ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

the leftist twitter response to Bernie has reminded me that leftist twitter is garbage

Sorry that was a bit of hyperbole but in comparison to the Tucker Carlsons and JD Vance’s of the world it’s more interventionist. Right now people are only talking about sanctions but if this progresses to full scale invasion/ occupation there will be talk about providing other kinds of support to Ukraine that will blur the line between military and non-military logistical or intelligence support.

the tucker carlsons and jd vances of the world believe that putin has the right to take over half or all of ukraine if he wants to, so yeah, i guess they're non-interventionist.

apparently Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics have both called for Russian military aid

Did everyone there yell this out their windows, like in Network?

take it to the American politics thread, dickheads

I don't understand how calzino's tone is accepted around here, I really don't.

Seconded.

jon, you are one of the most whiny pathetic self-pitying middle class wimps I've ever read on here. Betamax, you can go fuck yourself as well, you utter tool.

I'll second and third that

I'll fourth it.

what exactly is considered acceptable for this thread?

It is acceptable to know exactly what is going to happen

Just wish we could have a discussion without some people coming in just to insult others.

I really couldn't give a shit what you think of me, but I made one solitary post itt today that was a very specific, direct reference to a newsworthy development without any additional commentary or opinion included at all. Personal attacks in response were unwarranted and it's disappointing to see that there isn't any pushback at all against that sort of thing these days.

your disappointment is noted. Now I'm fp'ing you for being such a vindictive bore.

please explain why Tucker Carlson is relevant to this thread

It's a US politics thread, of course he's relevant.

because he's like goebbels? he's the PR mouthpiece who provides a reason, if not a good one, for the masses (the most watched cable news show in the US, i think?), and they believe him no matter how little sense it makes? because he's one of the most prominent voices speaking in favor of Russia and against Ukraine, possibly in the entire United States? I won't speak beyond our horrible sphere. because trump will likely be president again in 2024, and ukraine and russia will probably still be countries then?

i'm just some turd, but what does it look like in jan 2025 with president for life trump withdrawing u.s. from nato? beats me, but that's about 3 years from now so yeah, the big loud angry fucking asshole asswipe face on the screen, tucker carslon, the loudhorn for all this shit, is VERY FUCKING RELEVANT

gonna fucking rip off my nipples in a second, jesus fucking christ

because he's one of the most prominent voices speaking in favor of Russia and against Ukraine, possibly in the entire United States?

ah got it, thanks

oh fuck, you got me groovemaan! it turns out there's more of a world than beyond these borders. i never thought of it like that

i mean, what does public opinion in the united states have to do with ukraine? nothing at all!

Zelenskiy’s speaking at the moment. He’s been consistently impressive over the last couple of weeks.

He addresses Russians in Russian.

"We are divided by a shared border of more than 2,000km. Almost 200,000 of your troops and thousands of military vehicles are standing alongside it. Your leadership has ordered them to move forward, onto another country's territory."

— max seddon (@maxseddon) February 23, 2022

Thread has a summary ^

Yes, never mind that guy, whoever he is, let's get back to the people matter, some cunt on American television.

thanks TOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hes absolutely right.

how can that be argued ffs.

that Zelensky speech quoted in the Max Seddon thread is something

Yeah from my seat in the Great Satan Zelensky seems like a decent guy, at least as much as politicians can be.

this thread is so gatekeeper-y, might as well be a reddit channel

i’ve been reading a lot of twitter content and associated things written by people in russia-adjacent countries and just been trying to wrap my mind around things

that and reading the two minsk agreements. total clusterfuck

well, fuck. best of luck, Ukraine.

oh jeez

For real now I guess

Reports of heavy strikes from all across Ukraine

— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 24, 2022

Looking like worst case scenario

Looks like Putin decided that the non-military responses that the US and NATO will implement, combined with whatever military response Ukraine will make, will not be damaging enough to offset whatever the fuck he thinks occupying Ukraine will gain him. War is always tempting when you are free to imagine a swift and decisive victory is within easy grasp. Speaking as an American who has watched this dynamic play out several times from my own government, reality has a way of overtaking such rosy imagined outcomes and delivering something much worse.

so uh what are the odds nukes are gonna be involved in this

I'd say tiny. Putin fully expects his conventional army will prevail over Ukraine's armed forces rather easily and using nukes in a guerilla war would beyond madness.

Dawn in Kharkiv

This is going to be like Iraq - initial invasion over very quickly, but then months and months of bloody guerrilla warfare

so glad everybody spent half this thread portending to know what was going to happen and shitting on everybody else and then the thing they said wouldn't happen happened

*pretending

yeah the whole "America/American media really wants there to be a war" thing not looking so great when Russia wound up doing exactly what US intel agencies said they were gonna do

As awful as it would be in terms of massive civilian deaths and protracted war, the Ukrainian government should be caching small arms, ammunition, land mines, mortars and similar armaments in small amounts all over the country. If the second half of the 20th century taught us anything about warfare, it's that nukes are useless as offensive weapons and any country willing to fight a long, bloody guerilla war is nearly certain to expel an invader.

otoh, civil wars are more of a toss-up. If there's enough pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine, Putin may well grab the prize he's reaching for. But what puzzles me most are the stakes he's hoping to win? What kind of valuable power will accrue to Russia if he succeeds?

wonder what China thinks of Putin's enthusiastic support for rogue breakaway republics

Open season?

strikes in Moldova too? is this confirmed?