Putin On the Ritz

[Kikó]

It wasn't a plane crash but a special landing operation.

[Foe]

Surely realised he was for the chop and faked his own death.

Confirmation needed.

[Lofty]

Yeah all a bit weird, surely as a merc leader in his position you both know how the sausages are made and have shady contacts.

If he wasn't making plans to disappear via plastic surgery and spend the rest of his days pumping the finest prostitutes money can buy with embezzled rubles as soon as his coup failed he truly was a mug.

[Bernanke]

1694413559080305087

Wonder if this will have any impact on Wagner in Syria and Africa.

[Lewis]

The memorial that Putin was unveiling whilst it was happening is fantastic (https://twitter.com/Trollstoy88/status/1694388947906961853).

[Ben]

Wonder if this will have any impact on Wagner in Syria and Africa.

Shoigu has already been making moves in Libya and the Coup Belt for them to switch from Wagner to Russian MoD.


The memorial that Putin was unveiling whilst it was happening is fantastic (https://twitter.com/Trollstoy88/status/1694388947906961853).

That is brilliant. Soviet architecture is in general really.

[Bernanke]

That is brilliant. Soviet architecture is in general really.

This is one of my favourite IG accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/socialistmodernism/

[phonics]

Saying the pilot died of a heart attack caused by the covid vaccine is a truly beautiful piece of spin.

[Lofty]

https://i.ibb.co/0cJD5PM/FB-IMG-1692913823230.jpg

[Spikey M]

I can't find this being reported by any reputable sources. So presumably this is bullshit, but if not - lol.

1697298663780004204?t=RxxMnuePoAhbgIHd-xkdfg&s=19

[John Arne]

The plane crashed 23rd August, so that could have just been filmed the weekend before he died.

If he is still alive though :drool:

[Shindig]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66713476

It's not like North Korea are using theirs but I do wonder what state their weapons will be in.

[niko_cee]

"very poor condition"

Nearly got the full axis of evil in the loser, sorry Lewis Alliance now.

[Bernanke]

1702187500280697186

Losing a submarine in a land war against an opponent that doesn't have a navy. :D

Also, 40+ artillery pieces a day is ridiculously unsustainable, even with the old Soviet stockpile.

[Ben]

The Telegram channels of the Russian war dogs are amusing. Absolute seethe all round from them that Ukraine were able to bombard the ports with missiles, meanwhile the Kremlin is giving it the "what missile strike?".

[Don]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/ukrainian-market-tragedy-may-have-been-caused-by-errant-missile-fired-by-ukraine

Another very amusing incident.

[Bernanke]

Chatter about UKR special forces being on site in Chad helping out in strikes on Wagner targets.

A Ukrainian-Russian Africa proxy war was not on my bingo card.

[Lewis]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/ukrainian-market-tragedy-may-have-been-caused-by-errant-missile-fired-by-ukraine

Another very amusing incident.

These seemingly random strikes are always their air defence going haywire or Russia hitting something they don't want to admit was there, i.e. some sort of command post or equipment store where they aren't allowed to store equipment. Proper mongs still rushing to seethe about it.

[Ben]

The latest Armenia-Azerbaijan episode in going to be fun. Until now Putin has kept them under wraps but for obvious reasons, he's not willing or able to do that this time.

[Disco]

Whatever passes for local government in Baku gets double duty out of all the big screens they put up for the grand prix by showing war crimes on them the rest of the year.

[Lewis]

The Armenians are mugs really. Their only security hope was being sufficiently useful and deferential to Iran and Russia, but they took it for granted and played their shit hand terribly. Iran has said they will step in if Azerbaijan tries to cut their access, but their enclave is done.

[Disco]

Better carpets, better music, and a banging faction in Rome Total War. It's a no contest really.

[Spikey M]

All of those countries between Russia and China / Afghanistan / Iran / Turkey are such a waste of land. If / when they get annexed it deserves the full Chamberlain treatment.

