Putin On the Ritz

[Bernanke]

https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?institutionId=0&user=0&id=408819971&clippingId=34364359&width=557&height=733&crop=0_0_5544_7439&rotation=0&ts=1642172952

Bit premature maybe, but with that latest amazing display at the Russian security meeting I'm fairly sure this is a lock.

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Then it gets astonishing.
Putin: speak clearly, do you support recognition?
Naryshkin: I will
Putin: You will or you do?
Naryshkin: I support bringing them into Russia.
Putin: That’s not what we are discussing! Do you support recognizing independence?
Naryshkin, flustered: Yes

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'd advise him to take a coat if he does indeed invade.

[Ian]

:D

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sad to say it but Putin's head has gone. Humiliating defeat incoming for the bear.

[Yevrah]

Has it fuck, he knows exactly what he's doing. Presumably this whole thing is a smokescreen for something else he's getting up to that he'd rather deflect attention from.

[Magic]

Investing with Mellion, no doubt.

[Ben]

Putin recognises Donbass and Luhansk as independent republics.

Now they'll say Ukrainians are oppressing them so Russia can step in as the defenders, not aggressors. Then they'll join Russia via referendum later on anyway because the regions are predominantly ethnic Russian. It's all a bit weird given Russia have gone to great lengths to stage the premise that we all know is bullshit.

[Spikey M]

Do you reckon we can get a TTH battalion set up once we've been conscripted?

[Bernanke]

Putin recognises Donbass and Luhansk as independent republics.

Now they'll say Ukrainians are oppressing them so Russia can step in as the defenders, not aggressors. Then they'll join Russia via referendum later on anyway because the regions are predominantly ethnic Russian. It's all a bit weird given Russia have gone to great lengths to stage the premise that we all know is bullshit.

It's Georgia all over again. Beat by beat.

[Boydy]

Do you reckon we can get a TTH battalion set up once we've been conscripted?

We'll be too rich to have to fight by then. :drool:

[Ben]

Do you reckon we can get a TTH battalion set up once we've been conscripted?

We can bribe our way out of it with all the coin Mellin nets us.

[Giggles]

The new fucking haxball :face:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Join us this time, Giggles.

[Giggles]

I have no idea what’s going on and I make a point of never gambling.

But anyway, are we not going to get WW3?

[Ben]

War = market volatility.

Either Putin backs down or we're mega rich.

[Spikey M]

I thought Giggles meant war with Russia was the new Haxball. We have Pleb on our side, so that would have been terrible.

[Lewis]

In the short-to-medium term they are much better placed to ride out any tit-for-tat sanctions warfare. Years into it Western depth would start to win, but they can live with twenty per cent inflation for a few years easier than we can. Not because they have lower debt, decent reserves, illicit Chinese assistance, etc. to soften the landing, but because our politics would blow itself to bits in the meantime.

[7om]

What’s the actual reason Putin is doing this, Lewis?

[Spikey M]

Banter.

[Ben]

He strives for a Russian ethnostate nearly as much as Xi wants a Han ethnostate.

[Lewis]

What’s the actual reason Putin is doing this, Lewis?

He doesn't want them joining/affiliating with NATO. Plus Russian ethnostate.

[Bernanke]

He doesn't want them joining/affiliating with NATO. Plus Russian ethnostate.

What's your take on it really being more about EU than NATO?

[Pepe]

He doesn't want them joining/affiliating with NATO.

Which sounds sensible, doesn't it?

[7om]

He doesn't want them joining/affiliating with NATO. Plus Russian ethnostate.

Why? It’s not the old excuse of having NATO on his doorstep, is it? Because he’s already got that with Latvia and Estonia.

[Shindig]

Ukraine has the largest military in Europe, apparently. I say apparently because the Wikipedia article seems to ignore Russia. :D

[Ben]

Why? It’s not the old excuse of having NATO on his doorstep, is it? Because he’s already got that with Latvia and Estonia.

NATO would likely lead to EU membership, which is his real gripe. I don't know why we are so bothered, we hate the EU and we're swimming in Russian rubles.

[Spikey M]

He's 5' 6" lads. There's the reason.

[Ben]

He's 5' 6" lads. There's the reason.

But apparently a black belt in fucking everything so although he couldn't touch me north of the nipples, he'd fuck me up.

Although that could easily be a lie too, who knows anymore.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's nearly 70, any of us would pummel him.

[Shindig]

Alright, you go first.

[Lewis]

What's your take on it really being more about EU than NATO?


Why? It’s not the old excuse of having NATO on his doorstep, is it? Because he’s already got that with Latvia and Estonia.

The Baltic countries are an irrelevance in terms of population etc. Ukraine is a big country with a lot of people. You don't need that in the enemy camp on your border.

As for the European Union, I don't really see it. They don't have a proper foreign policy or any military capabilities, and I can't imagine that they are genuinely worried about it being some sort of symbolic break with the East. That all sounds like people who talk shit for a living thinking that everybody else bases their lives around talking shit (excellent example of this on the BBC ticker just now, accusing Putin of asserting something 'without evidence').


Which sounds sensible, doesn't it?

It is sensible, and, seeing as it means more to them than it does to us, the mutually sensible thing to do would be to just agree to not let them join.

[Spikey M]

Lewis siding with a balding short arse. I never thought I'd see it.

[Lewis]

It's not a case of siding with anyone. People have just got a bit high on their own farts these last thirty years in thinking that you can wank your way around threatening what another country - rightly or wrongly - considers its supreme interest without any consequences. How is this different from Turkey claiming a 'buffer zone' in Syria, or Kosovo breaking away with Western support? This could have all been avoided.

