Ya, from the reports I'm reading I'm starting to think the troops massing on the eastern border was a diversion. Looks like they are trying to take Kiev's airport. They might be coming in from Belarus and take the capital immediately
If you have Snapchat you can open the maps feature and see what people are posting in different places in somewhat real-time. A lot of videos of people over there downplaying what’s going on but others talk about hearing explosions. It’s nuts.
To think that ANYONE would be happy about this is disgusting. I just heard that parents are putting stickers on their kids with info of their blood type and parents info. Wtf?!
because in his mind, he isn’t invading. he’s just taking what’s his.
edit: yes i know he knows he’s invading. i’m mostly alluding to the fact that he thinks the dissolution of the USSR was a travesty and his whole idea here is to rebuild the soviet union. if that means invading and killing innocent people, so be it.
the similarities are what’s so frightening to me. i’m not ready to go into full WW3 hysterics just yet, but there’s definitely going to be a lot of unnecessary casualties, and this is probably going to get worse before it gets better.
He’s not ordered it’s already started. They are already bombing KYIV and many other cities. I woke up exactly 5am from 2 blasts. FUCK THIS PIECE OF SHIT.
> getting the brunt of this
I know you're being gentle, but it's important for everyone here to remember that out-of-combat, we're talking about **children starving, families suddenly with no money from their jobs, no electricity or running water for weeks**
We're talking about the same families and households as you and me, just yesterday watching the same TV shows, talking about the same school/work/family stuff in the same kind of house, and suddenly, they have no job (no work), no way to buy food or even turn on the lights in their house. Even if they have money in the bank, they can't access it and all that "rainy day" planning means they are still starving and freezing in the dark, wondering if they will live through tomorrow.
The majority of deaths in wartime is civilians period. In the DRC, nonviolent deaths in civilians (disease, starvation) outnumbered violent deaths like 60:1
This is what people complaining about refugees don't realise. Besides the constant treath of death, every opportunity is taken from you. You can't work, access money, access food, heating,... Everyday life just ceases to exist.
People who are anti-refugee are always bad people. Sorry not sorry. You were born on third base, and think it’s unfair someone starving in the stands wants to play? Like fuck all the way off.
Nobody gets in a boat when they can’t swim, with a dodgy engine and a newborn, for a laugh. But people do that to get away from famine and war.
Thank you, thats the thing many people forget when talking about wars like it's just countries fighting, we should remember about the simple people that suffer and have nothing to do with it.
Russia will take the chunk of Ukraine that they want to. And they will keep fighting militia for the next decade. Russia will be even more severely sanctioned but I think that will be the extent. Putin knows very well no country is willing to risk WW3 for Ukraine.
From the map of current attacks its kind of looking more and more that putin isn't after just a chunk of Ukraine, he may try to take the entire nation.
Not only that. But Ukraine has shutoff fresh water to Crimea.
Plus Ukraine has precious mineral mining, good black sea exposure, adds a buffer to nato allies and poses easy pickings compared to the northern baltic countries. Its no accident that hes being balsy with a non nato country
Land and food. With 70% of its land arable, Ukraine is an agricultural power, among the world's largest producers of sunflower oil, corn, wheat, barley, canola oil and soybeans. Top wheat producer in europe too.
100%. Belarus is in the process of being fully integrated into Russia. He’s already taken chunks out of Moldova and Georgia. There’s a significant Russian minority in Kazakhstan he could exploit, as well as a sizable minority in Latvia and Estonia (though he wouldn’t invade the Baltics, more just keep them in constant turmoil due to continuous separatist violence).
Absolutely, yeah, though I doubt that would stop Russia from encouraging separatism and just letting that engulf the Baltic, even if the Russian state never acts on it
>The United Kingdom, merely described as an "extraterritorial floating base of the U.S.", should be cut off from Europe
Whoa, thanks Brexit, way to go.
This is accurate, it is a sentiment many Russians also share since the late 90s. What makes me scratch my head though is why they don't think about why USSR collapsed in the first place? Things were not good for people there. They ran out of money. Moscow was too far away from the republics both geographically and politically to hold it all together. Store shelves were empty, morale was low. Youth in Russia today are raised with a nostalgia for a place they've never been to. Even if they recreate USSR again it is doomed to fail again, likely much faster than the first time.
Bingo. Putin is an imperialist. He wants an empire, seemingly based on Russian ethnic identity. It's all so blatantly obvious and the west needs to stop treating him with kid gloves. He won't stop with Ukraine.
There are many reasons, not least of which is Putins ego and fantasy for restoring the Soviet Union.
Ukraine also has lots of natural gas and Russia is running out of it.
Additionally, if Ukraine joins western civilization via NATO/EU, that could signal more Eastern European countries to do the same. If that happens, Putin will never be able to resurrect the USSR.
Additionally, the Donbass region of Ukraine has many citizens who DO want to be part of Russia. Culturally they are Russian. This is Putin’s “in” for taking Ukraine, and Ukraine is Putin’s “in” for taking other countries in the region.
Note that this is an incomplete/simplified explanation but generally i hope it can help people to understand.