[Lewis]

The post-Soviet stan countries had barely moved on from the Mongols when Russia annexed them a few hundred years ago. Proper ape-like retards, with Armenia being the unfortunate exception.

[Spikey M]

I remember watching a documentary about Ulaanbaatar and it must actually be the worst place to live on the whole planet. The worst air quality in the world, barely gets above -40c for months on end, no access to fresh water. What's the fucking point?

[Don]

The access to a Sheperd's Pie and a 'cold one' is limited but I suspect the scenery available to you just a day's walk outside of the gaff might make it a choice for most non-gammons.

[Yevrah]

I mean, supposedly it's 16 degrees there today and not raining, so really, who's laughing?

[Spikey M]

19 and not raining here.

Land of 'ope an' glory innit.

[Bernanke]

1715132980652310662

Biggest loss of air assets since... the Gulf War? :lol: They're only gonna have nukes left after this is all done.

[Bernanke]

Also seems like the Russian zergrush at Avdiivka has led to an insane loss of tanks/IFVs.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfgdgpKXwAAMTLM.jpg

[Bernanke]

1721588752798093586

Another ship lost.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakurt-class_corvette

About the most modern thing they have.

[Don]

There seemed to be some noise yesterday around Russia taking Avdiivka and it basically being game over for Ukraine but I see latest UK reports don't mention any advances there. Be interesting to note which side's versions holds true in the coming week.

[Lewis]

There are still plenty of women and kids to be mobilised for the big 2024 counter-offensive, so it's hard to call anything yet.

[Magic]

Does anyone even still care about this lol.

[Spikey M]

Depends if I get sent there during WW3.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I can help you secure a new wife, no problem.

[Ben]

There seemed to be some noise yesterday around Russia taking Avdiivka and it basically being game over for Ukraine but I see latest UK reports don't mention any advances there. Be interesting to note which side's versions holds true in the coming week.

How does a nothing town amount to game over? It’s like the whole Bakhmut bollocks. The lines are pretty much frozen now.

[Magic]

Depends if I get sent there during WW3.

As if any of us would fight for this disgusting pile of shite country.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67478220

They're going after Eurovision winners now.

[Yevrah]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67767246

What's going on here then? Support for the Ukranian effort wearing thin, our Eastern European brothers and sisters taking stock before continuing to spoil THE PLAN, or somewhere in between the two?

[Lewis]

To rustle up another half a million men they are going to have to either reduce the age that they start pulling people off the street, or reduce the number of reasons people are allowed to duck military service (reserved occupations, students, men with several children, etc.). It's over lads. Try to preserve some people to re-build what remains.

[Spikey M]

It's 2023. Make the women fight.

[Bernanke]

Updated Black Sea fleet. :D

https://i.ibb.co/1dJF9bX/image.png

[Manc]

I'll update my wall chart.

[Don]

2 year full-frontal war with the entirety of the West and they've lost 10 units. Vlad is the man :cool:

[niko_cee]

Full frontal war with the west would last about 3 weeks, which is why it's all the more lol that everyone is shitting their pants about the threat of Russia invading Europe. 2 years and all they've managed to do is trash Ukraine and kill hundreds of thousands of their own mongo populace.

[Lewis]

The BBC news page briefly had the 'lol Russian ship' story alongside one about Ukraine having filled all of its cemeteries, quoting a single mother who wanted to join up. You couldn't have summed it all up better really.

[Ben]

I’m sure the 150,000-200,000 dead Russians will love you for saying that.

[Lewis]

Plenty more where they came from. Ukraine not so much.

[niko_cee]

:yawn:

[Kikó]

Imperial Lewis, hard on for the Russians.

[Yevrah]

Lewis, we've talked about this before and this is not the accepted narrative. The Ukranian farmers clearly won the war within two weeks, the last two years have just been about making a game of it.

Get on the page please.

[niko_cee]

Well, I'll tell you who didn't win the war in two years.

