ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

VAR is hell.

so - i've seen a few "reports" of troops on the polish border. not sure i believe it – this would certainly trigger military intervention from half the fucking planet, and Putin can't be that nuts, can he?? tho i thought a full invasion of the Ukraine was not going to happen and here we are. if it is true, maybe they've just been placed there as a precaution against nato intervention (tho I'm not convinced it's true)?

Has Latvia left NATO and no-one told me?

Not sure where VHS was going with that line of argument tbh, I was referencing the deployment of F-35s to the region (to current NATO member nations).

Defense official: Six US F-35s deploying to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, two each.

— Paul McLeary (@paulmcleary) February 24, 2022

Though this just gives the F-35 more places to crash so I guess it's not really much of a conflict escalation aside from the eternal war with gravity.

Yes let’s mock the Baltic states desire to protect itself from an imperial and nuclear power that just started a war on a neighbour.

Apparently they've dropped a bunch of requirements for Ukrainians to join the civilian militias... just show with a passport, and they'll hand you an AK
Yikes

xp pretty sure he's mocking the F-35 there, deservedly so

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/320295-the-us-air-force-quietly-admits-the-f-35-is-a-failure

OK, what the fuck.

The head of Russia's space agency: "If [the U.S.] blocks cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled descent out of orbit and a fall on the United States or"—continued in his next tweet—"Europe?"

"The ISS doesn't fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours." https://t.co/LSU1F4GnL8

— Marina Koren (@marinakoren) February 24, 2022

uh, if russia intentionally crashes the ISS and manages to hit a specific location that would be some marvel universe shit and i will officially check out

What a bunch of narcissistic crybabies.

The sanctions have clear limits too:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/24/kyiv-furious-as-eu-wavers-on-banning-russia-from-swift-payment-system

Of course.

What a bunch of narcissistic crybabies.

Is that any way to talk about your fellow ILXors?

That was for the Russians like Putin and head of space agency.

Slim Pickens should be able to steer the ISS right into the Kremlin... 'Yeeehawwwww!!'

Yes let’s mock the Baltic states desire to protect itself from an imperial and nuclear power that just started a war on a neighbour.

Good faith vs Bad faith

Rusya'nın Ukrayna'ya yönelik işgal operasyonuna karşı Moskova başta olmak üzere birçok kentte eylemler düzenleniyor. Moskova'daki Boulevard Ring çevre yolunda toplanan yüzlerce kişi "Savaşa Hayır" sloganlarıyla yürüyüş gerçekleştirdi. pic.twitter.com/QRwLaKLox7

— Yeryüzü Postası (@yeryuzupostasi) February 24, 2022

Yes let’s mock the Baltic states desire to protect itself from an imperial and nuclear power that just started a war on a neighbour.

― Van Horn Street, Thursday, 24 February 2022 bookmarkflaglink

I'm just mocking you.

137 Ukrainian soldiers died today in order not to let Ukraine be conquered. And 20hour long battle against a mighty state showed they succeded. 316 wounded. – Zelensky said. 57 civilians were killed by Russia, 169 were wounded according to Health Ministry.

— Nataliya Gumenyuk (@ngumenyuk) February 24, 2022

xp - they say that jerk reflexes bypass the brain

So you just farted then?

Charming, everyone

can you petty dickheads (you know who you are) either grow the fuck up or go throw sand at each other somewhere else & not ITT because JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

^otm

jesus

Reportedly audio from Snake Island in Black Sea:

-This is a Russian military ship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary victims. Otherwise we will open fire on you.

-Russian military ship, go fuck yourself.

They were all killed https://t.co/QmD9RkYamE

— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) February 24, 2022

For clarity. The 13 Ukrainian defenders of the island were killed, after refusing to surrender, as per Ukrainian official info. President Zelenskiy said they’d all be given hero of ukraine medal posthumously.

— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) February 24, 2022

that island is like 15 miles off the coast of (nato member) romania

yeeeepp

Kuleba in Foreign Affairs:

The only effective way forward is the comprehensive deterrence plan that Ukraine and its partners are currently crafting. The first component is to send clear political signals to Moscow. That means making it plain that Ukraine is part of the West and a future member of the EU and NATO and that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are nonnegotiable. The second part of the plan involves consequences: in the worst-case scenario of an invasion, the West will enact severe sanctions. Crafting these devastating measures now could spare the West the need to apply them later.