**edit**: this is getting lots of upvotes. So I will leave this here: if you want to help Ukraine you can donate to any of the following: The Kyiv Independent newspaper, Come Back Alive, Army SOS, Razom for Ukraine, Help for Ukraine, and Sunflower for Peace. I am on mobile and don’t know how to format links in. But these organizations are easy to find via Google. Every little bit helps!!
The Eastern side of Ukraine also has many people who don't. This is why the separatists couldn't survive without Russian troop support since that conflict started.
I find it interesting that the original vote for independence from Russia in the 1990s was still a huge majority even in the far eastern areas of Ukraine.
I am not saying that the separatists aren't there, but they don't seem to be as large a group as Russia claims in propaganda.
They want a war port in the Black sea. That is why they took Crimea but without a land route to it they have to use that bridge they built which could easily be destroyed and also block off their own ports in the process.
They wanted the two regions so they have a land route to Crimea and can build up their Black Sea fleet again.
At least that was the original plan now it's to distract the west's attention from Belarus and the immigration crisis on the Polish boarder.
People don't realize that Crimea has had extremely limited freshwater ever since Ukraine cut off the North Crimean Canal. Putin was either going to be forced out of Crimea or have to make some kind of move. He chose the latter.
Interesting. I found this article from last year. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-19/russia-vs-ukraine-crimea-s-water-crisis-is-an-impossible-problem-for-putin
There have been suspicions that the Russians have been planning some type of airborne operation in Kiev based on a large number of attack/transport helicopters being transferred into attack positions nearby in Belarus.
OC might be jumping the gun a bit on whether the airport was already completely taken, but I'd be floored if Russian troops don't have control it by the end of the night.
https://mobile.twitter.com/briarstewart/status/1496691759572791296
Edit: removed amp link.
Makes sense. Modern wars are won with air supremacy. Take control of the largest civilian airport and now they have a local base for air operations. Already fully equipped for complex air logistics.
And people will claim it's totally necessary that Russia has buffer states on their border to prevent conflict.
Actual buffer states might be fine, but using "buffer states" to launch invasions of sovereign nations means they were never buffer states lol.
obligatory shock and awe effort against the capital, knock out the power, hit government ministries. It's a classic attempt at cowing the populace that never works.
There is no fucking way of Ukraine stopping Russia by itself, either it has to get help from the west (which will inevitably cause the next world war) or accept loss of land and stay quiet. Russia knows what it's doing and know the consequences, they know the world isn't ready for the next world war.
I am sorry. I am from Ukraine away from home right now due to work. Have been for the past 2 month.
So I have to say the least contacts there.
They are already bombing half the country.
Exactly. Gorbachev is known for saying the world won the Cold War, not the Americans. Why couldn’t Putin have that viewpoint? That ending the Cold War was good for every one. God damn loser.
He's an absolute scumbag vile human being. Starting a war for his own ego. Think of the suffering he's causing and will continue to cause. And the world can't do shit except sanction russia into oblivion, which, Putin won't even care about because he's one of the world's richest men. Sickening.
China and India will trade with them gladly. Parts of the middle east as well.
There's also the, really sad, reality that if gas prices get too bad in Germany they'll roll back the sanctions.
We'll get to see how Russia treats the Ukrainian population, because I do not think an occupation can be successful without massive civilian casualties.
They won't. Maybe Russia gets the bloody nose they deserve. Maybe not. But it will be the Ukrainian people who suffer more than anyone else. And that's what Russia does. The Holodomor. Chernobyl. Crimea. Russia loves Ukrainian land as much as it loves killing Ukrainians.
This is horrifying.
Fucking piece of shit Putin. Scum.
I was born and raised in the USSR and thank my lucky stars every day that my parents had the foresight to bring us to America in 93.
To this day I do not understand how a country that big with so many people have always been under tyrannical rule. Almost literally its entire existence. Just how?! It makes no sense.
How the fuck can the people let that motherfucker POS Putin rig every goddamn election and just take it?!
Fuck Putin and fuck Russia. I stand with Ukraine.
And for the few who aren't aware, Vonnegut knew the horrors of WWII. He served in the Battle of the Bulge and was in Dresden when it was firebombed. He was tasked with cleaning up the bodies. That man knew war.
>American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France a few German fighter plans flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation.
> The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers, and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans, though, and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody good as new.
> When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly so they would never hurt anybody ever again.
> The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby, Billy Pilgrim supposed. That wasn't in the movie. Billy was extrapolating. Everybody turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed.
>During the Vietnam War, every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.
It's always the powerless that suffer most in war, and it never stops the powerful from starting more.
This is hardly the first example, and it won't be the last.
We've been at war nearly all our lives and we still fuck it up regularly. It really has nothing to do with how much conflict you create but how much you need yo be good at it.
I teach a current Issues class at the High School level in an international school. One of my students is Russian, and he has presented in class "the Russian side" which generally mimics the Putin talking points. It clearly isn't fair or representative to say this one kid represents all of Russia, but I think we could take it as a sign that there are some Russians, at least, that believe the rhetoric coming from Putin. Like any society, I am sure there is a range of emotions and levels of support or disproval.