And what has been gained in these two years? Absolutely nothing. Russia denuded of any pretense of military might, hundreds of thousands dead, generations completely fucked on both sides and for what? Has the border even moved? Didn't Russia have de facto control of the separatist bits of East Ukraine already? It's absolute unbridled folly, and it has gone very badly.

[Kikó]

Lewis, we've talked about this before and this is not the accepted narrative. The Ukranian farmers clearly won the war within two weeks, the last two years have just been about making a game of it.

Get on the page please.

Whose argument is this?
Allowing Russia to effectively annex a democratic country should not is not something Europe/the West/NATO should allow.

[Yevrah]

If they win then that'll be job done. Dead Russians in the hundreds of thousands won't really matter anything like to them that those numbers would to us. That it's still going on tells you all you need to know on that score.

Good to see you're on board with lol Russia invading Europe though. We should have stuck up a no fly zone at the start or left it the fuck alone and carried on with our lives. The only people this whole sorry fair has benefitted are those in the arms industry.

[Yevrah]

Allowing Russia to effectively annex a democratic country should not is not something Europe/the West/NATO should allow.

Lovely words and all Kik's, they truly stir my heart, but if Russia win then we have allowed it, just as we allowed Crimea. Only difference on this occasion being that a death toll approaching half a million (which we're also allowing) and the Western economy fucked for years. Gotta love a moral stand - we've won the argument right?

[Kikó]

Not even sure what your argument is so ok, you win.

[Yevrah]

That our response has been pretty useless, bordering on virtue signalling and certainly not something that's saved Ukranians - thousands upon thousands of them are still dying. As a result I question the point of it, as I did after a few weeks in. The defence of it then was that Russia would give up, which they manifestly haven't.

[Spikey M]

Full frontal war with the west would last about 3 weeks, which is why it's all the more lol that everyone is shitting their pants about the threat of Russia invading Europe. 2 years and all they've managed to do is trash Ukraine and kill hundreds of thousands of their own mongo populace.

I honestly don't think the west would be able to form a big enough army. Every cunt under 40 feels hated by thier government and hates their government in return. The Eastern Europeans may still have some incentive to fight, but Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain? Lol. Goodluck.

[Kikó]

The UK's response has been pretty good all in all. You'd need the US to go any stronger though.

[Lewis]

We shouldn't 'allow' one country to invade another one, let alone annex half of its territory; but, given that we didn't have a plan beyond hoping that hassling Roman Abramovich and stopping Russians buying Ben & Jerry's would collapse a self-sufficient garrison state in record time, we probably shouldn't have spent the last decade or more encouraging Ukraine to take the maximum big man course that made such an outcome inevitable.

You can't join NATO, and you have to take Russian interests into account owing to the fact that 1) they are next door; and 2) half of your population has at least an affinity with Russia, if not an outright identity with Russia. Is that so unreasonable? Was turning themselves into a failed state really the preferable option? Asking for a country that is letting the European Union run Northern Ireland to avoid paperwork on fruit.

[Kikó]

If anything, Ukraine was asking for it with that short skirt on.

[Lewis]

If it was wearing it down Rape Street, during a massive rape epidemic, and the police had signalled their unwillingness to prevent, investigate, and convict rapists beyond issuing you with an extra pair of pants... Self-preservation has to come into it at some point.

[Ben]

Vlad has offed Navalny.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This was an amazing example of what my office is like. Two hours ago the Russian passed me a post-it note on which he had written NAVALNY DEAD : ( , I made a surprised face, he didn't say anything and went back into his office. It wasn't even on twitter or anything at that point, he must have seen it on VK or some other Russian network. Just now, one of the Brits read out loudly from his BBC News app: 'Breaking news, Russian opposition leader has died' whereupon everyone else is in the office having a cringey chat about how to pronounce his name, establishing who he was and if they'd heard of him, and making jokes about radioactive poisoning. Meanwhile the Russian is just sitting in his office facepalming.

[niko_cee]

Surprised Navalny didn't fall out of a window, such are the lengths the Russian state seems to go to to make these things look blindingly obvious.