The third and final part of the plan is to deepen military assistance to Ukraine. We have our own capable military forces in Ukraine, and we don’t expect Western countries to put boots on the ground. We do, however, need more weapons to be able to defend ourselves. Everything counts, from ammunition to medical equipment, but we are in particular need of air and missile defenses.

grow the fuck up or go throw sand at each other somewhere else & not ITT because JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, February 24, 2022 6:13 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

THANK YOU

mega otm

Saw a claim of Russian soldiers surprised they were shooting at regular ol' Ukrainians. It could all be disinformation, psy ops or whatever, but I've seen several posts indicating that Russians just don't want this. Putin, yes, but not Russian citizens.

there were widespread protests (and many many arrests): https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/world/europe/russia-protests-putin.html

The potential silver lining is that for Putin this is the moment of hubris that will eventually destroy him, but sadly from what I read that seems unlikely. The sanctions will have minimal impact on the general population; all oppositional infrastructure in Russia has been obliterated meaning that even if there was a groundswell of anti-war sentiment it would be very hard for people to organise; and as for getting stuck in a bloody quagmire in Ukraine, Putin's scorched earth approach has an almost perfect record in winning guerrilla wars in former USSR territories.

Louis CK has a show in Kiev on Friday. Wow. https://t.co/jKmVenhTtQ

— Jason Zinoman (@zinoman) February 24, 2022

another potential silver lining

Happening shortly if true:

❗️Reports from Ukrainian defence officials that a Russian bombing raid will hit Kyiv at 3AM. Heading to shelter.

— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) February 24, 2022

Louis CK has a show in Kiev on Friday

What about Covid, braw?? Not cool

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/4EB6/production/_123405102_0000--1.jpg

Actually looks like a Blue Angel flying over San Francisco during Fleet Week (from the bldg window style and jet contrail)

xpost Doing it for the exposure obv

lol

The potential silver lining is that for Putin this is the moment of hubris that will eventually destroy him, but sadly from what I read that seems unlikely. The sanctions will have minimal impact on the general population; all oppositional infrastructure in Russia has been obliterated meaning that even if there was a groundswell of anti-war sentiment it would be very hard for people to organise; and as for getting stuck in a bloody quagmire in Ukraine, Putin's scorched earth approach has an almost perfect record in winning guerrilla wars in former USSR territories.

― Zelda Zonk, Thursday, February 24, 2022 7:31 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I get a queasy when I read commentators already jumping to the conclusion “Well Putin has really shit the bed now” “this just shows how weak he is” “he can’t possibly benefit from this” etc. That kind of wishful thinking seems all too convenient, because it means we can just pretend this is all going to go away sometime soon on its own. I have no ability to opine on Putin’s strategic aims and how this does or doesn’t serve them, and anyone can blunder, but he’s been relatively savvy so far at hanging onto power and at expanding territory without serious consequence.

hasn't his whole run of leadership basically been the west giving him enough slack to get away with shit? why would he think it's going to change anytime soon?

Go to Google maps and turn on live traffic, and have a look at all of the freeways to the Polish border :(

can you petty dickheads (you know who you are) either grow the fuck up or go throw sand at each other somewhere else & not ITT because JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 24 February 2022 bookmarkflaglink

Correct. People shouldn't be asking for US troops on the ground. I completely agree that's childish behaviour.

I have no ability to opine on Putin’s strategic aims and how this does or doesn’t serve them, and anyone can blunder, but he’s been relatively savvy so far at hanging onto power and at expanding territory without serious consequence.

i think his strategic aims are opaque, partly because it’s so hard to work out how he gets to a good outcome from this war. it doesn’t look like it’s full annexation of Donbass and Luhansk, because why invade the whole country? So, the obvious option is regime change, which the use of the phrase “denazification” as an aim supports. but how on earth do you maintain and sustain that in such a large country, with an antagonistic population.

i’m not sure anyone else is clear on this either tho:

It seems to me that the only well planned part of this entire play has been the military piece. No one beyond the military and the services seems to have even been in the loop. I wouldn’t be surprised if the post-invasion plan is about as good as the US one in Iraq was.

— Samuel Charap (@scharap) February 25, 2022

The calculation might be that Ukraine can’t sustain a defence and agrees to a bad Minsk III at gunpoint within a few days, ceding Crimea, committing to ‘neutrality’, etc.

Germany placed harsher economic restrictions on Greece than on Russia lmao https://t.co/ztoH8xN05Y

— balkan tennis dad (@mathaiaus) February 25, 2022

There are several lines from the Kremlin coming in on Reuters:

Putin will meet the UN Security Council today and hold several international phone calls

Russia will impose retaliatory sanctions on western countries
Russia recognises Volodymyr Zelenskiy as president of Ukraine

Sanctions will cause problems but are solvable since the country has reduced its dependence on foreign imports

Russia expects relations with the west to normalise once people understand it was forced to act to protect its security

No comment on the duration of the military operations

They completely lost their minds.

NEW - Putin says he’s ready for negotiations. https://t.co/Z99enVnq8M

— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) February 25, 2022

There have been multiple lines on this as well - with Peskov saying they’d look at Ukraine’s suggestion of discussing neutrality and Lavrov saying that they would finish the military campaign first.

They completely lost their minds.

It's what happened after Crimea after all.

Yes, if Russian ‘normalises’ relations with Ukraine via treaties signed under permanent threat of invasion, I’m not sure how long you can expect reluctantly-implemented sanctions to last.