[Lewis]

The 'peacekeeping' operations are apparently underway.

[Spikey M]

I'd love to know why we get involved in shit like this. I'm pretty sure it hasn't escaped Russia's notice that we have basically no armed forces left. We're sharing boats with the French ffs. What are we going to do to stop Russia doing whatever they want? Sanctions? Oh noes.

Just do the bare minimum that Nato membership requires and shut the fuck up.

[Lewis]

All the mongs making Nazi Germany comparisons on Twitter is another how we got here example. Russia has its own rich history of this sort of behaviour, but none of them know anything about it, so none of them know anything about why they might be doing this beyond thinking that Putin is some sort of madman.

[Manc]

Traditions are important.

[Disco]

It makes a change from just fucking over Poland which is the normal Russian route to rebuilding the empire.

[Yevrah]

I'd love to know why we get involved in shit like this. I'm pretty sure it hasn't escaped Russia's notice that we have basically no armed forces left. We're sharing boats with the French ffs. What are we going to do to stop Russia doing whatever they want? Sanctions? Oh noes.

Just do the bare minimum that Nato membership requires and shut the fuck up.

1,000 times this. They've not even invaded yet, but despite this Putin's got us running round in circles to determine whether we should remove Russia's access to Yorkshire Tea, French Fancies, or both.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Does Macron not have the final say on French Fancies, or is it a faux ami? Or a 'false pal', as they say up north.

[Ben]

So we've "sanctioned" five banks and three people. That'll show 'em.

Why don't we just admit we're not that arsed about it?

[Ben]

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:facepalm:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Top-tier diplomacy from the septics as always.

[Ben]

The Yanks want this war as much as anyone.

[Lofty]

So we've "sanctioned" five banks and three people. That'll show 'em.

Why don't we just admit we're not that arsed about it?

Even if we were, what could we do? The arned forces were under equipped during Iraq and Afghanistan under Labour, never mind the austerity policy that followed of sending all the Harrier pilots to stack shelves, mothballing multi million pound air craft carriers, and being seemingly desperate to pay off any career soldiers in favour of bringing in kids for peanuts. Russian planes and ships flying/sailing through our airspace/waters in the past is just them helicoptering their dong in our faces. They already own half the real estate here.

[phonics]

I did see a hilarious post about how we should think about how getting Russian dark money out of London would affect house prices so maybe we need to calm down the rhetoric. Amazing stuff.

[Ben]

Even if we were, what could we do? The arned forces were under equipped during Iraq and Afghanistan under Labour, never mind the austerity policy that followed of sending all the Harrier pilots to stack shelves, mothballing multi million pound air craft carriers, and being seemingly desperate to pay off any career soldiers in favour of bringing in kids for peanuts. Russian planes and ships flying/sailing through our airspace/waters in the past is just them helicoptering their dong in our faces. They already own half the real estate here.

We could just admit we're going to let Putin get away with this much. Letting everyone think there's a possibility of a war that we will send British troops to the frontline in is reckless governance, all while they take bungs from Russian donors.

[Boydy]

I did see a hilarious post about how we should think about how getting Russian dark money out of London would affect house prices so maybe we need to calm down the rhetoric. Amazing stuff.
Pretty sure that's a parody account.

[7om]

I’ve just read through that Albanian Mafia story. It was before my time, so what was the deal with it? Did Wedge ever talk about it again?

[Ben]

I think Wedge got banned not long after for the good of his health. He was truly obsessed.

[Lewis]

Pretty sure that's a parody account.

Tim Chapman has been the best parody going for ages.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The fully 1,000 quote tweets on that are a marvellous read.

[Shindig]

The real fun will be if the Russians can't get the job done inside a week like they did with Georgia.

[Boydy]

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Lol

[Yevrah]

Taking the Champions League final away from them. :D

The naughty step, or "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed" would be more of a deterrent.

[Ben]

Well they're not going to sanction their donors are they?

[7om]

What are the implications of this nordstream 2 being shut down? When I buy my Rolls Royce I don’t want to be paying 3 quid a litre to fill the fucker.

[Ben]

Nordstream is natural gas. Petrol is oil.

But Russia playing silly buggers will create volatility and push up the oil price too. Indeed today oil hit a 7-year high.

You'll see gas price rises through your house energy bills.

[Yevrah]

Well they're not going to sanction their donors are they?

Quite. The whole thing is so utterly tragic and we look pathetic.

[Spikey M]

Let's have it right; we ARE pathetic.

[Kikó]

I'm not having any more gazprom at my house. Fuck them right off.

[Boydy]

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:cab:

[Shindig]

Aren't the nukes we have considerably more powerful than Fatman and Little Boy?

[Boydy]

Yeah and there's a fuckload more of them on both sides. Japan wasn't able to fire any back when the US nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Giggles]

There’s no chance we get to the stage nukes are fired. More’s the fucking pity.

[Ben]

Another parody, surely?

[Jimmy Floyd]

The endless Nazi comparisons are so ignorant. It's like the whole of human history boils down to Germany 1933-45 and the black civil rights movement in the US.

[Bernanke]

1496223722612666380

I kinda miss him.

[niko_cee]

I struggle with twitter at the best of times, but what is being argued in that exchange?

[Lewis]

Him having to answer straight questions in whatever court cases are still after him will be box office wibble. He won't be able to.

[Lofty]

Wasn't there some essay written by a top Russian general pre Crimea about 'post modern war' or something which covered all this as a strategy last time round. If you can't get them to declare for you just send your men in as unofficial freedom fighters so technically it's not you, even though you are signing the cheques.