Felt unwell after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness and died?

Yep.

[Manc]

Makes you think.

[Shindig]

Must've been the vaccine.

[Disco]

That balloon gets around.

[Spikey M]

Avdiivka is now in Russian hands. I imagine Spring arriving will see more of the same. Superior numbers will always tip the scale eventually and it sounds like Ukraine are reaching the stage where women and kids will be handed rifles and boots.

[Kikó]

Finally the good guys are winning

[Don]

Eat a dick, you dirty loser :harold:

[phonics]

The plan worked.

[Lewis]

Where do the support Ukraine on principle people go from here? Do you advocate for Ukraine exterminating itself because that's what Harry Potter would have done, or do you call for Western intervention? And you can't say 'give them more weapons', because we can't produce them and they don't have the people to use them.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'd call it off now, fully westernise the Ukrainian state that emerges, and see if the Donbass etc really enjoy living in Putinland. If they do, great, wait for him to die, and then see if they still like it. Maintain the sanctions on Russia because he has effectively been at war with us for 20+ years (a one-way war) and because authoritarianism itself needs to be opposed for the western model (as history shows, the far superior model) to prosper.

As the Chinese fall into shit over the next 20 years, Russia will naturally be pushed back our way anyway.

[Ben]

I said it a lot of pages back and, rightly or wrongly, kopped a bit of stick for saying that they should just settle at the current front lines because largely, that front lies at the border of where majority ethnic Ukrainians crosses into majority ethnic Russians.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Usually we think of Russians being good at the long game but I think this whole escapade has been an example of Putin, perhaps now qualifying as the archetypal old man in a hurry, blowing the long game in a quest for short-term results. If Ukraine sue for peace now and give up the Donbass and Luhansk, then they will have lost in two senses: firstly Putin will have satisfied some of his war aims in gaining that territory, and secondly they will have lost face in the sense that they won't have fought to the last man for every square foot of territory. Ukraine can nonetheless claim success in that at the start of the war Russia tried to kneecap the state and install a puppet, and in this it failed miserably. They have also had a nationally formative war experience that will ensure they are never drawn into the Russian sphere again. Putin can do a parade in Red Square like the good old days and declare the special military operation a resounding success; Ukraine can rebuild itself along what will be determinedly western lines, almost certainly joining the EU, NATO and every other such institution. This will in effect set up a new iron curtain, running from Tallinn in the north to Kherson in the south. Fans of the genre will note that this iron curtain will be located about 1000km east of the previous one. They will also remember that the iron curtain was never breached by either side, until gravity prevailed.

We (as the West, fans of individual liberty and democracy) should be very happy to turn it into a new cold war, because we'd win it within about 15 years. Russia lost the first one because their ideological position collapsed under the economic power of its opponent. The Putin state doesn't even have an ideological position, or an economic alternative, except for a deep frustration at what a balls the Soviet Union made of everything and how quickly and easily it self-immolated at the end. The USSR isn't coming back, so that generational frustration will die with him, and what comes after that? Capitalism is like gravity, you can't stop it, as the Chinese have found out. All Putin has left after this is wailing about gay sex and cracking funnies about BLM, which basically makes him Taz in a bearskin hat. This war has achieved the self-defeating aim of making Europe far less dependent (https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/eu-gas-supply/#:~:text=The%20share%20of%20Russia's%20pipeline,ga s%20consumption%20in%20the%20EU.) on Russian energy. He's just obliterated 250,000 of his own men and the next generation won't fancy going the same way in the name of more boiled potatoes.

So I think fighting on now for the sake of it would be counter-productive when these guys aren't going anywhere or threatening anything much in the long run. I still haven't seen any sign of Putin grooming a successor. I'd be more worried if he was.

[Yevrah]

Hang on, if we bail out now with Ukraine agreeing to hand over territory to Russia, what was the point of getting militarily involved in the first place?

[Ben]

Western Ukraine gets EU and NATO membership.