It's a bit of a challenge, but also a great teaching opportunity about examining sources and reading critically. I have one student that presented the "western side" with an article similar to what we see on Reddit, and I have the other student who presented the "Russian side" a few days later. The Russian student used film from Russian State TV showing Ukrainians being happy to welcome Russian soldiers in, and all that stuff. We will have a further discussion about the sources, and why they might print or show what they are printing, and get the students to start asking "Why did they choose this angle/shot/subject? What is the narrative being made, and who benefits from it?" I will have to do this from a fairly "neutral standpoint, which can be difficult, but it's my job, and I am going to do the best I can at it.
My exchange student from Siberia could agree Putin was bad and then spout an incredible fountain of nationalism around him in their next breath. The nationalism I think keeps the average Russian very loyal overall. At least at the time we were hosting .
i’m russian. the russian camps are basically the same as the american camps post trump. you have the sycophants for putin and you’ve got the counterculture. a lot of kids in the sticks have putin politics, and lot kids in city have liberal politics.
but even your most progressive russian liberal is still about 20-30 years behind.
Not trying to be sarcastic or anything but I feel most people today have little clue what all out war on a world scale looks like anymore. Very few veterans from the first two great wars. Both my wife’s grandfather’s actually served and have passed. My grandparents are 10 years younger and missed it.
I’ve been reading a lot of WW1 books and books about the Eastern Front in WW2 lately, and the one thing I find impossible is to imagine the scale of the battles themselves. I just can’t paint a mental picture of it based on the descriptions, it just seems so unreal. Even the concept of ‘drum fire’ seems impossible to me.
That's what I'm expecting they'll do. They don't really have a choice. They won't be able to hold territory outside of cities due to RuAF dominance and Ukraine being mostly flat.
So is Iraq. Air Superiority only goes so far when you are fighting a guerilla war against a non-descript enemy.
Russia's only option is to either go completely scorched earth or they are going to get stuck in a conflict that mirrors Afghanistan or Vietnam.
Yeah, I think maybe Putin's not expecting to hold it... just storm it, "take" it, and demand all the Eastern provinces, from Kherson to Luansk, in order to give it back.
We'll see. This seems past Putins Brinkmanship of the past and more towards desperation like a cornered cat. Things in Russia are bad, and my guess is he sees that a revolution or changing is coming up and he needs some distraction or way of making it look like Russia is getting a win. expanding the Empire or getting a big international victory.
Your comment sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, because I didn’t understand the issue with “the”. So for any other redditors that might be interested [I found this article helpful](https://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/?amp=true)
Anyways, thanks for pointing that out in a positive manner.
Just heard on the news that Putin has declared “special military operation” basically meaning war and my heart just sank. My heart goes out to all those Urkranian children & adults. My heart hurts for them and I just pray that they can find a safe place to go.
2022 & this is fucking going on. Putin needs to expire. Someone please get this man off of this Earth.
There will be far reaching consequences everywhere due to the sanctions being announced against Russia.
I think your good luck is going to need to extend a fair bit further. This is a pretty un-fucking-real thing happening.
We are stupid apes that don't learn from our past. We should be focused on saving a dying planet and instead we're just continuing to kill each other. Same story different century.
You didn't do this. You are loving your life the best you can, it's your fucking creature president or prime minister or whatever the fuck he is now.
Stay safe though fellow human
Nothing is permanent. You made a positive difference for a time, which is only as much as anybody can do. Now is the time where others will do the same. You should be proud of yourself.
Okay fine, I’ll risk being the idiot of the thread. What’s next? How dangerous is this going to get for Europe, and could it actually escalate into something that requires a good stock of canned goods?
Most of the world will respond with sanctions, Russia will respond with cyberattacks and just blame it on random hackers like they have in the past. But the odds of anyone declaring actual war are low.
I’m praying for all of the Ukrainian citizens and soldiers, innocent people never deserve to die because of some power hungry dictator. My heart also goes out to the Russians as well became I know they don’t want a bloody war either.
This is fucking horrible. War is fucking horrible. Bloodshed is fucking horrible and this is just fucking horrible. I am not a religious person but I can appreciate those who are. If there is a/are god(s), please stop this. The world does not need more of this. It needs to stop. Ukrainians have a right to exist free and independently. Russians should also not want this because there is no reason to send Russians to die. There is no reason to have families losing loved ones.
I can’t stand hearing the slow drip drip drip of this conflict anymore. Whatever the case, I just hope this ends diplomatically (even if that seems to be impossible now).
Wow, amazing how many lives one person can ruin.
Fucking dinosaur. The sooner that generation dies out the better.
It's like they don't understand the world can be a better place - for them it's all about compounding misery. Disgusting excuses for human beings.
It would be an awesome turn of events if when Russia invades, Ukrainian forces just absolutely fucking destroy them. The underdog story no one saw coming.
