germany is increasing their military spending this year for a one-off 100 Billion Euro modernization effort. Thats a 150% increase on their current level of spending.

They have also pledged to maintain at least 2% GDP on Military spending moving forward.

 

Russia just woke the Germans up.  Im not sure that this could have backfired more spectacularly than it has.

[discolé monade]

15 hours ago, Raptorpat said:

I saw scrolling the reddit live feed (can't find it now) that the alleged leak is that the order from on high is in to take Kyiv by Monday no matter the cost, explicitly overruling the concern from the paradrop division because they're going to take all the losses.

If true, the next 24 hours could be even more rough both for the city and the hundreds of untrained and unequipped 19 year olds that are going to get torn to shreds after being thrown out of airplanes.

so putin thought it would be a great idea, to just snatch up young men, not trained, and try to take over the world? because this is the 2nd time i've seen a ref. to untrained 19 year troops. damn, this is going to be very very ugly, very sad. 

i guess what i'm asking is, are young men actually being shanghaii'd into military service?

also, is nato going to step in, call an emergency meeting to use article 5, and vote in ukraine?

Edited February 27, 2022 by discolé monade

[Poof]

3 hours ago, Jman said:

 

You know it's funny.  A lot of right-wingers liked to portray the Russian military as the toughest fighting force in the world in contrast with our pussified, soy, woke (insert any other buzzword for the left designed to make them seen un-masculine compared to the right) military.  And here they are getting that aura of power destroyed by a desperate group of Ukrainians.  Every Ukrainian victory makes the Russian military look more and more like a paper tiger whose nuclear armaments are their main asset.

But like I said before, every Ukrainian I've ever trained with has been a tough SOB.  

We’re the masters of war on this planet. If we actually want someone to win, it’s an incredible advantage. And we have the global dominance advantage. Like all the NATO countries get to tweet out how many bombs they’re giving Ukraine but when it’s a proxy war the other way around the other side has to be super sneaky about assisting anyone fighting us.

In addition to those nukes, Russia’s strength these days is cyber, psyops stuff, and we bested Putin in that by making his false flag look like a joke which means everyone can support Ukraine all they want. 

And I wonder how badly Putin is committed to it. Like are these his best tanks and planes that are attacking? Or is it old stuff that needed to be overhauled so he’s like ehhhh I’ll just use them instead? Supposedly all the small arms he was giving to the Ukrainian pro-Russian rebels were 4th rate and rusty and there were many complaints. Like is it Putin’s spring-cleaning war?

Then again I did say his aircraft carrier doesn’t even work which is true. I believe our intelligence guys specifically said that his carrier “was more of a danger to its users than anyone” So maybe all his junk is rusty

Edited February 27, 2022 by Poof

[Raptorpat]

1 hour ago, discolé monade said:

so putin thought it would be a great idea, to just snatch up young men, not trained, and try to take over the world? because this is the 2nd time i've seen a ref. to untrained 19 year troops. damn, this is going to be very very ugly, very sad. 

i guess what i'm asking is, are young men actually being shanghaii'd into military service?

Russia has a conscripted military, and from what I understand they aren't sufficiently trained to use all this (apparently outdated) equipment and fight a war.

They believe they're being sent on a peacekeeping mission in the separatist regions and then they instead find out their convoy is headed to Kyiv.

Edit: But I think the intention was to blitzkrieg into the capital with minimal resistance, and there was no expectation of a protracted war. 

1 hour ago, discolé monade said:

also, is nato going to step in, call an emergency meeting to use article 5, and vote in ukraine?

My guess is they'll do every possible thing they can before admitting Ukraine, because WW3 and Russia having the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Raptorpat

[tsar4]

19 hours ago, tsar4 said:

I just hope that, if Putin goes full "Hitler in the Fuhrerbunker", someone there has the backbone to keep him away from the big, red button.

Crap.

[Raptorpat]

All he can do now is threaten nuclear war, it's the only leverage he has left. So he will do it over everything now.

[Master-Debater131]

Just now, Raptorpat said:

All he can do now is threaten nuclear war, it's the only leverage he has left. So he will do it over everything now.

The question really is if someone in his inner-circle decides that enough is enough and stops him before something really bad happens.

Oligarchs are starting to speak out against the war, so I have to wonder if there isnt going to be some major internal politicking happening before long.

[Jman]

The oligarchs don’t benefit from Putin going full Red Alert.  I see a lot of pressure being applied.

[scoobdog]

1 hour ago, Raptorpat said:

All he can do now is threaten nuclear war, it's the only leverage he has left. So he will do it over everything now.