[Shindig]

You're playing for time. Seeing what losses Putin was willing to put up with, etc. If we don't get involved, this is over within months and no submarines get sunk.

[Yevrah]

Right, so if we hadn't got involved Putin would have been in a winning position therefore Ukraine would have to negotiate and surrender territory. We have got involved and Putin is still in a winning position, it's just taken two years or so longer than it would have otherwise done and now Ukraine are going to have to negotiate and surrender territory. Assuming Putin's in the mood to accept that now (if he's winning I'm not sure why he necessarily would but let's got with the NARRATIVE), why wouldn't he have done so two years ago? When we could have given what was left of Ukraine NATO and EU membership.

I know nothing of war tactics, I'm Yevrah, but surely I can't be the only one looking at this situation (if it indeed now plays out this way) thinking it was a colossal waste of time, money, economic stability and countless lives.

[Lewis]

Usually we think of Russians being good at the long game but I think this whole escapade has been an example of Putin, perhaps now qualifying as the archetypal old man in a hurry, blowing the long game in a quest for short-term results. If Ukraine sue for peace now and give up the Donbass and Luhansk, then they will have lost in two senses: firstly Putin will have satisfied some of his war aims in gaining that territory, and secondly they will have lost face in the sense that they won't have fought to the last man for every square foot of territory. Ukraine can nonetheless claim success in that at the start of the war Russia tried to kneecap the state and install a puppet, and in this it failed miserably. They have also had a nationally formative war experience that will ensure they are never drawn into the Russian sphere again. Putin can do a parade in Red Square like the good old days and declare the special military operation a resounding success; Ukraine can rebuild itself along what will be determinedly western lines, almost certainly joining the EU, NATO and every other such institution. This will in effect set up a new iron curtain, running from Tallinn in the north to Kherson in the south. Fans of the genre will note that this iron curtain will be located about 1000km east of the previous one. They will also remember that the iron curtain was never breached by either side, until gravity prevailed.

We (as the West, fans of individual liberty and democracy) should be very happy to turn it into a new cold war, because we'd win it within about 15 years. Russia lost the first one because their ideological position collapsed under the economic power of its opponent. The Putin state doesn't even have an ideological position, or an economic alternative, except for a deep frustration at what a balls the Soviet Union made of everything and how quickly and easily it self-immolated at the end. The USSR isn't coming back, so that generational frustration will die with him, and what comes after that? Capitalism is like gravity, you can't stop it, as the Chinese have found out. All Putin has left after this is wailing about gay sex and cracking funnies about BLM, which basically makes him Taz in a bearskin hat. This war has achieved the self-defeating aim of making Europe far less dependent (https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/eu-gas-supply/#:~:text=The%20share%20of%20Russia's%20pipeline,ga s%20consumption%20in%20the%20EU.) on Russian energy. He's just obliterated 250,000 of his own men and the next generation won't fancy going the same way in the name of more boiled potatoes.

So I think fighting on now for the sake of it would be counter-productive when these guys aren't going anywhere or threatening anything much in the long run. I still haven't seen any sign of Putin grooming a successor. I'd be more worried if he was.

This is the worst possible justification because if gravity always prevails - and I'm not saying it doesn't - then it would still have prevailed with Ukraine as a neutral buffer state, in which case we've coaxed them into self-destruction for literally no reason other than to possibly speed up the process.

[Ben]

If we don't get involved Putin takes the whole of Ukraine in months and installs a puppet government. Even if the Western support pulls out now (it won't), you've still got a large Ukrainian state that will be overwhelming pro-Western for decades and EU/NATO membership will completely stifle Russia's influence on the continent post-war.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Hang on, if we bail out now with Ukraine agreeing to hand over territory to Russia, what was the point of getting militarily involved in the first place?

To give Ukraine the best chance without over-committing ourselves and turning it into a larger conflict. It's not all or nothing.

[Yevrah]

But again, it's in 'our' gift to give who we want EU and NATO membership, so why did we need to wait until tens of thousands of lives have been lost to do it? And why won't Putin just go on and take the whole of Ukraine now anyway?

