There is plenty of history on the formation of any estate, and Ukraine is no different. In modern times, it is the people that live in a region or country that have the right to decide their future and their organisation. It is just silly pretending that you have to go back decades or even centuries and then wage a war on those grounds and certainly Putin does not give a ****k about that.

This war is only about Putin loosing their geostrategic grip and exclusive access on a large part of the former USSR republics, including some of the most strategic and financially critical regions such as the Black Sea and Azov Sea. All the rest is the trolls trying to make noise and trying to blame the war on things that are absolutely irrelevant to Putin and his entourage.

The sad truth is that Putin has failed to seduce, use diplomacy or economically influence those territories and he is using the last resource of the incompetent: war.



And as for how to stop the guy

I just saw the latest video of Putin showing himself on a music concert. If it weren't in a middle of a war it would just be ridiculous. The guy goes to an event and tries to make it look like people supporting him just to show the middle finger to the West or try to appear strong.

One of the funniest things is that the images of two young ladies teens apparently "in trance" were taken from images from last year event! That is simply so stupid! The KGB would not be proud of you VP!

An another event to add to the tragic comedy of last days: These are the Russian astronauts in the ISS. These guys got real balls!

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cosmonauts-arrive-at-iss-in-colours-of-ukraine-flag-6rwcltmjt

Yes, both Putin and Bush of the are war criminals as per the international law. That is part of the problem: the US has lost pretty much any (theoretical) moral superiority a long time ago, particularly with the war in Irak and the creation of Guantanamo and the flights of prisoners to countries that do not abide by rights.

To the list of Bush and Blair, I would add president Aznar (Spain) who also supported the war and lied to the Spanish saying there were weapons of mass destruction in Irak. I know, nobody cares about this guy, nevertheless he is a criminal.

There are many cases in which the US violates Human Rights, perhaps starting with the prison and judiciary system.

Yet, for me, there is always a difference between a democracy (even the US democracy which is far too influenced by the plutocrats) and an despot. A democracy has always ways to evolve and heal itself, despots don't.

FAKE: Russian properties have not been seized indiscriminately. There is a specific list of people.

The UK has been very lax on questioning where the investments came from. However that also has a limit which is when that wealth threatens the UK itself.

FAKE: Trump has not been banned from most media. He has been banned from some media, privately owned, for breaching the terms of use. Tbh for breaching them over and over, including stating facts that were not true - not opinions which are free, but simply fake facts.


On freedom of speech is not allowed when calling for acts that disrupt democracy, such as trying to intimidate politicians into acting in a certain way. Trump was banned from Twitter, a private company, after using it as a platform to call for a disruption to the system that actually grants that freedom (among many other things), thus contravening the terms of use.

He is still free to speak, and he certainly does, from many platforms and has a whole party held hostage, in my view, because no-one dares to stop the bully.


Not true. Putin's army has in many cases shelled civilians trying to flee. There are testimonies and abundant proof, but worry not because the thing about waging a war of aggression against a country that has internet and phones is that there are so many documents and proofs registered that there is no way of re-writing history and it will be reported, studied and publicly exposed to the last criminal act.

Some talk points that, for those who understand that Putin would not move a finger to protect anyone from "nazis", may actually be worth being discussed:

- There are indications that the railways in Belorussia have been sabotaged, and it seems to be internal. This may cause severe delays in the supplies to Putin's army surrounding Kiev. It could get to the point of his army not being able to defend themselves. This has not been confirmed yet by the major news outlets.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3434519-kamyshyn-rail-services-between-ukraine-and-belarus-suspended.html


 

You are forgetting that they are also masons, drink the blood of newborns, are behind the COVID and also behind the assassination of Kennedy, the killing of Johannes of Arc, Gandhi's shooting and ... well just DYR and bring in something creative next time.

There are some indications that the UN security council is seriously considering removing Putin's Russia for the permanent membership. The fact that he is using the nuclear deterrent as a cover for an aggression on a non-nuclear power and has gone as far as "putting the nuclear forces on alert" (mostly for show, as they were not taking the day off anyway) and all the rhetoric about "serious consequences" on interventions is on the verge of getting him kick-off the most influential international forum.

I am afraid most of the sites are free. The best known one is Liiches, you can play over the phone and there are many variants and includes exercises and training as well as advanced analysis, "learn from your mistakes" and pretty much everything you need to play and learn, even to an advanced level including a library of openings.

On the betting side with crypto, I think that chess is sport that does not match well with betting. Players that are good consistently get good results and it makes it difficult to make it interesting. On top of that you have very advanced algos that would beat nearly 90% of players.

I think that on this one chances are not of that range at all. Even if El Clasico always gives plenty of room for speculation, Barca is just not suited to present a serious challenge to Real Madrid and I would not place a bet on odds 2-1 or 3-2. I would start considering a bet on a 4-1 for Madrid, with a moderate wage and, for Barca, I could bet on a 3-1. The range makes little sense now.

I agree, it seems that 5G is just too many G's to lift of and reach escape velocity, to put it in a funny way. There is also a concern for safety related to the slow implementation of the technology since the speed of data transmission makes it more difficult to control. On regards to gaming, I do not see how the internet of things may give business opportunities to gambling, but I am eager to see how the industry uses it.

I think it is actually easier that children get in contact with gaming and betting in the off-line AKA real world than on-line. They will wager with friends at sports or even play occasionally if they manage to enter a site with fake ID or the like. The exception is actually the gaming industry in which sometimes games may introduce forms of betting or staking that may lead youngsters into the activity unadvertedly.

In fact Putin has made many companies that were having earning in foreign currency buy rubles forcibly or else. This means that if you play with bitcoin or with USD or with EUR in any Russian owned casino or even if you spend your money in any Russian owned company of any short your money will be going to finance Putin's economy of war and kill people.

