Russian Invasion of Ukraine[In Progress]

[af_newbie]

Terrified civilians desperately seek escape as battle hardened Chechens exact their revenge on Severodonetsk:

  Inside Severodonetsk (Or those scary Chechens)
  https://www.bitchute.com/video/qoVqaQfE9jwp/

Revenge?

They got the wrong city.  They should be leveling Moscow to avenge the Russian atrocities in Chechnya.

[suchmoon]

Glorious Russian Looting Forces at it again (I mean they've never been not at it, it's just a never-ending cringe and horror).

A Ukrainian refugee in the UK says that in a recent photo of a Russian tank she recognized her belongings, which were probably stolen from her apartment.

According to Alina Korenyuk, the photo showed a new boiler that her family planned to install before the war.

[...]

According to Alina, in addition to the boiler, the tank had a tablecloth from their dacha, new children's sheets with Disney pictures and a red blanket.

[tvbcof]

Terrified civilians desperately seek escape as battle hardened Chechens exact their revenge on Severodonetsk:

  Inside Severodonetsk (Or those scary Chechens)
  https://www.bitchute.com/video/qoVqaQfE9jwp/

Revenge?

They got the wrong city.  They should be leveling Moscow to avenge the Russian atrocities in Chechnya.

Sounds like the kind of advice a genius like Zelensky (aka: Wolodymyr Selenskyj) would give.

[be.open]

Glorious Russian Looting Forces at it again (I mean they've never been not at it, it's just a never-ending cringe and horror).

I don't see Nutella here, so it looks like a fake.

[LTU_btc]

If you are guided by the reports of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then they usually reflect the real state of affairs with a delay of 2-3 days. I specifically referred to a report by a civilian correspondent for Russian television who does not work on the front lines. Severodonetsk has been taken, a cleansing operation is underway in the city, the remnants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been forced out into the industrial zone and are deprived of the opportunity to leave for Lisichansk - all bridges have been destroyed or are under full fire control of Russia.

Nope, I used ISW report and this map
https://deepstatemap.live/en#6/52.650/38.639
And correct me if I'm wrong, but russian defense ministry haven't announced that city is under their control.

Do not dramatize, you do not have enough good reason to accuse Russia of genocide in Ukraine. Rather, Ukraine can be accused of genocide of the Russian-speaking and pro-Russian population for regular shelling of civilians with artillery. And your personal support for Ukraine reeks of justifying Nazism.

Oh shit, here we go again...

I dont know. I dont understand the whole purpose of this war. My position is that they should have negotiated everything behind round table. Putin used to visit Ukraine frequently to before Zelensky presidentship. Zelensky never visit Kremlin. I find it strange that neighbors never really had a talk, but rather meet on independent territory with bunch of intermediaries. I am not saying that one of them is bad and other is good. Both are bad, because they allowed such war to happen.

I am not a war and strategy expert, but I can suppose Russian bomb the places where they are being shot at. If they were really planning to bomb, they would not be that selective and instead of dropping 10 bombs, would have dropped 1000.

Actually, Putin haven't visited Ukraine since 2013 after Crimea annexion and war in Donbas. So, it's long time before Zelensky become president. As Zelensky said multiple times, they ready to negotiate and he wanted to meet Putin, but Russia gave ultimatums only without intentions to negotiate and Putin didn't show interest to meet Zelensky. And it's lie to say that they never had meeting, one happened in 2019:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/putin-zelensky-press-conference-russia-ukraine-prisoners-a9239656.html?amp
I'm not trying to idolize Zelensky, but saying that he both with Putin is bad is nonsense when one country is agressor and other is victim of it.
And indeed, you're not war and strategy expert.

[Synchronice]

It is difficult to object to a well-reasoned accusation, I understand.

I wouldn't know since I have yet to see "a well-reasoned accusation" that would justify a genocide. I have serious doubts that such a thing could possibly exist but I'm sure you guys will try hard to reach new lows.

Do not dramatize, you do not have enough good reason to accuse Russia of genocide in Ukraine. Rather, Ukraine can be accused of genocide of the Russian-speaking and pro-Russian population for regular shelling of civilians with artillery. And your personal support for Ukraine reeks of justifying Nazism.

Who started the war? Russians, without a question. Why? Because Ukraine wants to join NATO and you are afraid of NATO, is this right or do you really believe in the military operation motives that Putin said days before the war?