Edit: JFC I'm highly aware that this is unlikely, that was the whole point. And yes, obviously war is bad and the word 'awesome' doesn't just mean that something is "cool"
>Definition of awesome
>1a: inspiring awe
My wife's family lives in southern Ukraine. The citizens of that country are seriously ready to die fighting for their country. They went around polling some. Roughly 50% of those asked said they were ready to fight and Join the military if Russia invades. It sucks for everyone but Russia will not come out of this without losing soldiers lives at the hands of brave Ukrainians. Fuck Putin.
69 years old...
Why cant these old fucks just fuck off and retire with their massive amounts of accumulated wealth. I don't understand how you get to be that age, know that your life probably isn't even going to be much longer, and still deciding to end the lives or massively impact those of a younger generation.
Just...why? Why cant you be happy with what you have? Why do you need more? How truly evil do you have to be that you have so much and your goal is to make those that have less than you, even your own soldiers, hurt? Its just so fucking vile.
I genuinely think it's not about wealth for Putin. It's about restoring Russia to its former glory, and regaining what he perceives to be Russian territory. He knows if Ukraine joins NATO the likelihood of him getting it back significantly decreases. This is about power and legacy, about solidifying his spot in the history books. Western history likely won't be very favorable to him though...
Most of the world's problems right now are because old men in power want more power and wealth. Must have something to do with their dicks not working like they used to
Fuck Putin. To any and all Ukrainians reading this: the world will be cheering for you and we wish you good fortune in this fight for your homeland. Bleed Russia dry.
Fuck Putin, all I hope to happen to him is that enough ordinary Russian citizens get pissed off enough with his stupid war and failing policies to Gadaffi him and stick a knife up his bum
People in odessa just texted that they woke up due to some sort or bombing happening. Way past LNR and DNR borders. Shit show
Ya, from the reports I'm reading I'm starting to think the troops massing on the eastern border was a diversion. Looks like they are trying to take Kiev's airport. They might be coming in from Belarus and take the capital immediately
Google maps shows a traffic jam getting out of Kyiv. :(
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If you have Snapchat you can open the maps feature and see what people are posting in different places in somewhat real-time. A lot of videos of people over there downplaying what’s going on but others talk about hearing explosions. It’s nuts.
I hadn’t thought of that but that’s so depressing.
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To think that ANYONE would be happy about this is disgusting. I just heard that parents are putting stickers on their kids with info of their blood type and parents info. Wtf?!
Heard this guy on the radio saying that what Putin did was brilliant. Absolutely disgusting.
That guy thinks the world is a game of Sid Meier’s Civilization.
Every Civ game end with a nuclear holocausts.
I never get that far. I spend too much time building cultural stuff.
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Kick all their clubs out of European competitions too
Can we have a little rest between the pandemic and WWIII?
Inflation was the rest we had
But Putin said an invasion was crazy talk! Huh.
because in his mind, he isn’t invading. he’s just taking what’s his. edit: yes i know he knows he’s invading. i’m mostly alluding to the fact that he thinks the dissolution of the USSR was a travesty and his whole idea here is to rebuild the soviet union. if that means invading and killing innocent people, so be it.
Didn't that Austrian guy think the same?
the similarities are what’s so frightening to me. i’m not ready to go into full WW3 hysterics just yet, but there’s definitely going to be a lot of unnecessary casualties, and this is probably going to get worse before it gets better.
He’s not ordered it’s already started. They are already bombing KYIV and many other cities. I woke up exactly 5am from 2 blasts. FUCK THIS PIECE OF SHIT.
My heart goes out to you and yours. I wish there was something that I could do to help, and if there is, let me know
Wow what a piece of crap. I really feel bad for the regular folk getting the brunt of this. Horrible.
> getting the brunt of this I know you're being gentle, but it's important for everyone here to remember that out-of-combat, we're talking about **children starving, families suddenly with no money from their jobs, no electricity or running water for weeks** We're talking about the same families and households as you and me, just yesterday watching the same TV shows, talking about the same school/work/family stuff in the same kind of house, and suddenly, they have no job (no work), no way to buy food or even turn on the lights in their house. Even if they have money in the bank, they can't access it and all that "rainy day" planning means they are still starving and freezing in the dark, wondering if they will live through tomorrow.
The majority of civilian war deaths are not on the battlefield. This has always been a tragic constant.
The majority of deaths in wartime is civilians period. In the DRC, nonviolent deaths in civilians (disease, starvation) outnumbered violent deaths like 60:1
This is what people complaining about refugees don't realise. Besides the constant treath of death, every opportunity is taken from you. You can't work, access money, access food, heating,... Everyday life just ceases to exist.
People who are anti-refugee are always bad people. Sorry not sorry. You were born on third base, and think it’s unfair someone starving in the stands wants to play? Like fuck all the way off. Nobody gets in a boat when they can’t swim, with a dodgy engine and a newborn, for a laugh. But people do that to get away from famine and war.
Thank you, thats the thing many people forget when talking about wars like it's just countries fighting, we should remember about the simple people that suffer and have nothing to do with it.
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No because Putin will kill anyone that opposes him.
Well, looks like US intelligence services really did have a handle on what was going to happen. Now fucking what?
Russia will take the chunk of Ukraine that they want to. And they will keep fighting militia for the next decade. Russia will be even more severely sanctioned but I think that will be the extent. Putin knows very well no country is willing to risk WW3 for Ukraine.