It’s an empty threat.  China wants no part of a nuclear war between the US and Russia, and Russia needs China desperately.

[tsar4]

 

[Master-Debater131]

Russia really is pushing anyone in Europe to speed run joining NATO.

 

[Master-Debater131]

 

 

Really starting to think things internally in Russia are about to take a hell of a turn. You just do not see this kind of protesting inside of Russia, and this is before the sanctions really start to bite.

[tsar4]

[tsar4]

Report is that Chechen leader Kadyrov has delivered an ultimatum to the West to remove all sanctions from Russia or Chechnya will sanction the West.

As funny as that is, the deadline is hilarious -  "срок даю до 31 февраля" ("deadline is February 31st").

Edited February 27, 2022 by tsar4

[Seight]

3 hours ago, Jman said:

The oligarchs don’t benefit from Putin going full Red Alert.  I see a lot of pressure being applied.

"You fucking moron, how are we supposed to make money if the world blows up?!?"

[helpme]

[Master-Debater131]

13 minutes ago, tsar4 said:

Report is that Chechen leader Kadyrov has delivered an ultimatum to the West to remove all sanctions from Russia or Chechnya will sanction the West.

As funny as that is, the deadline is hilarious -  "срок даю до 31 февраля" ("deadline is February 31st").

Didnt Ukraine already take out the Chechen commander?  I remember reading something about one of their columns getting obliterated and the commander was in it.

[Top Gun]

18 minutes ago, tsar4 said:

Report is that Chechen leader Kadyrov has delivered an ultimatum to the West to remove all sanctions from Russia or Chechnya will sanction the West.

As funny as that is, the deadline is hilarious -  "срок даю до 31 февраля" ("deadline is February 31st").

"That'll show them!"

[tsar4]

17 minutes ago, Master-Debater131 said:

Didnt Ukraine already take out the Chechen commander?  I remember reading something about one of their columns getting obliterated and the commander was in it.

That was a Chechen General, part of one of the attack groups.

[Ginguy]

It will be interesting to see if Dmitry Medvedev is suddenly backed by the oligarchs and takes Putin out. He could withdraw forces to pre-invasion positions (keeping Crimea and possibly the Donblas) and "put Putin on trial for his crimes" (he'll be sent to count trees). In exchange for an end to sanctions of course.

[tsar4]

1 hour ago, Seight said:

"You fucking moron, how are we supposed to make money if the world blows up?!?"

Putin:

1) Attack Ukraine and start a war.

2) Threaten to go Nuclear.

3) ??????

4) Profit!

[tsar4]

https://twitter.com/andsimonov/status/1498032972699774983?s=20&t=ucNXd6bJ_LTRWzdZzBGP0A

Edited February 28, 2022 by tsar4

[bnmjy]

lawl

 

[tsar4]

4 minutes ago, bnmjy said:

lawl

 

Actually, an earlier post on r/ukraine stated that the Russians appropriated the tractor to tow the armored vehicle back to the border after running out of fuel.  The farmer just appropriated it back...along with the armored vehicle.

[tsar4]

Gotta love the White Hats & Anonymous

[discolé monade]

 

snowden

[tsar4]

Interesting if true - a report states that unnamed European country/countries will donate military jets to Ukraine - to be flown by volunteers signing up for the Ukrainian military, made up from military members of the donating countries.  Presumably this is being presented as a "loophole" in EU/NATO getting "directly involved".

Edit: if true, those convoys coming into Ukraine make for juicy targets.

Edited February 28, 2022 by tsar4

[bnmjy]

12 hours ago, bnmjy said:

Russia no longer has legal airspace access to Kaliningrad anymore.

Update since then:

[Master-Debater131]

Russia didnt even bother opening their stock market today. They kept it closed as the sanctions continued to ratchet up. They raised their internal interest rate to over 20% and are rapidly running out of currency reserves.  Their economy is absolutely cratering and inflation is going to be above 60% this year. 

The amount of economic damage these sanctions are doing is insane.  It really is going to create a ton of internal pressure to stop the war, and possibly out Putin.

The Ruble has absolutely cratered.  Its worth less than the video game currency Roblox currency now.

 

(yes, I know thats not how currencies work, but its still funny as hell).

[Master-Debater131]

For context on the Ruble.

 

 

[Master-Debater131]

 

 

[Master-Debater131]

 

Russia going straight for War Crimes. There have been reports of War Crimes even before this, but the CNN video is some pretty clear video evidence that the Russians are now indiscriminately targeting residential areas with artillery, rockets, and cluster bombs.

Heres a reddit thread that has the video.  I cant find the hotlink to the video anymore.