You have to seriously ask yourself some questions. Why is it always Russia that has problems with bordered countries? Georgia - 2008, Crimea - 2014, Ukraine - 2022.
Why do Polish dislike Russians more than Germans? I know three languages, German, English and Russian. I had no problem in Poland when I was asking someone a question in German and English but when they were hearing Russian (I have a great Russian accent, I have lived in Moscow too), sometimes they were ignoring me or weren't bothering.
Do you know why? Because Germany changed and Russia didn't. Germans don't worship Hitler but Russians worship Stalin. Germans dislike what Hitler did but Russians like what Stalin did and some people even pray for him. Russia hasn't changed a single, it still has imperialistic goals.

Ask yourself, why post-soviet 1. Joined 2. Are joining and 3. Want to join NATO but don't want to return back to the USSR?
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. Have you heard about these countries or do you know from your history that some of them were part of the Soviet Union and some of them were satellite nations of the Soviet Union?

You guys better ask yourself why Putin and other guys are rich, have multi-billion dollars, palaces and you have a low quality of life outside the Moscow and Saints Peterburg, dream to get higher education abroad.
Visit Norway and see how Norway spends its income on its citizens. Then ask yourself, why Putin doesn't do the same.

[paxmao]

Glorious Russian Looting Forces at it again (I mean they've never been not at it, it's just a never-ending cringe and horror).

I don't see Nutella here, so it looks like a fake.

You do not see it do you? Looting is a sign of an undisciplined army. The ones who loot are the ones who disobey orders and run if the fight is "too hard".

[DaRude]

It is difficult to object to a well-reasoned accusation, I understand.

I wouldn't know since I have yet to see "a well-reasoned accusation" that would justify a genocide. I have serious doubts that such a thing could possibly exist but I'm sure you guys will try hard to reach new lows.

Do not dramatize, you do not have enough good reason to accuse Russia of genocide in Ukraine. Rather, Ukraine can be accused of genocide of the Russian-speaking and pro-Russian population for regular shelling of civilians with artillery. And your personal support for Ukraine reeks of justifying Nazism.

Who started the war? Russians, without a question. Why? Because Ukraine wants to join NATO and you are afraid of NATO, is this right or do you really believe in the military operation motives that Putin said days before the war?

You have to seriously ask yourself some questions. Why is it always Russia that has problems with bordered countries? Georgia - 2008, Crimea - 2014, Ukraine - 2022.
Why do Polish dislike Russians more than Germans? I know three languages, German, English and Russian. I had no problem in Poland when I was asking someone a question in German and English but when they were hearing Russian (I have a great Russian accent, I have lived in Moscow too), sometimes they were ignoring me or weren't bothering.
Do you know why? Because Germany changed and Russia didn't. Germans don't worship Hitler but Russians worship Stalin. Germans dislike what Hitler did but Russians like what Stalin did and some people even pray for him. Russia hasn't changed a single, it still has imperialistic goals.

Ask yourself, why post-soviet 1. Joined 2. Are joining and 3. Want to join NATO but don't want to return back to the USSR?
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. Have you heard about these countries or do you know from your history that some of them were part of the Soviet Union and some of them were satellite nations of the Soviet Union?

You guys better ask yourself why Putin and other guys are rich, have multi-billion dollars, palaces and you have a low quality of life outside the Moscow and Saints Peterburg, dream to get higher education abroad.
Visit Norway and see how Norway spends its income on its citizens. Then ask yourself, why Putin doesn't do the same.

Easiest way to start another war, just offer Taiwan to join NATO sit back and watch the "fireworks" fly. (Don't those poor Taiwanese deserve the freedom cookies and guarantees of freedom??)

You seem to be genuinely curious, and at first sight appear to have good points. But keep going with your line of thinking, now ask yourself why the closer the country is to Russia the more it likes US/NATO and dislikes Russia (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia), yet the further it is from Russia (Africa, Middle East, South America, Asia) the less they like US and the more they like Russia? That's the beauty of soft power, you can exploit other countries and direct resources to targeted countries to win over their "hearts and minds". The beauty of that is that there is no way Russia can do anything about it they just cannot compete on the soft power field. If winning "hearts and minds" of Ukrainians worked, US could then start another revolution in Egypt or just finish the ones in Venezuela/Turkey/Iran etc... and then direct those resources on winning "hearts and minds" of Belarusians or Kazakhs... Only options for Russia is sit back and keep loosing countries in its sphere of influence and ultimately be torn apart, or radicalize become a dictatorship and switch the playing field to hard power. It was a matter of time, Russia lost all of western Europe like that but Ukraine/Belarus/Kazakhstan was the red line for it, which US gladly crossed, and now here we are. Had it not been for Ukraine it would've been Belarus, and after some media work, people would gladly sacrifice their economies for the freedom to those poor Belarusians.