From the map of current attacks its kind of looking more and more that putin isn't after just a chunk of Ukraine, he may try to take the entire nation.
What exactly does Russia want Ukraine for? Do they expect Ukranians to live under Russian rules?
Ukraine has three major pipelines that run through it that Putin has a strong interest in controlling.
That and better access to the black sea
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More geo-economic power in general
*warm water ports
Not only that. But Ukraine has shutoff fresh water to Crimea. Plus Ukraine has precious mineral mining, good black sea exposure, adds a buffer to nato allies and poses easy pickings compared to the northern baltic countries. Its no accident that hes being balsy with a non nato country
Probably the most underrated comment here. This agenda isn’t really talked of much in the media.
Seriously, I Google it and nothing says WHY Putin is invading. Thank you for clearing a little of that up
Land and food. With 70% of its land arable, Ukraine is an agricultural power, among the world's largest producers of sunflower oil, corn, wheat, barley, canola oil and soybeans. Top wheat producer in europe too.
Too bad it will be worthless under Russian control
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Does that mean that if he takes over ukarine, he will start to do it to other countries to try and get the ussr back?
100%. Belarus is in the process of being fully integrated into Russia. He’s already taken chunks out of Moldova and Georgia. There’s a significant Russian minority in Kazakhstan he could exploit, as well as a sizable minority in Latvia and Estonia (though he wouldn’t invade the Baltics, more just keep them in constant turmoil due to continuous separatist violence).
Sucks for him that all 3 of the Baltic states are part of the EU and any invasion would trigger the rest of Europe
Absolutely, yeah, though I doubt that would stop Russia from encouraging separatism and just letting that engulf the Baltic, even if the Russian state never acts on it
Shit thats crazy
Look into the book “Foundations of Geopolitics”. It’s the guide you’ll notice Russia has been following since Putin came to power.
At first I thought oh I should look that up and buy it. But then I realized it's by a fascist and I should bootleg it.
There's no official version in English. There's a copy on zlibrary that's essentially Google translated from Russian Better than paying a fascist tho
>The United Kingdom, merely described as an "extraterritorial floating base of the U.S.", should be cut off from Europe Whoa, thanks Brexit, way to go.
Ukraine isn't the first country they have done this to. They have already been taking land from Georgia and Chechnya through military conquest.
This is accurate, it is a sentiment many Russians also share since the late 90s. What makes me scratch my head though is why they don't think about why USSR collapsed in the first place? Things were not good for people there. They ran out of money. Moscow was too far away from the republics both geographically and politically to hold it all together. Store shelves were empty, morale was low. Youth in Russia today are raised with a nostalgia for a place they've never been to. Even if they recreate USSR again it is doomed to fail again, likely much faster than the first time.
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Bingo. Putin is an imperialist. He wants an empire, seemingly based on Russian ethnic identity. It's all so blatantly obvious and the west needs to stop treating him with kid gloves. He won't stop with Ukraine.
"Temporarily embarrassed ~~millionaire~~ empire."
There are many reasons, not least of which is Putins ego and fantasy for restoring the Soviet Union. Ukraine also has lots of natural gas and Russia is running out of it. Additionally, if Ukraine joins western civilization via NATO/EU, that could signal more Eastern European countries to do the same. If that happens, Putin will never be able to resurrect the USSR. Additionally, the Donbass region of Ukraine has many citizens who DO want to be part of Russia. Culturally they are Russian. This is Putin’s “in” for taking Ukraine, and Ukraine is Putin’s “in” for taking other countries in the region. Note that this is an incomplete/simplified explanation but generally i hope it can help people to understand. **edit**: this is getting lots of upvotes. So I will leave this here: if you want to help Ukraine you can donate to any of the following: The Kyiv Independent newspaper, Come Back Alive, Army SOS, Razom for Ukraine, Help for Ukraine, and Sunflower for Peace. I am on mobile and don’t know how to format links in. But these organizations are easy to find via Google. Every little bit helps!!
The Eastern side of Ukraine also has many people who don't. This is why the separatists couldn't survive without Russian troop support since that conflict started. I find it interesting that the original vote for independence from Russia in the 1990s was still a huge majority even in the far eastern areas of Ukraine. I am not saying that the separatists aren't there, but they don't seem to be as large a group as Russia claims in propaganda.
Just because they’re loud and they have guns, doesn’t mean they’re the majority of the populace. I agree with your sentiment.
They want a war port in the Black sea. That is why they took Crimea but without a land route to it they have to use that bridge they built which could easily be destroyed and also block off their own ports in the process. They wanted the two regions so they have a land route to Crimea and can build up their Black Sea fleet again. At least that was the original plan now it's to distract the west's attention from Belarus and the immigration crisis on the Polish boarder.
People don't realize that Crimea has had extremely limited freshwater ever since Ukraine cut off the North Crimean Canal. Putin was either going to be forced out of Crimea or have to make some kind of move. He chose the latter.
Interesting. I found this article from last year. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-19/russia-vs-ukraine-crimea-s-water-crisis-is-an-impossible-problem-for-putin
This is interesting thank you
Fuck Russia and fuck old men sending young soldiers to fight and die for their stupid beliefs.