[7om]

Has anyone got a link to a decent article or opinion piece on this? I want to read something objective as opposed to the garbage we get from the fake news media.

[Boydy]

Has anyone got a link to a decent article or opinion piece on this? I want to read something objective as opposed to the garbage we get from the fake news media.

https://www.rt.com/

[Giggles]

Boydy propaganda.

[Queenslander]

The Federal Government down here are edging themselves at the thought of all out war between Ukraine and Russia.

[Dark Soldier]

Putin's just declared war.

[Queenslander]

Poor bastards.


KYIV, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Ukraine on Wednesday has started conscripting reservists aged 18-60 following a decree by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the armed forces said in a statement.




https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-starts-drafting-reservists-aged-18-60-after-presidents-order-2022-02-23/?utm_source=reddit.com

[Kikó]

Absolute war underway on Ukraine. Attacks on all fronts including through Belarus.

[Spikey M]

Well, that's the French Fancies off the Bolshevik table. Nobody to blame but themselves.

[John Arne]

Is it time to starv him out? Revoke all Visa's of Russian citizens, deport them all, stop all movement of the public outside of Russia; stop all goods being shipped into the country - turn the people on him?

I guess the counter-argument would be that the elections are dodgy as hell, and most people probably didn't even vote for him.

[Luke Emia]

Is it time to starv him out? Revoke all Visa's of Russian citizens, deport them all, stop all movement of the public outside of Russia; stop all goods being shipped into the country - turn the people on him?

I guess the counter-argument would be that the elections are dodgy as hell, and most people probably didn't even vote for him.

Never going to happen. The country is already going to shit itself when the gas price goes up further in the next few days.

[Yevrah]

Jesus. He actually did it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lol at the 5 banks and 3 blokes sanctions the other day, obvs, but I feel like the current generation of international politicians is ill prepared for the sort of reciprocal pain you have to take to deal with these pricks. You shouldn't be able to send money to Russia or buy any Russian goods as of this morning, and people like Abramovich need to be rounded up and have their assets frozen.

It might sound trivial, but they also need to be thrown out of things like UEFA and the IOC. Haas F1 team should be excluded. Etc etc

[Spikey M]

I'm just looking forward to finding out if Nato is prepared to do what it was created to do. I would bet a decent chunk of change that it isn't.

[Baz]

Is this war likely to impact my life at all?

[Lofty]

I'm just looking forward to finding out if Nato is prepared to do what it was created to do. I would bet a decent chunk of change that it isn't.

Isn't it created to sit on it's hands here as it Ukraine aren't actually members?

[Lofty]

Is this war likely to impact my life at all?

If Putin nukes Birmingham in retaliation for the UK getting involved then you'll be £100 down.

[Spikey M]

Is this war likely to impact my life at all?

If Nato do get involved, then it's likely China will. Then the yanks in 3 years.

I don't know what the Conscription age is, but it isn't completely outside the realms of possibility.

[Ben]

If Putin nukes Birmingham in retaliation for the UK getting involved then you'll be £100 down.

:lol:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Petrol prices will go through the roof. Otherwise, probably not.

[Lofty]

Club 18-60 in Ukraine according to Queenslander earlier.

[Ben]

Is this war likely to impact my life at all?

£2 a litre petrol and another doubling of the energy price cap in October.

[Ben]

Anyone not caught up, this from the BBC is a good read actually.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56720589

Ignore the headline, Biden quotes and speculative MoD tweets and you’ll get an idea of what is actually going on and what might happen.

[Jimmy Floyd]

From Twitter:


Diplomats tell us following sanctions are tricky:
- ITA, AUS, DE concerned abt broad banking-sector sanctions
- ITA resistant to sanctions that include railways
- ITA wants carve-out for luxury goods
- BEL wants carve-out for diamonds
+ broad reluctance to sanction energy sector

Everything we thought we knew about the Italians, CONFIRMED.

[niko_cee]

Has Mahow's camgirl got out?

[Spikey M]

From Twitter:



Everything we thought we knew about the Italians, CONFIRMED.

I don't even know why we're pretending. Ukraine have wanted into Nato since 2008 and we've left them hanging. Presumably because we value them as a buffer state like the EU do with Turkey and the Middle East, so we can't get all snooty when the inevitable happens off the back of that policy. Sanctions are the worst of all worlds. It does fuck all to help Ukraine but invites pain on the rest of us.

Everything. Absolutely fucking everything appears to be gesture politics these days.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There does come a point when it is actually worth inflicting pain on ourselves for the greater good, and full scale invasion is it.

Russian stock market down 40%, so they're not exactly riding a wave of patriotic fervour.

[Ben]

I have a few colleagues in Moskva and they’re just facepalming this charade.

[Shindig]

It'll be funny if this results in Russia having two more Chechnyas on the doorstep.

[Bernanke]

https://i.imgur.com/cxItje4.png

:eyemouth:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Russia v Poland World Cup qualifier in Moscow should be interesting.

[Spikey M]

https://i.ibb.co/5FRmL0m/20220224-092542.jpg

The UN have Inspector Gadget on the case.

[Pen]

I agree with Jimmy re the sanctions and freezing everything Russian out of every international thing. Won’t happen of course as they’ll get away with this as they’ve done with Georgia and Crimea. Unless their monetary elite turns on him as a whole Putin can do whatever he wants ‘til he dies. It’s not like he’s going to lose any ‘elections’ before 2036 and I highly doubt he plans on stepping down then either.

[Bernanke]

Honestly though, this whole thing is a different beast than both 2008 and 2014 isn't it? It's a three front assault on the largest country in Europe (not counting Russia itself), from the largest one in military manpower on the second to third largest one. And they're already bombing across the whole country.