[be.open]

If you are guided by the reports of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then they usually reflect the real state of affairs with a delay of 2-3 days. I specifically referred to a report by a civilian correspondent for Russian television who does not work on the front lines. Severodonetsk has been taken, a cleansing operation is underway in the city, the remnants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been forced out into the industrial zone and are deprived of the opportunity to leave for Lisichansk - all bridges have been destroyed or are under full fire control of Russia.

Nope, I used ISW report and this map
https://deepstatemap.live/en#6/52.650/38.639
And correct me if I'm wrong, but russian defense ministry haven't announced that city is under their control.

What is known about the situation in Severodonetsk last night.

The head of the Lugansk OVA, Sergei Gaidai, reports that the fighting in the city continues, it is not blocked, although he acknowledged that the Russian Armed Forces and the People's Militia of the LPR control most of Severodonetsk.

The Rybar Telegram channel writes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have moved away from residential areas to the industrial zone of the Azot plant.

Ramzan Kadyrov said that the total cleansing of Severodonetsk had been completed, "the enemy in the city had been defeated."

Military correspondent of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Yevgeny Poddubny writes that the RF Armed Forces and the People's Militia of the LPR have taken control of the northern, eastern and central parts of the city, and the cleansing of Severodonetsk from the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been completed in 85% of the territories of previously occupied city blocks. In addition, Poddubny reports that the Russian Armed Forces have reached the Severodonetsk CHPP.

According to the American Institute for the Study of War, the Russian Armed Forces control the northeastern and southeastern outskirts of Severodonetsk, continuing to fortify within the city. It is also reported that the Russian Armed Forces and the People's Militia of the LPR are fighting south of Severodonetsk in Toshkovka, Ustinovka, Voronovo, Borovskoye and Metolkino, trying to take the city into the "cauldron" from the south. This link is for May 30, a day behind.

Summarizing the above, it seems that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have no chances to keep Severodonetsk (or it has already been taken). Do you want to talk about it?

ps Chechens of Kadyrov in the SBU building in Severodonetsk

Who started the war? Russians, without a question. Why? Because Ukraine wants to join NATO and you are afraid of NATO, is this right or do you really believe in the military operation motives that Putin said days before the war?

You have to seriously ask yourself some questions. Why is it always Russia that has problems with bordered countries? Georgia - 2008, Crimea - 2014, Ukraine - 2022.
Why do Polish dislike Russians more than Germans? I know three languages, German, English and Russian. I had no problem in Poland when I was asking someone a question in German and English but when they were hearing Russian (I have a great Russian accent, I have lived in Moscow too), sometimes they were ignoring me or weren't bothering.
Do you know why? Because Germany changed and Russia didn't. Germans don't worship Hitler but Russians worship Stalin. Germans dislike what Hitler did but Russians like what Stalin did and some people even pray for him. Russia hasn't changed a single, it still has imperialistic goals.

Ask yourself, why post-soviet 1. Joined 2. Are joining and 3. Want to join NATO but don't want to return back to the USSR?
Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. Have you heard about these countries or do you know from your history that some of them were part of the Soviet Union and some of them were satellite nations of the Soviet Union?

You guys better ask yourself why Putin and other guys are rich, have multi-billion dollars, palaces and you have a low quality of life outside the Moscow and Saints Peterburg, dream to get higher education abroad.
Visit Norway and see how Norway spends its income on its citizens. Then ask yourself, why Putin doesn't do the same.