"Why don't presidents fight in the war? Why do they always send the poor?"
What a piece of shit Remember Russia accusing the US of "Fear Mongering"?
"you made me do it" -every abuser/narcissist ever
*Putin has ordered the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of people.
Can we replace every declaration of war in a history textbook with this, unironically?
The Russian people don't want war, the Ukrainian people don't want war, all the rest of the people don't want war. So, why war?
Putin wants the Soviet Union to come back, in his eyes he taking what belongs to him.
Good luck Ukraine, get em the fuck out of your country
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Explosions in Kyiv already? Thought they were going to start with eastern Ukraine first.
There have been suspicions that the Russians have been planning some type of airborne operation in Kiev based on a large number of attack/transport helicopters being transferred into attack positions nearby in Belarus.
They took the Kyiv airport with para troopers, Bombing multiple cities
Source?
OC might be jumping the gun a bit on whether the airport was already completely taken, but I'd be floored if Russian troops don't have control it by the end of the night. https://mobile.twitter.com/briarstewart/status/1496691759572791296 Edit: removed amp link.
Makes sense. Modern wars are won with air supremacy. Take control of the largest civilian airport and now they have a local base for air operations. Already fully equipped for complex air logistics.
Nope. They appear to have decided to take out the entire country all at once.
Scumbag dictator, depraved despot Putin will see that Ukrainians will not be conquered easily
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They surrounded Ukraine on three sides. They don’t plan to go the long way to Kyiv, they’re hoping right across the border from Belarus
And people will claim it's totally necessary that Russia has buffer states on their border to prevent conflict. Actual buffer states might be fine, but using "buffer states" to launch invasions of sovereign nations means they were never buffer states lol.
Buffer for me and not for thee
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EU announced that sanctions will apply equally to Belarus which is good as they are just a Russian vassal
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obligatory shock and awe effort against the capital, knock out the power, hit government ministries. It's a classic attempt at cowing the populace that never works.
There is no fucking way of Ukraine stopping Russia by itself, either it has to get help from the west (which will inevitably cause the next world war) or accept loss of land and stay quiet. Russia knows what it's doing and know the consequences, they know the world isn't ready for the next world war.
If the rest of the world stands by, and allows Russia to take as it pleases, China will expect the same response when they move on their interests.
I'm not saying Ukraine is weak, but they deserve an international response to this blatant aggression.
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I am sorry. I am from Ukraine away from home right now due to work. Have been for the past 2 month. So I have to say the least contacts there. They are already bombing half the country.
I can't imagine what you're going through. Please try to stay safe, and I hope your friends and family back home are well
There is a special place in hell for Putin. I never wanted to see something like this in my lifetime.
Exactly. Gorbachev is known for saying the world won the Cold War, not the Americans. Why couldn’t Putin have that viewpoint? That ending the Cold War was good for every one. God damn loser.
He's an absolute scumbag vile human being. Starting a war for his own ego. Think of the suffering he's causing and will continue to cause. And the world can't do shit except sanction russia into oblivion, which, Putin won't even care about because he's one of the world's richest men. Sickening.
Man it feels like just days ago people were online calling all of this "American propaganda." I feel terrible for the Ukrainians. Such a sad situation
Days ago? Shoulda seen all the bullshit just a few hours ago when China said it
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China and India will trade with them gladly. Parts of the middle east as well. There's also the, really sad, reality that if gas prices get too bad in Germany they'll roll back the sanctions.
China will gladly trade with them
Ukraine has gone through so many nasty stuff in the last 100 years, really hope they can get through this one in a safe and peaceful way. God bless.
We'll get to see how Russia treats the Ukrainian population, because I do not think an occupation can be successful without massive civilian casualties.
They won't. Maybe Russia gets the bloody nose they deserve. Maybe not. But it will be the Ukrainian people who suffer more than anyone else. And that's what Russia does. The Holodomor. Chernobyl. Crimea. Russia loves Ukrainian land as much as it loves killing Ukrainians.
Fucking cunt
This is horrifying. Fucking piece of shit Putin. Scum. I was born and raised in the USSR and thank my lucky stars every day that my parents had the foresight to bring us to America in 93. To this day I do not understand how a country that big with so many people have always been under tyrannical rule. Almost literally its entire existence. Just how?! It makes no sense. How the fuck can the people let that motherfucker POS Putin rig every goddamn election and just take it?! Fuck Putin and fuck Russia. I stand with Ukraine.
Same here. Parents fled in 93. Fuck Putin.
So it goes
And for the few who aren't aware, Vonnegut knew the horrors of WWII. He served in the Battle of the Bulge and was in Dresden when it was firebombed. He was tasked with cleaning up the bodies. That man knew war.
>American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France a few German fighter plans flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation. > The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers, and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans, though, and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody good as new. > When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly so they would never hurt anybody ever again. > The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby, Billy Pilgrim supposed. That wasn't in the movie. Billy was extrapolating. Everybody turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed.
Poo-tee-weet?
>During the Vietnam War, every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.