I assume the play is similar to Georgia in that they Russians overreach a bit, then "deescalate" and lay claim to all of Donbass as well as maybe a full landbridge to Crimea, but again, Ukraine isn't Georgia in terms of "managing" a population during an invasion.

[Lewis]

It's all very exciting, but it won't go beyond sanctions lads calm down.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've not seen western establishment/self-declared clever person Twitter go as mental as it has this morning. Just a complete inability to drill down to the crux of anything as they lose themselves in posturing. Woe betide us when the Americans wake up and start complaining that Putin's generals are all white men.

[7om]

So why's he bombing wider Ukraine? They went into LPR and DPR under the guise of being peacekeepers, so why's it turned into this today?

[Bernanke]

So why's he bombing wider Ukraine? They went into LPR and DPR under the guise of being peacekeepers, so why's it turned into this today?

To "de-nazify" them as per his own declaration.

[SincereTheRebel]

Where do I put my money to prosper from pain?

[Don]

I didn't think he'd actually do it but since he has, there's surely no stopping Putin now, is there? The man's working through the classic post-lockdown nihilism and I don't see how a crashing economy would stop him.

[Spikey M]

It depends on the Ukrainians really. If they go full Guerilla war on them - which seems to be the aim - then they could be looking at another Afghanistan.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Vlad wants a puppet pro-Russian government akin to the ones he has in Belarus and presumably some of the central Asian -stans (I need to read twitter for a bit longer before I'm a true expert on this), but Ukraine is a large and proud country with a large population and borders with multiple western allies, so this is not going to be an easy thing to accomplish.

It's obvious Putin wants the pre-1990 Russian empire back and ideally before he dies, so that's probably the overarching motivation. I hope he's shot his bolt a bit with this one but honestly, who knows.

[-james-]

What use are western allies when they're all too scared to wade in? There's nothing in it for them.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If you're right next to Poland, Slovakia etc then a guerrilla resistance is going to be quite easy to supply and support. Obviously Our Boys will not be heading over, but draining Russia over a sustained period of time would be in western interests.

[Lewis]

He wants to annex/occupy the two breakaway regions and give the rest of the country a decent going over before retreating back to them. The stuff about puppet governments and all the rest of it seems a bit far fetched.

Speaking of which, these Conservative MPs calling for RAF support and NATO no-fly zones want running out of public life.

[Spikey M]

The BBC have just had a Ukrainian bloke on saying that they are the only nation that has given up their Nuclear Weapons.

Why the fuck did they do that? That seems mental. Was it in response to Chernobyl or something? Not that it would make any more sense, but at least I could kind of understand that

[Elbastido]

Probably didn't want the Russians invading them and taking them at will.......

[Yevrah]

The BBC have just had a Ukrainian bloke on saying that they are the only nation that has given up their Nuclear Weapons.

Why the fuck did they do that? That seems mental. Was it in response to Chernobyl or something? Not that it would make any more sense, but at least I could kind of understand that

They gave them up in exchange for Russia leaving them alone. Solid plan.

[Yevrah]

And I’ve thought about this long and hard on a drive home I did this morning and it all ultimately eventually points to one conclusion - buckle up boys, we’re going to war with Russia.

[7om]

What would a war with Russia actually look like? Would it be all cyber?

[Spikey M]

They gave them up in exchange for Russia leaving them alone. Solid plan.

Fuck me. That's top 10 worst decisions ever made stuff.

[Spikey M]

What would a war with Russia actually look like? Would it be all cyber?

The same as it always looks. You kill billions of them and somehow they still have billions more. I reckon they've actually invented respawning.

[Ian]

"We'll give up the means to defend ourselves if you promise to leave us alone."
"Of course! Why would we, Russia, renege on such a deal?"

I also don't see what's in it for the West to go to war with Russia over this. Unless you think they'll do it to Do The Right Thing in which case bless you.

Take it from me, the man who on the first page of the COVID thread compared it to bird flu, swine flu, etc.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Anyone talking about western military getting involved is an idiot, but I don't see why we shouldn't go full-on Russophobic in our response here. Chucking two thousand Russian kids out of our boarding schools was one decent wheeze I saw earlier. That hurts them far more than David Davis dusting off his khakis.

[Ian]

#AbramovichOut

[John Arne]

Never going to happen. The country is already going to shit itself when the gas price goes up further in the next few days.

Oh, I agree - it's not going to happen - but it should. It's time to implement some actual meaningful sanctions, and if that means impacting the general public too, then so be it.

No sports in the country
No shipping in or out
No more Visa's
Expel all diplomats
etc.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Abramovich should absolutely get locked up and Chelsea should probably get relegated or have some sort of embargo put on their activities for as long as he's owner.

[John Arne]

Anyone talking about western military getting involved is an idiot, but I don't see why we shouldn't go full-on Russophobic in our response here. Chucking two thousand Russian kids out of our boarding schools was one decent wheeze I saw earlier. That hurts them far more than David Davis dusting off his khakis.

Spot on. It's time to make the whole of the Russian-sphere suffer. It may seem slightly pathetic - but it's better than doing fuck up, or freezing the accounts of Vlad and his two mates.

[John Arne]

The Champions League final has been taken off them.

It's started :drool:

[Yevrah]

To clarify, I’m not talking about a ground invasion to Moscow as that would be insanity, but sending troops into Ukraine. The clamour to do so is going to be immense when the pictures of dead Women and Children start to emerge.

[Spikey M]

We've only ever fought the Russians via proxy wars, so I can't see it unless they pull this shit against a Nato member.