Wow, so much expression and sharp questions. I don't care about your Russophobia, I'm not trying to please you here. Я pyccкий и мнe нe нyжнo oдoбpeниe oт зaпaднoгo oбщecтвa дeгeнepaтoв, кoтopыe цeлyют нeгpaм нoги, cтыдяcь cвoeгo кoлoниaльнoгo пpoшлoгo, чecтвyют пeдepacтoв и пoдвepгaют диcкpиминaции бeлыx гeтepoceкcyaльныx мyжчин пpocтo пoтoмy, чтo oни бeлыe и гeтepoceкcyaльныe. At some point, the West took a wrong turn, it was during the Great Depression. You forgot your traditional values and Christian virtue and sold your soul to the Golden Calf. Now the Dollar is your God and "make money" is your only mantra. Now you are flying into the abyss, but Russia will not follow you. We do not need your land and we are not afraid of NATO, just put your missiles away and let us live on our land as we want. And if the answer is "no" - we will take all your Nutella and Russia will be from Lisbon to Tokyo, including London.

[DaRude]

Next up - denazification. Did you all really believe that's what Putin meant? Pffft...

I see that this voluminous and categorically important topic has been raised again.
After all, the argument about the denazification of Ukraine is one of the main factors in the support of the Russian population, which increased even more after the publication of videos showing Ukrainian soldiers installing military equipment in residential areas, and Russian war prisoners being tortured.
This support for Putin was confirmed even by the Russian opposition.



Against the backdrop of current events, the rhetoric of some experts has intensified that Hitler's Nazism is only about anti-Semitism, and that the presence of Vladimir Zelensky, who is a Jew, in the presidential post in Ukraine, shatters Putin's argument about denazification.
However, if we turn to the origins, then according to the book of Adolf Hitler, his goals concerned not only the Jews. Hitler was going to take over the living space in the East and considered the Slavic peoples to be an inferior race. During the Second World War, millions of Soviet citizens were exterminated in the death camps, mostly Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Consequently, Hitler's Nazism manifested itself not only in relation to the Jews, but also to the Slavs. Moreover, the authors of modern Ukrainian textbooks call Ukrainians one of the oldest agricultural civilizations and allegedly are "Slavicized Germans". At the same time, the Russians are supposedly not Slavs, and are of Finno-Ugric origin.
By the way, residents of Ukraine in social networks and on forums often call Russia - "Mordor", and Russians - "orcs". Judging by this logic, Ukrainians apparently consider themselves like elves or what?

Now we need to answer the question, was Putin's statement alone enough for Russian citizens to believe about the struggle of the Russian army against Nazism in Ukraine? Did ordinary Russian people have reason to believe that the modern Kyiv regime condones the spread of Nazi ideology, or, to be more precise, its offshoot in the form of Russophobia? Undoubtedly, there were such facts, and this was actively promoted by the ruling Ukrainian elite, which, in a decade and a half, was able to kindle the fire of Russophobia, unprecedented since the time of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (1942-1956).

1. In 2017, NBC News released a video about Ukrainian children's military camps, where kids were taught military training and Russophobic chants like "Death to the Muscovites!" and "Beat the Muscovites! Pile up the dead!"
2. There were other Russophobic chants from schoolchildren and young men, such as "Muscovite on a branch!" and "Muscovites on the knives!"
3. The torchlight processions in honor of the Nazi Stepan Bandera.
4. The names of the streets in honor of the SS division Galicia.
5. The neo-Nazi Azov battalion in the National Guard of Ukraine.
6. The positive attitude of President Zelensky and a large number of Ukrainians towards Stepan Bandera.
7. After 2014, the use of the Russian language In Ukraine was methodically limited at the legislative level. In May 2022, people who spoke Russian began to be beaten on the streets in Western Ukraine.

Before 2022, various Russophobic actions were widespread in Ukraine, under the guise of allegedly "trolling in the direction of the Kremlin propaganda".
Examples of such frenzied Russophobia in Ukraine, which they call "jokes". Links are given only to Ukrainian sources.
- Compote "Blood of Russian babies"
- Cake in the form of a baby, lying on the Russian tricolor
- "Colorado beetles in Odessa style, baked" (note: in 2014, 42 people who protested against the Maidan were burned alive in Odessa)
- "Separ in sour cream in the sauce of Russian-speaking babies" (the date on the banks 06.10.1942 apparently refers to an agreement on supplies from the USA to the USSR during World War II).
- "The last shelter of a separatist with the aroma of the Donetsk morgue". This is about predominantly Russian-speaking Donetsk, whose citizens the Kiev government has been bombing since 2014 and is still bombing. Ukraine from April 2014 to February 2022 is conducting a so-called anti-terrorist operation against residents of eastern Ukraine who protested against the illegal overthrow of the president and wanted to receive a special legal status within the country.