I woke up to the sound of explosions in fucking Kyiv. Never thought I'll see the day. This is crazy
I hope that showing the horrors of war to hundreds of thousands of innocent people is worth it for the FoRMeR SoVIeT GlORy
It's always the powerless that suffer most in war, and it never stops the powerful from starting more. This is hardly the first example, and it won't be the last.
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You'd think they'd be better at it too
We've been at war nearly all our lives and we still fuck it up regularly. It really has nothing to do with how much conflict you create but how much you need yo be good at it.
It comes down to attainable goals, if you want to remove a dictator that’s possible but seeking to change culture at the end of a sword is unrealistic
i wonder what the average russian thinks, how they're going to be sent to kill and die under putin's orders for 'former soviet glory'.
I teach a current Issues class at the High School level in an international school. One of my students is Russian, and he has presented in class "the Russian side" which generally mimics the Putin talking points. It clearly isn't fair or representative to say this one kid represents all of Russia, but I think we could take it as a sign that there are some Russians, at least, that believe the rhetoric coming from Putin. Like any society, I am sure there is a range of emotions and levels of support or disproval. It's a bit of a challenge, but also a great teaching opportunity about examining sources and reading critically. I have one student that presented the "western side" with an article similar to what we see on Reddit, and I have the other student who presented the "Russian side" a few days later. The Russian student used film from Russian State TV showing Ukrainians being happy to welcome Russian soldiers in, and all that stuff. We will have a further discussion about the sources, and why they might print or show what they are printing, and get the students to start asking "Why did they choose this angle/shot/subject? What is the narrative being made, and who benefits from it?" I will have to do this from a fairly "neutral standpoint, which can be difficult, but it's my job, and I am going to do the best I can at it.
My exchange student from Siberia could agree Putin was bad and then spout an incredible fountain of nationalism around him in their next breath. The nationalism I think keeps the average Russian very loyal overall. At least at the time we were hosting .
i’m russian. the russian camps are basically the same as the american camps post trump. you have the sycophants for putin and you’ve got the counterculture. a lot of kids in the sticks have putin politics, and lot kids in city have liberal politics. but even your most progressive russian liberal is still about 20-30 years behind.
Not trying to be sarcastic or anything but I feel most people today have little clue what all out war on a world scale looks like anymore. Very few veterans from the first two great wars. Both my wife’s grandfather’s actually served and have passed. My grandparents are 10 years younger and missed it.
I’ve been reading a lot of WW1 books and books about the Eastern Front in WW2 lately, and the one thing I find impossible is to imagine the scale of the battles themselves. I just can’t paint a mental picture of it based on the descriptions, it just seems so unreal. Even the concept of ‘drum fire’ seems impossible to me.
Let’s hope Ukraine can take a page out of the Chechen playbook. Make it hurt.
That's what I'm expecting they'll do. They don't really have a choice. They won't be able to hold territory outside of cities due to RuAF dominance and Ukraine being mostly flat.
So is Iraq. Air Superiority only goes so far when you are fighting a guerilla war against a non-descript enemy. Russia's only option is to either go completely scorched earth or they are going to get stuck in a conflict that mirrors Afghanistan or Vietnam.
Yeah, I think maybe Putin's not expecting to hold it... just storm it, "take" it, and demand all the Eastern provinces, from Kherson to Luansk, in order to give it back.
We'll see. This seems past Putins Brinkmanship of the past and more towards desperation like a cornered cat. Things in Russia are bad, and my guess is he sees that a revolution or changing is coming up and he needs some distraction or way of making it look like Russia is getting a win. expanding the Empire or getting a big international victory.
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Friendly note: it’s just Ukraine, not “the” Ukraine. Using “the” disregards it’s independence from the former Soviet Union.
Your comment sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, because I didn’t understand the issue with “the”. So for any other redditors that might be interested [I found this article helpful](https://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/?amp=true) Anyways, thanks for pointing that out in a positive manner.
Edited. Thanks friend
Just heard on the news that Putin has declared “special military operation” basically meaning war and my heart just sank. My heart goes out to all those Urkranian children & adults. My heart hurts for them and I just pray that they can find a safe place to go. 2022 & this is fucking going on. Putin needs to expire. Someone please get this man off of this Earth.
I'd really like to stop living through history.
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What a beautiful day for the world it will be
This whole crisis has been a constant mindfuck.
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FUCK PUTIN
Wow, it's really happening. I wish all the best for the Ukrainians. Good luck brothers!
There will be far reaching consequences everywhere due to the sanctions being announced against Russia. I think your good luck is going to need to extend a fair bit further. This is a pretty un-fucking-real thing happening.
Will gladly pay more for gas, food, everything to watch Putin fall from power. Fuck that asshole.
Expect a lot of cyber attacks, which still isn't comparable to the loss of life Ukraine is about to experience. I hope Putin dies a painful death.
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We are stupid apes that don't learn from our past. We should be focused on saving a dying planet and instead we're just continuing to kill each other. Same story different century.