I know the roflcopter keeps chugging on the Russian plan lols, but seriously, our approach here seems about as well thought as the pandemic one.

[Yevrah]

To give Ukraine the best chance without over-committing ourselves and turning it into a larger conflict. It's not all or nothing.

The best chance to what though, ultimately end up negotiating anyway?

[Jimmy Floyd]

This is the worst possible justification because if gravity always prevails - and I'm not saying it doesn't - then it would still have prevailed with Ukraine as a neutral buffer state, in which case we've coaxed them into self-destruction for literally no reason other than to possibly speed up the process.

The outcome I've described is far better for both them and us than Putin putting a stooge into Kiev, and the whole of Ukraine turning into a second Belarus, would have been. So the fight is over whether Kiev gets to be on the right side of the wall now, or in 30 years' time. Its inhabitants, having had a taste, choose now, and are clearly willing to die for it.

Has there been a neutral buffer state in Europe in the last 110 years? In the CW it was us and them, except maybe Finland, and they've joined NATO now too.

[Shindig]

Sew some civil discontent, shake up Russia's military by deaths, sackings or mysterious helicopter accidents, etc. Ultimately, you're hurting Putin's strongman image. And now it's election season.

[Ben]

And why won't Putin just go on and take the whole of Ukraine now anyway?

Hasn't the last two years shown they're just not capable? They've only just taken Avdiivka which is a majority ethnic Russian town pissing distance from Donetsk which they've held since 2014.

[Lewis]

The outcome I've described is far better for both them and us than Putin putting a stooge into Kiev, and the whole of Ukraine turning into a second Belarus, would have been. So the fight is over whether Kiev gets to be on the right side of the wall now, or in 30 years' time. Its inhabitants, having had a taste, choose now, and are clearly willing to die for it.

Has there been a neutral buffer state in Europe in the last 110 years? In the CW it was us and them, except maybe Finland, and they've joined NATO now too.

Do you think that maybe the lack of neutral buffer states is what has led to 110 years of constant aggro? Austria was neutral during the Cold War (and beyond) and they seem happy. Had people recognised that Ukraine is in an unfortunate position both geographically and ethnically there would be no need for stooges of any kind.

[Ben]

Austria had the ability, through geography and political relations at the time, to be neutral. If Ukraine attempted the same thing here they wouldn't have lasted two minutes.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Only one ending for neutral buffer states in ethnically unfortunate positions:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Stimmzettel-Anschluss.jpg

[Lewis]

Austria was partitioned like Germany until 1955. The Soviet Union allowed its reunification in return for perpetual neutrality, which it still abides by today. If you don't think it was possible for Ukraine to be neutral along comparative lines then this war was not only inevitable but entirely justifiable from the Russian perspective.

[Ben]

How's it justifiable? If Sinn Fein get a ruling majority at the next Irish election and suddenly start cosying up to "alternative" states then do we have a right to barrel in there and sort it out?

[Kikó]

This is all assuming Ukraine see surrender (or "peace" as a viable option after the actions of Russia the past two years and see fighting to the death the best option. Russia have lost thousands again in this battle and they will continue to fight no matter what.

[Lewis]

How's it justifiable? If Sinn Fein get a ruling majority at the next Irish election and suddenly start cosying up to "alternative" states then do we have a right to barrel in there and sort it out?

Ireland is pretty insignificant, like Russia not caring about the Baltic states; but do you think America would let Canada or Mexico invite Chinese troops and missile systems in? Everything they've ever done in their hemisphere would suggest not. Numerous examples elsewhere all the time. NATO friend Turkey has been squatting in Northern Cyprus for fifty years for remarkably similar reasons.

[Lewis]

This is all assuming Ukraine see surrender (or "peace" as a viable option after the actions of Russia the past two years and see fighting to the death the best option. Russia have lost thousands again in this battle and they will continue to fight no matter what.