To those who say that this is just trolling and never Nazism - if you replaced the word "Russian" with "Jewish" or "African" in the name of these products, then the world society would instantly harshly criticize such "jokers". This is the most natural Nazism, no matter what words they try to cover it up with. And the fact that in Ukraine no one has been sued for this shows proving that these actions were encouraged at the highest levels. In fact, this is not trolling at all, but years of incited hatred broadcast in Ukraine against Russian-speaking people. It looks like a well-planned action to pit two neighboring peoples on ethnic and linguistic grounds. The purpose of these events is to introduce into the minds of Ukrainians literally a *cannibalistic rhetoric* that Russian and pro-Russian minded people are subhuman, whose deaths mean nothing. The consequences of such a policy can be seen in the way Ukrainian nationalists torturing Russian war prisoners and terrorized civilians in the eastern regions of Ukraine.

If someone sincerely believes that the incitement of an ethnic conflict in Ukraine against Russia is natural and only Russia is to blame for this, then these people most likely forgot that during the Cold War, the US Central Intelligence Agency didn't hesitate to cooperate with Ukrainian Nazis for subversive activities against the USSR. In 2014-2021, the Western media saw Ukrainian nationalists as a serious threat (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), but then this topic has been carefully muffled and it was called as Kremlin propaganda. And it looks very much like the current US government is following a 70-year-old pattern, taking advantage of nationalist groups in Ukraine.

- Cold War Allies: The origin of CIA's Relationship with Ukrainian Nationalists
- Background: The West collaborated with the Nazis to carry out the coup in Ukraine in 2014
- CIA‘s Use of Nazi Strategy on Ukrainian Right-Wing Nationalists Unabated since Cold War

Very well put together. Didn't know on top of Bandera they had streets named after SS division Galicia. Anyone aware of any other country in the world having streets named after Nazi SS divisions?

[paxmao]

...
 The beauty of that is that there is no way Russia can do anything about it they just cannot compete on the soft power field.
...
 Only options for Russia is sit back and keep loosing countries in its sphere of influence and ultimately be torn apart, or radicalize become a dictatorship and switch the playing field to hard power.
...

On regards to the RF becoming a dictatorship "in the future", I think that Moskva has sailed.

I think you have depicted the problem, but there is a solution. It is difficult for the RF to assume that its influence is in decline. It is not just the US, it is that all the world is moving ahead and the RF is not keeping the pace. Among other things, if you have the GDP of Italy and spend 11% of it in military you need to take it from schools, doctor, civil research, ... It is a problem of mindset.

This is some free consultancy for the RF:

Your objective is competing in a world that is growing fast. If you are left behind your people and the nation as such will not do well, no matter how many wars you fight.

- Develop the east. The territory is immense, the opportunities endless, you do not need to look further. I understand that as of now, there are political reasons why Moscow / St Petersburg would rather not do that, but long term it causes tensions.
- Attract investment, both local and foreign. You cannot do without it. See next point on how to enable that, but, as a hint, you should be seen as a pacific partner and stable on that regards.
- Put in place the enablers of growth: Rule of law, fair and speedy justice. This implies you need to get rid of the Cleptocrats and local despots, no way around that.
- Keep your strengths: good universities, good research, ability to manage complex projects, ...
- Use wisely the money that is coming from exporting natural resources. Try to build up the chain of value (e.g. do not export crude oil, but refined products).
- Do not enter into unnecessary wars. Your territory is quite protected and other than that your real threat is terrorism (the real one, not the guys with the "tatoos").
- Do not spend 11% of your GDP in weapons - it is not needed.

Life could be very different in the RF.

[DaRude]

...
 The beauty of that is that there is no way Russia can do anything about it they just cannot compete on the soft power field.
...
 Only options for Russia is sit back and keep loosing countries in its sphere of influence and ultimately be torn apart, or radicalize become a dictatorship and switch the playing field to hard power.
...

On regards to the RF becoming a dictatorship "in the future", I think that Moskva has sailed.

I think you have depicted the problem, but there is a solution. It is difficult for the RF to assume that its influence is in decline. It is not just the US, it is that all the world is moving ahead and the RF is not keeping the pace. Among other things, if you have the GDP of Italy and spend 11% of it in military you need to take it from schools, doctor, civil research, ... It is a problem of mindset.