I cannot help but to add here the instructions to make a white flag out of a Russian Federation flag. Thanks to suchmoon.


Just for Putin's soldiers and officers, please notice that you can cut your flag with anything, you do not really need scissors. I suggest that you use the edge of a rations can, these seem to cut even when you do not want them too and can cut the flag perfectly.

Do not die for Putin. Live to see your family again.

Or another answer: terror tactics or just destroying anything big enough to group people, which, in my view, is the most likely possibility. It has been confirmed that there are a large number of schools across the country that have been destroyed, the "mistake" or the "false flag" options are just not realistic.


A number of Putin's generals have been demoted due to lack of progress, the ones that take over have seen how Ukrainians do not seem to be going anywhere on their own volition, so terror and mass destruction are now on the table.

Re Mariupol, the problem is that Putin's army does not seem to be abided by their own words. From refugees that made it out of Mariupol, the "green paths" are kind of green-grey, meaning that some of the people seeking safe passage have been massacred. And that is civilians fleeing. Killing them is an act of hate, madness and desperation that does not look like the typical coldly calculated and propaganda-covered action by Putin.

There is no comment of any refugee being forcibly retained in Mariupol. As you say, there is a balance between fear of getting killed on the road and fear of dying of the bombs and people make their choices. Some, the elder, the sick,... they do not have a real choice.

The hypothesis of the Ukrainian army or any of it groups threatening civilians is not realistic. They are fighting Putin's army and cannot afford to divert efforts nor have a hostile population under their feet. Also, Putin's army has shown little regard distinguishing between civil or military targets - any tall building is considered a risk and blown.

On Putin's army suffering an significant number of losses, it clearly matches the strategic outlook regardless of destruction tweets and Ukraine's own information war. The war is no longer a blitzkrieg. Putin is facing determined resistance and, while there are undeniable gains and advances from his troops, the price being paid may be just unaffordable politically and economically.

Seems like Putin is winning in territory at the cost of loosing very valuable equipment and even veteran soldiers he may not be able to replace - even less if the country is sent into an economic recession. He cannot risk loosing too many planes, as, in his imaginary world, the NATO can easily use that weakness to attack and gain full air superiority. He cannot afford withdrawing troops from other borders without risking inferiority. The so called reservists that artificially rise the number of Putin's military are not trained, lack leadership and cannot be supplied (they are the definition of cannon fodder).

Despite all this Putin will not (cannot stop). He may "win" in some form the war (territorial concessions), but all indicates that he will loose the peace, and, unfortunately, it will be the Russian people, whose only fault is not being able or not wanting to risk getting rid of this government, the ones that will pay with poverty and ostracism.

FAKE. The reason for the war is not a "genocide" of any short, that is just the usual propaganda you are pouring in all your post. There was an armed conflict sponsored by Russia in the Donbas unrelated to language, race, religion or culture.

The only reason for the war is that Putin wants to have control over what happens in Ukraine to feed his court of oligarchs and cronies by using the same "mafia style" of business model they have successfully implemented in Russia. An this is not just saying, we are talking about many journalists killed, people poisoned with Polonium even abroad, opposition leaders and even anti-war protesters are incarcerated while Putin hides in his bunker and speaks even to his closes circle across a 5 meter table.

What could potentially happen is not a second UN, but a simple expulsion of Putin's Russia from it as it he has show little intention of becoming a peaceful and prosperous estate, but rather chosen war, invasion, aggression and bullying towards his neighbours. What good is to have Putin in the UN if he despises it?

Freedom is not free. French revolution, the fights with the British kings, the Russian revolution, the Chinesse revolution and many other cases did start with people deciding they wanted something else and I am seeing very little of that in Russia, although there is some.

One of the things they could start by doing is selling their tanks and vehicles (to me if possible) and do not die for Putin.

Judging for Putin's usual modus operandi, he will seize the assets, give them to one of his mafia bosses oligarchs to open a local version (McPutin or Vladpple) and get his cut of the business to buy more flats in London, a larger palace or a couple of islands or archipelagos that he fancies.

He can get very creative and quite persuasive when he wants to take someone else's stuff as you can see right now in Ukraine.

I have seen all over the forum "I am not with Russia but...". Firstly, this is not Russia, this is Putin's version of Russia.  Secondly, "feeling uncomfortable" is not a morally or legal valid excuse to attack another country with the intention to change their government.

Now, I do get there is a point on not throwing rocks at a bear, however you cannot let the bear decide what you can or cannot do in your country or else you will never be free to progress, change and evolve as a nation.

On the NATO argument, there is no argument. Putin knows perfectly well that NATO would not accept Ukraine as a member - it is simply too risky. This is all about Putin trying to get a strategic hold on the Black Sea and trying to incorporate Ukraine, a large food producer, into their crony envelope of oligarchs to steal from Ukrainians as he steals the resources of the Russian people.

There is plenty to talk about when you are seeing a crony government, living on crony business, extorting their own countries into making them even richer. And it is that bunch of old men, not only in age but also in mentality and in the way they conceive their relation with other human beings, just the ones that send the young and poor people from the most remote regions of Putin's Russia to die without even telling them what they are doing and without any reasonable argument since their country, their lives, their families nor their culture is being threatened in any ways.

On the oil extraction business, it is certain that the extraction, processing and even transportation has become a very specialised business. Even large companies depend on a selected group of technologists and know-how companies. This is nothing like we nationalise and next day we just open as usual. And on the financial side, it is pretty much the same, it is not only the huge investments required, it is the ability to manage efficiently those fluxes of money without loosing them to corruption, inexperience and inflated supply-chains.

If the military invasion of Ukraine by Putin's army is an example of how things are managed in his government, I can already tell you there is plenty of GDP to be lost.