The Ukrainians have been well and truly fucked over here. Our refusal to let them join Nato shows exactly what our intent is.

[Jimmy Floyd]

To clarify, I’m not talking about a ground invasion to Moscow as that would be insanity, but sending troops into Ukraine. The clamour to do so is going to be immense when the pictures of dead Women and Children start to emerge.

Not the slightest chance. The better way to beat the Russians - who, unlike in previous wars, won't even believe in this on the ground - is just to dry them out of money and international credibility.

[Yevrah]

Not the slightest chance. The better way to beat the Russians - who, unlike in previous wars, won't even believe in this on the ground - is just to dry them out of money and international credibility.

I look forward to a stringent package of sanctions to achieve that being announced.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I look forward to a stringent package of sanctions to achieve that being announced.

If B.Johnson announces pussy sanctions then obviously he's a twat.

[Ian]

"To show Russia we mean business we are adding 1p to every Smirnoff purchase."
"But isn't Smirnoff British-owned?"
"TAKE THAT YOU RUSKIE SWINES!"

[Waffdon]

https://twitter.com/girkingirkin/status/1496854488933715972

Sheeesh

[igor_balis]

How obese do I need to be to avoid conscription

[Spoonsky]

Isn't this the moment that Bojo has always been waiting for?

[Jimmy Floyd]

It kind of is, yeah. You could hear the relish in his voice using the phrase 'By air, land and sea'.

[Magic]

These distractions from absolutely horrific local/national policy and performance is quite unreal. Lucky bastards.

[Magic]

https://twitter.com/girkingirkin/status/1496854488933715972

Sheeesh

Should be loads of tasty vids like this over the next few months.

[Magic]

How obese do I need to be to avoid conscription

Unvaccinated are exempt. :drool:

[Lewis]

The BBC have just had a Ukrainian bloke on saying that they are the only nation that has given up their Nuclear Weapons.

Why the fuck did they do that? That seems mental. Was it in response to Chernobyl or something? Not that it would make any more sense, but at least I could kind of understand that

They were just the legacy systems the Soviet Union left over (Belarus and Kazakhstan inherited loads as well), which they wouldn't have had the money or expertise to maintain (Russia barely managed it in the nineties), so they made a big show of 'giving them up' in return for security guarantees. They might technically be allowed to build their own now those are presumably void, so there is that to fall back on.

The only country to properly give them up having made them was South Africa, who seemingly only built them to prove some sort of point to nobody.

[Lewis]

1496871231945154564

:lol:

[Disco]

Be interesting to see how Putins version of the Red Army gets on, normally they're only slightly more dangerous to their opponents than to their own troops who take every opportunity to sell their equipment.

[-james-]

1496888388938604556

@TwitterSupport PLEASE HELP MY COUNTRY IS BEING INVADED

[Shindig]

Fighting around the Chernobyl plant. Mad bastards.

[Spikey M]

Important to take the best bits of land first.

[Spikey M]

People are panic buying petrol again :D

[Ben]

Oh fuck off :D

[Manc]

:facepalm:

[Jimmy Floyd]

The EU cowards and traitors (Germany and Italy, in this instance), blocking the US/UK wish to remove Russia from SWIFT, need their own set of sanctions. The sausage pasta I was going to have for dinner is now off the menu.

[Boydy]

Why are they blocking that?

[Ben]

Germany made a rod for their own back by collectively shitting the bed on nuclear, so they need Russian natural gas.

Italy are just mental so it's par.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Because they are unbelievably dependent on Russia in various ways, whereas the anglo-frogs and others aren't so much.

From the quick skim I've just done, sounds like the Italian economy would sink to the bottom of the Med without their Russian energy fix.

[Shindig]

Nuclear waste containers broken in the fighting, too. Enjoy the cancer, conscripts.

[Manc]

Pasta on an evening? Mental.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've just phoned Pierluigi Collina and his decision is that pasta can in fact be eaten at any time of day. Sorry.

[Spikey M]

Pasta on an evening? Mental.

:cab:

[Boydy]

When the fuck else would you eat pasta? Breakfast?

[Magic]

Probably those meal deal cold pasta things.

[Lewis]

I topped my petrol tank up this afternoon. :cool:

[Spikey M]

Stop panicking Lewis you fanny.

[Lewis]

I'm beating the panicking fannies. Also, the lad I can't stand at work put his name down for one of those emergency response tea-making/paper-shuffling roles, so he might be out the office for a few months. I'm winning this war, and I'm winning it easily. I'm United losing their Aeroflot deal away from proclaiming Mission Accomplished.

[Luca]

I've just phoned Pierluigi Collina and his decision is that pasta can in fact be eaten at any time of day. Sorry.

VAR check complete. Tutto regolare, Beppe.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I went to get some petrol this morning (because the tank was empty) to find the petrol station closed off with cone barricades, which made me think that the Sri Lankan petrol station owners of the south east have some kind of hotline to the Kremlin. Fortunately it was open on the way home, so I went, only to burst a tyre 10 minutes later as I dived out the way of a police car that was coming up my arse at 100mph. I'm definitely not winning this war.

[Lewis]

1496880140319604736

America pt. II.

[Magic]

The Serbian trolls out in unreal force on Twitter.

[Shindig]

головы ушли

[Pepe]

Long Covid? Didn't know he was a female teacher.

[Kikó]

The EU cowards and traitors (Germany and Italy, in this instance), blocking the US/UK wish to remove Russia from SWIFT, need their own set of sanctions. The sausage pasta I was going to have for dinner is now off the menu.

The whole thread is worth a read but:
1483040783917891584?t=Q6xO0P-XMgDhdaiO9DlMTQ&s=19

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Long Covid? Didn't know he was a female teacher.