This is some free consultancy for the RF:

Your objective is competing in a world that is growing fast. If you are left behind your people and the nation as such will not do well, no matter how many wars you fight.

- Develop the east. The territory is immense, the opportunities endless, you do not need to look further. I understand that as of now, there are political reasons why Moscow / St Petersburg would rather not do that, but long term it causes tensions.
- Attract investment, both local and foreign. You cannot do without it. See next point on how to enable that, but, as a hint, you should be seen as a pacific partner and stable on that regards.
- Put in place the enablers of growth: Rule of law, fair and speedy justice. This implies you need to get rid of the Cleptocrats and local despots, no way around that.
- Keep your strengths: good universities, good research, ability to manage complex projects, ...
- Use wisely the money that is coming from exporting natural resources. Try to build up the chain of value (e.g. do not export crude oil, but refined products).
- Do not enter into unnecessary wars. Your territory is quite protected and other than that your real threat is terrorism (the real one, not the guys with the "tatoos").
- Do not spend 11% of your GDP in weapons - it is not needed.

Life could be very different in the RF.

 
Why would US let RF prosper, especially considering it's proximity to China? You know what powerful nations want right? That combination is too dangerous and needs to be stopped at its infancy. Much easier to kneecap RF, take Ukraine out of it's sphere of influence and then it'd be great if that could sustain itself by forcing RF to continue to sell its resources to EU through Ukraine (so UA gets paid transit fees). That's the benefit of having a pact, on top of that you can freeze RF assets and bankrupt it anytime you wish. (That is unless they decide to stop playing such game for some reason)

[paxmao]

...
 The beauty of that is that there is no way Russia can do anything about it they just cannot compete on the soft power field.
...
 Only options for Russia is sit back and keep loosing countries in its sphere of influence and ultimately be torn apart, or radicalize become a dictatorship and switch the playing field to hard power.
...

On regards to the RF becoming a dictatorship "in the future", I think that Moskva has sailed.

I think you have depicted the problem, but there is a solution. It is difficult for the RF to assume that its influence is in decline. It is not just the US, it is that all the world is moving ahead and the RF is not keeping the pace. Among other things, if you have the GDP of Italy and spend 11% of it in military you need to take it from schools, doctor, civil research, ... It is a problem of mindset.

This is some free consultancy for the RF:

Your objective is competing in a world that is growing fast. If you are left behind your people and the nation as such will not do well, no matter how many wars you fight.

- Develop the east. The territory is immense, the opportunities endless, you do not need to look further. I understand that as of now, there are political reasons why Moscow / St Petersburg would rather not do that, but long term it causes tensions.
- Attract investment, both local and foreign. You cannot do without it. See next point on how to enable that, but, as a hint, you should be seen as a pacific partner and stable on that regards.
- Put in place the enablers of growth: Rule of law, fair and speedy justice. This implies you need to get rid of the Cleptocrats and local despots, no way around that.
- Keep your strengths: good universities, good research, ability to manage complex projects, ...
- Use wisely the money that is coming from exporting natural resources. Try to build up the chain of value (e.g. do not export crude oil, but refined products).
- Do not enter into unnecessary wars. Your territory is quite protected and other than that your real threat is terrorism (the real one, not the guys with the "tatoos").
- Do not spend 11% of your GDP in weapons - it is not needed.

Life could be very different in the RF.

 
Why would US let RF prosper, especially considering it's proximity to China? You know what powerful nations want right? That combination is too dangerous and needs to be stopped at its infancy. Much easier to kneecap RF, take Ukraine out of it's sphere of influence and then it'd be great if that could sustain itself by forcing RF to continue to sell its resources to EU through Ukraine (so UA gets paid transit fees). That's the benefit of having a pact, on top of that you can freeze RF assets and bankrupt it anytime you wish. (That is unless they decide to stop playing such game for some reason)

Well, under that premise, you could argue that this war is actually helping US do so.

The US is not the only country in the world and, as far as I know, has until now only frozen assets when faced with very serious hostility. Freezing assets is not for free - the US is also getting a reputation hit on this.

[Synchronice]

Easiest way to start another war, just offer Taiwan to join NATO sit back and watch the "fireworks" fly. (Don't those poor Taiwanese deserve the freedom cookies and guarantees of freedom??)

Do you know what NATO stands for? North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Now, where is Taiwan located? Answer me.