 

[Jman]

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-russian-state-media-article-deleted-after-suggesting-russia-victory-achieved-12553977
 

A pre-planned but since deleted article seems to indicate that Russia was expecting Ukraine to have fallen by now and he really misses the USSR.

[Poof]

haha

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-28/gazprom-paves-way-to-new-china-gas-deal-as-sanctions-hit-russia

[Master-Debater131]

45 minutes ago, Poof said:

haha

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-28/gazprom-paves-way-to-new-china-gas-deal-as-sanctions-hit-russia

Its going to take quite a while to get that pipeline up and running.

 

And thats assuming something doesnt change with China causing them to back away from Russia.

[Poof]

6 minutes ago, Master-Debater131 said:

Its going to take quite a while to get that pipeline up and running.

 

And thats assuming something doesnt change with China causing them to back away from Russia.

On the contrary... at the beginning I thought it wasn't about invading europe. Now I don't even think he actually cares about taking ukraine at all. I think he's showing the asian countries who are hesitant to join his alliance what happens when you go against the West even if you're not attacking anyone actually in an alliance with them (demonstrating the double standard) whilst also trying to exacerbate our inflation and economic problems(since he knows we're about to raise our rates). 

I think we dun fucked up a lot bigger than originally thought actually.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Poof

[Master-Debater131]

3 minutes ago, Poof said:

On the contrary... at the beginning I thought it wasn't about invading europe. Now I don't even think he actually cares about taking ukraine at all. I think he's showing the asian countries who are hesitant to join his alliance what happens when you go against the West even if you're not attacking anyone actually in an alliance with them whilst also trying to exacerbate our inflation and economic problems. 

I think we dun fucked up a lot bigger than originally thought actually.

I dont know.  At this point Im not sure he is capable of thinking of some sort of grand scheme to draw nations like China closer to him.

I really think he bought into his own BS about Ukraine being part of Russia. The leaks from hacked communication sure make it seem like they really thought they would have Ukraine under control in a few days. Instead hes looking at a quagmire that drains his country for a very long time.  Ukrainians arent about to just roll over.  An insurgency can do a lot of damage(Iraq/Afghan) and that was against our military. Now imagine an insurgency backed by NATO weaponry against what appears to be a very concomitant Russian military.

 

China is absolutely learning a lesson here, I just dont think its the one they expected.  I dont think anyone truly expected the entire world to rally to Ukraine like this.  Even the usually neutral Swiss have agreed to apply sanctions. Japan and S. Korea are jumping into the mix as well. Now that its become clear that the economic price for taking Ukraine is to basically become a hermit state, China has to recalculate their willingness to take Taiwan.

[Jman]

I think if China learns a lesson, it’s that they need to continue to maximize their use of soft power (social and economic) vs any sort of sustained military campaign.

[Master-Debater131]

 

 

The backfire heard round the world.

[Master-Debater131]

1 minute ago, Jman said:

I think if China learns a lesson, it’s that they need to continue to maximize their use of soft power (social and economic) vs any sort of sustained military campaign.

Its also showing how powerful soft-power really is.

 

We are destroying a country (Russia) without firing a shot.

[Poof]

4 minutes ago, Master-Debater131 said:

Its also showing how powerful soft-power really is.

 

We are destroying a country (Russia) without firing a shot.

no we aren't. Russia china and mongolia just made a fuckin deal on natural gas. Russia wants to separate the west and east. We're playing into his hands. Youll see

[Poof]

god i hate how the american public gets at the beginning of wars. It's all mindless team americaing. Maybe WE are the ones stuck in the past

[Master-Debater131]

31 minutes ago, Poof said:

no we aren't. Russia china and mongolia just made a fuckin deal on natural gas. Russia wants to separate the west and east. We're playing into his hands. Youll see

And the pipeline they want to use isnt even designed yet.  Its going to take months, if not years, for the pipeline to be operational and deliver gas. Which means that the deal is a whole lot of meaningless right now for a country that is seeing its economy absolutely crater.

If this was all part of Putins plan then it must be some Trumpian 4d chess, because its pretty damn dumb.

 

There really is no grand design here. He thought he could steamroll Ukraine in a few days and that the West would just roll over. Now that neither of those are happening hes fucked his entire country to have to occupy Ukraine for years against a very determined, and well armed, insurgency.

 

The biggest risk at this point is that he becomes completely unhinged and either expands the war or deploys tactical nukes against Ukraine.  Hes already started to shell residential areas, theres not a whole lot further he can go. The idea that he will be able to occupy a peaceful Ukraine with a relatively intact economy is completely gone.