Ukraine is well within its rights to kill itself, but if there is an actual strategic Western plan beyond platitudes and pretending international law is real - i.e. strengthening NATO, weakening Russia - then allowing them to do so would be massively self-defeating.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There obviously isn't one, because the Germans are traitors (never trust the Germans) and the Americans are rubbish. If there was any NATO strategy other than short-term self-enrichment then they wouldn't have spent years allowing Russian oligarchs to launder money through their countries, and in Germany's case, let an actual Russian asset run the country for years. However, if there was a NATO plan, it would likely now be around a table with Zelensky telling him that his best option from here is to pack up now and become the new West Germany / South Korea. An option that good wasn't on the table in Feb 2022.

[Boydy]

1760348194741891241

[Jimmy Floyd]

Erm, no comment.

(most of it's going through Turkey, if he wants to know. And he is right about Germany/Poland as well. I've seen dozens of Russians setting up in Germany trying to buy our stuff).

[niko_cee]

It's all Jimmy's tractor parts.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Erm, no comment.

(most of it's going through Turkey, if he wants to know. And he is right about Germany/Poland as well. I've seen dozens of Russians setting up in Germany trying to buy our stuff).

And to get this on the new page, I'd like to put on the record that our Russian sales manager is not currently in Russia trying to drum up new business. Nope, no sir. Definitely not. He's simply gone for two weeks of holiday to, you know, some resort in north-eastern Europe, and that holiday isn't being logged as annual leave - lucky him, I guess.

[Shindig]

What do snitches get, Jimmy?

[niko_cee]

Sales territories.

[Giggles]

South America.

[Shindig]

I assume he still has a drawer full of bribes, too.

[Don]

Wait, you're suggesting there's money to be made in the Ukraine war and UK and other white knight Western countries may not simply be ensuring it continues because of their incredibly righteous nature? Interesting.

[Ben]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68318729

War zones > Hull

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Hanna can come down south if she wants to. Although again, I would imagine a war zone is better than living with me.

[Shindig]

Lena Sutherland, left, comforts Hanna Nakonechna as mother Svitlana looks on

I know they're just describing what's being pictured but it sounds so sinister. Fucking dungaree do-gooder.

[niko_cee]

Have Russia shot down another one of their own spyplanes or is this the same story but revised?

[Shindig]

Apparently it's a second A-50.

[Bernanke]

Russians seem to be losing one Su-34 a day right now. 11 in the past 12 days. :cab:

I wonder if it is Russian overconfidence while pushing their advantage, better AA (Patriot?), or maybe F-16s are actually being fielded without announcement.

[Ben]

What I've read it's a combination of 1) and 2). Russia getting too close to the front lines with the jets and Patriot is taking them out.

[Bernanke]

Chechnyans or FSB are properly kicking off things in Moscow by the looks of it.

[Bernanke]

1771234203998285976

[Giggles]

A shooting "accident"?

[Don]

Jesus, some of the footage coming out.

[Giggles]

Jesus, some of the footage coming out.

Your cock will be red raw for a month.

[Don]

This is what we live for in this day and age, it might be the greatest terrorist footage out there. The preferred scenario would be gammons on the fire rather than Russians but we move.

[Giggles]

This is what we live for in this day and age, it might be the greatest terrorist footage out there. The preferred scenario would be gammons on the fire rather than Russians but we move.
I don't. Human life is precious unless it's Israeli.

[Spikey M]

Some of the videos on Twitter are horrific. It appears to be Chechnyans rather than Ukranians.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've never got my head around Chechnya since the wars. I thought Putin subdued it and put that warlord goon in charge, so are there other groups of Chechens who oppose that state of affairs, or have this lot turned against the arrangement?

[Ben]

Interesting. Chechnya is (was?) pretty much in Putin’s arse pocket these days via Kadyrov, plus they just gave the middle finger to Israel earlier on today.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I guess they could be straight hires by the KGB and then Vlad will go on TV saying it was the Klitschko brothers and Rebrov wielding the weaponry, but that's conspiracist thinking.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Gorgeous George, in typically statesmanlike fashion, making sure that everyone stays calm: https://twitter.com/georgegalloway/status/1771250046605856856

[Spikey M]

Interesting. Chechnya is (was?) pretty much in Putin’s arse pocket these days via Kadyrov, plus they just gave the middle finger to Israel earlier on today.