You seem to be genuinely curious, and at first sight appear to have good points. But keep going with your line of thinking, now ask yourself why the closer the country is to Russia the more it likes US/NATO and dislikes Russia (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia), yet the further it is from Russia (Africa, Middle East, South America, Asia) the less they like US and the more they like Russia? That's the beauty of soft power, you can exploit other countries and direct resources to targeted countries to win over their "hearts and minds". The beauty of that is that there is no way Russia can do anything about it they just cannot compete on the soft power field. If winning "hearts and minds" of Ukrainians worked, US could then start another revolution in Egypt or just finish the ones in Venezuela/Turkey/Iran etc... and then direct those resources on winning "hearts and minds" of Belarusians or Kazakhs... Only options for Russia is sit back and keep loosing countries in its sphere of influence and ultimately be torn apart, or radicalize become a dictatorship and switch the playing field to hard power. It was a matter of time, Russia lost all of western Europe like that but Ukraine/Belarus/Kazakhstan was the red line for it, which US gladly crossed, and now here we are. Had it not been for Ukraine it would've been Belarus, and after some media work, people would gladly sacrifice their economies for the freedom to those poor Belarusians.

Countries that support Russia (Africa, Middle East, South America and some asian countries) have a low quality of life, have a low level of education which means their society is less educated, have a low-quality healthcare system, have a high level of corruption, have a high level of nepotism, have a high level of crime.
Soviet Union closed borders to its countries to make them live in swampland, to not let them see a high quality of life that was outside the USSR, once the borders were open, people started to travel and started to experience new life, they analyzed the difference in the quality of life between the USSR and West. Do you know where emigrants from post-soviet countries go to work? In western countries, they send money from western countries to their countries, they have increased their wealth, built new houses and increased their quality of life. That's why they are afraid of Russia, they don't want to go back, instead, they want to join the western family.

[paxmao]

Easiest way to start another war, just offer Taiwan to join NATO sit back and watch the "fireworks" fly. (Don't those poor Taiwanese deserve the freedom cookies and guarantees of freedom??)

Do you know what NATO stands for? North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Now, where is Taiwan located? Answer me.
...

What is the support in Taiwan for joining continental China's government? Answer me.

Where is Turkey, a NATO member located? An Italy, and Greece, ...?

[Synchronice]

Easiest way to start another war, just offer Taiwan to join NATO sit back and watch the "fireworks" fly. (Don't those poor Taiwanese deserve the freedom cookies and guarantees of freedom??)

Do you know what NATO stands for? North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Now, where is Taiwan located? Answer me.
...

What is the support in Taiwan for joining continental China's government? Answer me.

Where is Turkey, a NATO member located? An Italy, and Greece, ...?

https://ontheworldmap.com/oceans-and-seas/atlantic-ocean/north-atlantic-ocean-map.jpg

Turkey, Italy and Greece are connected to the Atlantic ocean through the mediterranean sea.

[suchmoon]

ask yourself why the closer the country is to Russia the more it likes US/NATO and dislikes Russia (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia), yet the further it is from Russia (Africa, Middle East, South America, Asia) the less they like US and the more they like Russia?

It can't possibly have anything to do with the fact that countries near Russia have suffered its invasions and occupations including the 50-70 years of brutal soviet totalitarian regime that's still in living history. Nah, it has to be some conspiracy from the evil West.

[paxmao]

ask yourself why the closer the country is to Russia the more it likes US/NATO and dislikes Russia (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia), yet the further it is from Russia (Africa, Middle East, South America, Asia) the less they like US and the more they like Russia?

It can't possibly have anything to do with the fact that countries near Russia have suffered its invasions and occupations including the 50-70 years of brutal soviet totalitarian regime that's still in living history. Nah, it has to be some conspiracy from the evil West.

Of course, they have sent there T-62 to protect their loving brothers from the bears and deers of the forests.

https://youtu.be/LCZU1XdNb_E?t=613

They are also recycling arguments:

https://youtu.be/H4uLLSuUeDc?t=112

... Russia had to conquer Finland to "denazify" it

[Branko]

Do you know what NATO stands for? North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Now, where is Taiwan located? Answer me.

Since when is Ukraine on Atlantic?

[suchmoon]

Since when is Ukraine on Atlantic?

While we're at it, let's invade Luxembourg, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and North Macedonia on the grounds of them being illegitimate NATO members because "Atlantic".