He is a manlet like Taz though.

[Lewis]

1496634051775586310

Sir Andy Mahowry

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

What a strategy :drool:

[Kikó]

Also, Joe's sanctions will hit harder

1496939859092684803?t=IrnDNkCNDMH--Zb1u2y69w&s=19

[Shindig]

"I'm sorry, mate. I can't add you to the Binance thread. Registrations are closed and I don't even know how you got this number." <orders sushi at Zizi's>

[Pepe]

It's ok, Russians can just use Bitcoin. :harold:

[Jimmy Floyd]

The most mesmerising thing today has been watching the Corbyn club and Farage all tweet out pretty much word for word the same opinions. As well as Farage, Owen Jones for example should now be seen as a traitor and national pariah.

[Dark Soldier]

It's ok, Russians can just use Bitcoin. :harold:


Going off the market today they've been buying it by the cuntload.

[Baz]

Oh damn. Just realised the guy who I buy cheap Xbox games from is Ukrainian. This is affecting me now.

[Lewis]

All these nutters saying we can kick Russians out of the country. We can't even deport nonces and murderers. The idea that rich Ivans aren't going to run legal rings around the Home Office is almost as mad as a no-fly zone.

[niko_cee]

I walked past VTB Capital at lunchtime and I guess the sanctions hadn't hit yet as there was no Lehman Brothers style cardboard box effort in full effect at that time.

[Jimmy Floyd]

All these nutters saying we can kick Russians out of the country. We can't even deport nonces and murderers. The idea that rich Ivans aren't going to run legal rings around the Home Office is almost as mad as a no-fly zone.

A proper British government would know that the way to do it is incredibly small and petty discrminatory sanctions that will piss them off. Start with a ban from the royal enclosure at Ascot, and go from there.

[niko_cee]

Russian day 1 death toll of some 350 is a bit mad. That's nearly 20 years worth of our follies in the Middle East in dead body terms.

[Disco]

Russian day 1 death toll of some 350 is a bit mad. That's nearly 20 years worth of our follies in the Middle East in dead body terms.

Rookie numbers for them, they'll have lost that many just deploying.

[Shindig]

That's probably all happened in one coach crash.

[niko_cee]

Gen. Patraeus (he of the surge fame?) giving a withering assessment of Russian efforts so far. Hopefully this plays out so badly it ends up with Ukraine invading Russia.

[Ian]

Gen. Patraeus (he of the surge fame?) giving a withering assessment of Russian efforts so far. Hopefully this plays out so badly it ends up with Ukraine invading Russia.

:D

[Spikey M]

Gen. Patraeus (he of the surge fame?) giving a withering assessment of Russian efforts so far. Hopefully this plays out so badly it ends up with Ukraine invading Russia.

:D

[Queenslander]

The Ghost of Kiev is surreal apparently he shot down 6 migs.

[Giggles]

Be grand lads, all sorted out this time next month.


1497112889848565761

[Ian]

"Gianni, didn't they invade Ukraine and kill a load of people?"
"But that was ages ago. :("

[Magic]

Apparently each battalion has a mobile crematorium that follows them? :D

Reminds me of the bogey car in Top Gear challenges.

[Ian]

Gen. Patraeus (he of the surge fame?) giving a withering assessment of Russian efforts so far. Hopefully this plays out so badly it ends up with Ukraine invading Russia.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/02/david-petraeus-ukraine-russia-invasion/622893/

The challenge, of course, is that Ukraine’s most senior policy makers are trying to achieve two objectives that are somewhat mutually exclusive: first, trying to avoid being both overly alarmist to their own population and needlessly provocative to the Russians; and second, trying to allow their forces to prepare to defend the country. Achievement of the former objective precludes many of the actions that military leaders would take to achieve the latter objective—for example, placing significant obstacles on major high-speed avenues of approach, such as major highways, in order to force Russian attackers into fields where ambushes and defenses can be more effective, some of which will be reinforced by anti-tank mines, tank ditches, wire obstacles, etc., and also preparing built-up areas such as towns and cities to be defended by fortifying them, creating sniper positions, and, again, establishing various obstacles. Of course, the Ukrainian president’s declaration in the past 24 hours of a state of emergency and call-up of the reserve military forces has presumably reduced some of the constraints on the establishment of defensive obstacles, fortifications, and so on. However, there still likely will be some restrictions.

I find that quite interesting. Like.... trying to defend yourself against a bully long enough for them to get bored and decide it's not worth it but not so much that they go "No actually fuck you" and go all out to squash you. But with invasion and death.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Having spent hours last night and this morning reading takes on this, I actually cannot believe how pathetic and stupid our commentariat class is. 'I can't believe it... in 2022...'

Why does it matter what year it is, you stupid fucks? Humans didn't become passive sedentary consumers at the end of the Cold War, you know. Every commentator appearing on British TV and radio seems SHOCKED that Putin is in fact a bastard.

These simps who were brought up in the 80s and 90s in the West, and only know one direction of travel, are incredible in
their ignorance. I'm finally starting to see why Brexit melted their brains. Maybe it will take war to make them more robustly defend the democratic/Christian values that are the basis of all we enjoy in life? Doubt it.

I don't understand why we aren't employing a massive cultural squeeze on rich Russians over here. Got to make them suffer, as they are what keeps Putin alive. Easy to go 'ooh Tory money' but I'm sure the Tories can find other money, like they always have. The hard power is with the Americans but we have so much soft power.

[7om]

Interesting little read.

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1497095863864205312?s=21

[Ian]

Christian values. :D Oh yeah, we definitely need more appreciation of those.