Well, they're apparently Muslim, so I'm assuming Chechnya. I could be completely wrong on that though.

[Bernanke]

They allegedly prevented an Afghan associated IS attack just the other day, so doesn't necessarily have to be Caucasus related.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-neutralized-isis-cell-plotting-attack-moscow-synagogue-2024-03-07/

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yeah, another ten minutes of reading and they're definitely ISIS / Al Qaeda types. Is their MO as well.

[Ben]

I imagine someone will be trying to get that UN bill voted on again ASAP, because Putin won't be voting with Hamas next time.

[phonics]

Voting with Hamas. Fuck me.

[Ben]

Against America soz.

[7om]

This is what we live for in this day and age, it might be the greatest terrorist footage out there. The preferred scenario would be gammons on the fire rather than Russians but we move.

Do you ever get tired of being a boring twat?

[Spikey M]

It's nice to have yet another potential WW3 trigger on the list, anyway.

[Don]

Ben, you've conflated Hamas with ISIS/Al-Qaeda there, mate. You must do better.

7om, go light a candle and sing kumbaya, you melt.

[Boydy]

BBC News - Russia to grow faster than all advanced economies says IMF
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68823399

[Ben]

Makes sense. They had a lower starting point and the West are bored with their war now.

[Spikey M]

War economy bebehhhh

[Jimmy Floyd]

Our Russian colleague who went the other week said that central Moscow is booming and the rest of the country is a dying shit-tip. Sounds familiar.

[Spikey M]

Our Russian colleague who went the other week said that central Moscow is booming and the rest of the country is a dying shit-tip. Sounds familiar.

Does it? I mean, the country is a dying shit-tip, but London is the biggest shit-tip of the lot.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Think Knightsbridge probably has the edge on Canvey Island.

[Spikey M]

Think Knightsbridge probably has the edge on Canvey Island.

They have their similarities.


https://youtu.be/6PT2ALcFkoE?si=Q52s0CfEWPXjFihA

[Lofty]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz994d6vqe5o

Interesting read, found it amusing the journalist clearly held the guy in hiding with his kid in contempt, not sure they'd be all Rambo if it was them getting forced to go and sit on the front line getting shelled to death.

[Yevrah]

I'm not sure why the BBC are posting this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1140yv03po

Must be fake news.

[Ben]

The media have generally been pivoting their position for a little while now it's clear Ukraine can't win and they'll either have frozen conflict or have to sue for peace. Fuck knows what this one is all about though.

[Yevrah]

Surely our Ukranian brothers and sisters can't be unwelcoming towards the LGBTQIA+ community?

Or perhaps the BBC are doing more positioning and paving the way for people to be more accepting when we get out of this absolute waste of time, resources and lives.

[Giggles]

A day after opting in to the migrant pact they're going to waive all college/university fees for just Ukrainians here. It's a pity Putin didn't wipe out the cunts at the first try.

[Kikó]

Totally normal reaction.

[Bernanke]

I see Russia is now being invaded by actual Ukrainian troops, and still no nukes are flying.

[Spikey M]

1000 km captured apparently. No chance they'll hold it, but lol at Putin.

[Manc]

All part of the plan.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I haven't understood any of this war at any point, but - is this like when an F1 team that needs sponsorship sends its cars out with no fuel at the end of testing to set the fastest time and get the money rolling in?

[Yevrah]

:D

[Shindig]

Not that far off, to be honest. There's a railway they're trying to grab.

[Kikó]

Harvey on the ropes.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Russia media report that Moscow has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats it accused of spying.

The FSB state security service claimed their activities threatened the country's security.

It never ceases to amuse me how MASSIVE we still are in their eyes.