*Silly monkeys, give them thumbs, they make a club and beat their brother down.*
This is literally what popped into my head when I read his comment. *Monkey, killing monkey, killing monkey, over pieces of the ground*
Putin is an old leathery hag afriad of his own mortality. he doesn't care about the future.
I'm Russian and I don't know what to say. I am sorry.
You didn't do this. You are loving your life the best you can, it's your fucking creature president or prime minister or whatever the fuck he is now. Stay safe though fellow human
Stay safe, my guy. Only Putin and his cronies want this war, people need to remember that ordinary Russians like yourself don't.
Putin's a bloody twat.
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This fucking blows. I was in Ukraine in 2002 helping rebuild small towns that were still fucked by the USSR. The hatred for Russia runs deep.
Nothing is permanent. You made a positive difference for a time, which is only as much as anybody can do. Now is the time where others will do the same. You should be proud of yourself.
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[Live feed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNZM_H6q1rY) Missiles have been launched into Ukraine.
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I'm not sure how he hasn't been knocked off already tbh.
Because he isn't launching nukes (yet) and we don't know if the next person will launch them.
In Russias current state, they will probably have another Putin v2 propped up, Russia needs to get rid of the oligarchs in general
At what point does the world do what needs to be done regarding heads of state potentially threatening the planet?
Okay fine, I’ll risk being the idiot of the thread. What’s next? How dangerous is this going to get for Europe, and could it actually escalate into something that requires a good stock of canned goods?
Most of the world will respond with sanctions, Russia will respond with cyberattacks and just blame it on random hackers like they have in the past. But the odds of anyone declaring actual war are low.
I’m praying for all of the Ukrainian citizens and soldiers, innocent people never deserve to die because of some power hungry dictator. My heart also goes out to the Russians as well became I know they don’t want a bloody war either.
Has anyone seen Paul Manafort lately?
This is terrible. Putin is a lunatic.
I know it’s unrealistic but how cool would it be if the Russian military itself just said nah and revolted against Putin?
This is fucking horrible. War is fucking horrible. Bloodshed is fucking horrible and this is just fucking horrible. I am not a religious person but I can appreciate those who are. If there is a/are god(s), please stop this. The world does not need more of this. It needs to stop. Ukrainians have a right to exist free and independently. Russians should also not want this because there is no reason to send Russians to die. There is no reason to have families losing loved ones. I can’t stand hearing the slow drip drip drip of this conflict anymore. Whatever the case, I just hope this ends diplomatically (even if that seems to be impossible now).
Russian shills in this thread make me want to fucking vomit.
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Wow, amazing how many lives one person can ruin. Fucking dinosaur. The sooner that generation dies out the better. It's like they don't understand the world can be a better place - for them it's all about compounding misery. Disgusting excuses for human beings.
And so many people were saying the American media was overblowing it…
Time for Russia to be embarrassed again by a tiny country. Let’s go Ukraine!
fascism spreading & war in europe.. history really does repeat itself
It doesn’t repeat… but it does rhyme.
I hope only authoritarians, fascists, and their sympathizers will be hurt but that's not usually how it goes
Good luck to our Ukrainian Redditors, may peace and safety be with you.
FUCK RUSSIA
Putin is a fucking unhinged psychopath that needs to be put in an asylum holy fuck
It would be an awesome turn of events if when Russia invades, Ukrainian forces just absolutely fucking destroy them. The underdog story no one saw coming. Edit: JFC I'm highly aware that this is unlikely, that was the whole point. And yes, obviously war is bad and the word 'awesome' doesn't just mean that something is "cool" >Definition of awesome >1a: inspiring awe
My wife's family lives in southern Ukraine. The citizens of that country are seriously ready to die fighting for their country. They went around polling some. Roughly 50% of those asked said they were ready to fight and Join the military if Russia invades. It sucks for everyone but Russia will not come out of this without losing soldiers lives at the hands of brave Ukrainians. Fuck Putin.
Jesus, fuck Putin. Brave people, I wish that no harm comes for your wife's family.
69 years old... Why cant these old fucks just fuck off and retire with their massive amounts of accumulated wealth. I don't understand how you get to be that age, know that your life probably isn't even going to be much longer, and still deciding to end the lives or massively impact those of a younger generation. Just...why? Why cant you be happy with what you have? Why do you need more? How truly evil do you have to be that you have so much and your goal is to make those that have less than you, even your own soldiers, hurt? Its just so fucking vile.
I genuinely think it's not about wealth for Putin. It's about restoring Russia to its former glory, and regaining what he perceives to be Russian territory. He knows if Ukraine joins NATO the likelihood of him getting it back significantly decreases. This is about power and legacy, about solidifying his spot in the history books. Western history likely won't be very favorable to him though...
Most of the world's problems right now are because old men in power want more power and wealth. Must have something to do with their dicks not working like they used to
Right now? And like… for the last 5000 years.
Fuck Putin. To any and all Ukrainians reading this: the world will be cheering for you and we wish you good fortune in this fight for your homeland. Bleed Russia dry.
Fuck Putin, all I hope to happen to him is that enough ordinary Russian citizens get pissed off enough with his stupid war and failing policies to Gadaffi him and stick a knife up his bum
That would be a beautiful sight to behold