[Magic]

Nobody will understand the same way nobody understood the Balkans. People are just so incapable of empathy.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Christian values. :D Oh yeah, we definitely need more appreciation of those.

It's what the west is, whether we like it or not. Love thy neighbour, as opposed to shelling him.

[Yevrah]

Having spent hours last night and this morning reading takes on this, I actually cannot believe how pathetic and stupid our commentariat class is. 'I can't believe it... in 2022...'

Why does it matter what year it is, you stupid fucks? Humans didn't become passive sedentary consumers at the end of the Cold War, you know. Every commentator appearing on British TV and radio seems SHOCKED that Putin is in fact a bastard.

These simps who were brought up in the 80s and 90s in the West, and only know one direction of travel, are incredible in
their ignorance. I'm finally starting to see why Brexit melted their brains. Maybe it will take war to make them more robustly defend the democratic/Christian values that are the basis of all we enjoy in life? Doubt it.

I don't understand why we aren't employing a massive cultural squeeze on rich Russians over here. Got to make them suffer, as they are what keeps Putin alive. Easy to go 'ooh Tory money' but I'm sure the Tories can find other money, like they always have. The hard power is with the Americans but we have so much soft power.

There's this belief that I reckon humans have always had, that the humans alive today are peak humans. They've learnt from history, they know everything as a result and therefore not only do they know what to do today, they know what will happen tomorrow too.

Which is of course absolute horseshit, but that's why minds get broken when things like this and Brexit happen as it doesn't fit that line of thinking at all.

[Giggles]

Nobody will understand the same way nobody understood the Balkans. People are just so incapable of empathy.

There isn't a lol emoji large enough for this.

[Ian]

That was just the most banterous response I had for a post where you you were a few hops short of "Crank uncle who has never lived through a war thinks snowflakes should die in one to toughen them up" and talked about others being naïve in the same post as saying it can't JUST be Tory greed stopping them doing more about the people they get a load of money from.

For the record, I think any non-Tory government this country would be liable to vote in would be doing the exact same amount of hand-wringing and hoping it somehow blows over so they can keep lining their pockets and go 'lol Putin eh?' after the fact. But they're the ones in power and they're the ones who have proven themselves to be act in their own self-interest where at all possible so they get the stick.

The notion that this lot would act in line with what you're pretending Christian values are is as laughable as the people acting like Putin being one of the biggest bastards going is a surprise.

EDIT: Out the way all of you who've posted since I opened all these tabs.

[Spikey M]

Nobody will understand the same way nobody understood the Balkans. People are just so incapable of empathy.

Projection dear boy.

[Spikey M]

It's what the west is, whether we like it or not. Love thy neighbour, as opposed to shelling him.

A fair chunk of the UK have been kneecapping their neighbours in the name of Christianity for decades now.

[Magic]

I'll empathise at my own discretion.

[Yevrah]

There was an historian on Question Time last night who while in support of sanctions, suggested that they may take 10 years to work properly. Who knows what Putin will get up to in that time, or what China will do while the West is already seriously occupied with this shit.

It'll take time, but we'll be going to war eventually. MAD is a lovely concept as it gives the answer everyone wants, but that doesn't make it a sound one, particularly when you're dealing with people who don't share the same approach, or to put it another way, nutters.

[Boydy]

A fair chunk of the UK have been kneecapping their neighbours in the name of Christianity for decades now.
If that's aimed at us over here, it was never really about religion. It was ethno-nationalist and who stirred that up? Britain, by invading its neighbour rather than loving it.

Plus, you kneecap your own side, not the other. It's how paramilitaries maintain control (take out rival drug dealers).

[Lofty]

Just warming up for the water wars.

[Ian]

Is the "it'll take 10 years to work" thing just based on the idea that in the meantime they'd have enough money to just take it on the chin and not back down?

I saw a string of posts by Garry Kasparov of all people saying all the things the West need to be doing immediately but a) I have no idea if he (or others saying similar) knows what he's talking about because I thought he was just a chess man and b) don't know exactly what they all entail. Does it largely boil down to "stop them getting any money from us and freeze them out politically"? Is that a vast oversimplification?

EDIT: Yevrah

Stop posting, dickheads, I am too slow (in every sense.)

[Spikey M]

If that's aimed at us over here, it was never really about religion. It was ethno-nationalist and who stirred that up? Britain, by invading its neighbour rather than loving it.

Plus, you kneecap your own side, not the other. It's how paramilitaries maintain control (take out rival drug dealers).

I don't really care who's right, who caused it, and the method of killing employed. It's not just coincidence that the Loyalists are Protestants and the Republicans are Catholic. It may not be only about religion, but it's a fair chunk of it. Otherwise are we to believe that Israel/Palestine is nothing to do with religion too?

[Yevrah]

I assume it's that Ian, but I don't know for sure. If the Russian money merry-go-round relies on our support and we remove that then it stands to reason they'd bleed out eventually. However, we also rely on that merry-go-round, it's absolutely baked into our economy and removing it is akin to getting eggs back from a baked cake. And that's before you factor in the point Lewis raised that people like Abramovich having endless resources with which to fight this legally.

Which is why I get to where I get to, think about the above playing out on x128 speed and what are you left with? A situation where we're all feeling the pain and have been for years, but it isn't really working as this stuff is so layered in that removing it is almost impossible. Meanwhile Putin's decided he wants a bit more of 'his Russia' back, the Chinese have long since taken Taiwan and are agging for more - It's an absolute fucking nightmare where something has to give. And that something is either let Putin get on with it or escalate matters.

[Yevrah]

On the plus side, Climate Change is no longer the most pressing issue the World faces...

[Manc]

Zouma must really be regretting asking Abramovich for help.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Saying the west is about Christian values is not the same as saying no one in the west has ever done anything immoral.

We managed to stand up for our way of life vs another way of life throughout the Cold War, including being ruthless bastards where necessary, so I don't know why everyone's so surprised that our way of life is not in fact universal 30 years later and still needs defending from the likes of Putin.

[randomlegend]

"Christian values" :harold:

[Ian]

The Taliban saying "All sides need to desist from taking positions that could intensify violence" is a good laugh.

[Lewis]

Do people really think we are soft-peddling this (which we clearly aren't) because some Russians have given the Conservative Party money? Presumably they get more money from other sectors, so it must be a nightmare balancing competing interests. If the Ukrainians were smart they could just give a pound extra and the submarines would be on their way.

[Magic]

The Taliban saying "All sides need to desist from taking positions that could intensify violence" is a good laugh.

It makes perfect sense, really. After all women and children can't really intensify violence.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We (UK gov) aren't soft-peddling it, but the media discourse is like some GCSE paper from 2005.

[Magic]

We (UK gov) aren't soft-peddling it, but the media discourse is like some GCSE paper from 2005.

I love the BBC analysis. "how hard will it be do defend Ukraine?" "what will we do in the event of nuclear war?" the same childish shit that led to people still scared to go outside and wear masks to bed.

[Yevrah]

We (UK gov) aren't soft-peddling it, but the media discourse is like some GCSE paper from 2005.

The lack of detail behind some of the reporting is shocking. Ok, so you've told me 18 times in an hour that shutting Russia off from SWIFT hasn't happened yet and that some people want it to, but why hasn't it happened and why do some people presumably not want it to?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Meanwhile I see Abramovich's daughter has gone rogue, sanctions already getting their backs up. Rescind the Harrods loyalty cards.

[Ian]

Eurovision not even booting them out. :nono:

How can we expect them to stop if people aren't prepared to commit to the harshest measures?

[Offshore Toon]

The shame of 0 points is greater than any sanction.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I saw that and also saw that Belarus are serving a multi-year ban for having songs with political (pro-Lukashenko) lyrics. Can't they just have a day off occasionally?

[phonics]

Not everything bad is Hitler. Not everything good is Jesus.

[Pen]

Are those the Belarussian lyrics?

[Ian]

Are those the Belarussian lyrics?

:D

[Spikey M]

:D banger

[Lewis]

The lack of detail behind some of the reporting is shocking. Ok, so you've told me 18 times in an hour that shutting Russia off from SWIFT hasn't happened yet and that some people want it to, but why hasn't it happened and why do some people presumably not want it to?

It's March/April 2020 again. The important stuff is beyond their knowledge and understanding, so they have to fall back on framing it with strict reference to what they do know - personality-driven shit like Putin being 'irrational' (or worse) and wacky European summit discussions.

'Prime Minister what sort of cake would you offer the Ukrainian...'

[7om]

Just saw on the news that the Russian military are in Kyiv. What happens now then? Do they remove (assassinate?) the Ukrainian government and just establish a Russian government? What’s the end game here?

[7om]

It's March/April 2020 again. The important stuff is beyond their knowledge and understanding, so they have to fall back on framing it with strict reference to what they do know - personality-driven shit like Putin being 'irrational' (or worse) and wacky European summit discussions.

'Prime Minister what sort of cake would you offer the Ukrainian...'

Is it not irrational? Genuine question.

[Yevrah]

They do indeed.

[Yevrah]

Is it not irrational? Genuine question.

Definitely not. It's a calculated effort that took four months just to get the troops in place and God knows how many months of planning prior to that.

[Magic]

Definitely not. It's a calculated effort that took four months just to get the troops in place and God knows how many months of planning prior to that.

2014...

He issued loads of Russian citizenship to the people of the annexed regions in 2019.

[Magic]

That luxury yacht siezed by the Norwegians was apparently going around cutting undersea fibre cables. It has a submarine integrated in to it. :D

[Yevrah]

Cyber and infrastructure attacks are about to get properly dirty, I suspect we've seen nothing yet in comparison.

[Giggles]

Our resident covid denying conspiracy Slav has gone all-in on Putin just defending himself agains America.

[Boydy]

Our resident covid denying conspiracy Slav has gone all-in on Putin just defending himself agains America.
Who's that?

[niko_cee]

Someone in his work presumably.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Our Russian has come out against the war, after about 24 hours of deliberation.

He was still with Vlad when the Salisbury poisonings happened, so obviously this is a step too far for him.

[Disco]

Having spent hours last night and this morning reading takes on this, I actually cannot believe how pathetic and stupid our commentariat class is. 'I can't believe it... in 2022...'

Why does it matter what year it is, you stupid fucks? Humans didn't become passive sedentary consumers at the end of the Cold War, you know. Every commentator appearing on British TV and radio seems SHOCKED that Putin is in fact a bastard.

These simps who were brought up in the 80s and 90s in the West, and only know one direction of travel, are incredible in
their ignorance. I'm finally starting to see why Brexit melted their brains. Maybe it will take war to make them more robustly defend the democratic/Christian values that are the basis of all we enjoy in life? Doubt it.

I don't understand why we aren't employing a massive cultural squeeze on rich Russians over here. Got to make them suffer, as they are what keeps Putin alive. Easy to go 'ooh Tory money' but I'm sure the Tories can find other money, like they always have. The hard power is with the Americans but we have so much soft power.

Amazing isn't it, real end of history stuff.

[Boydy]

Someone in his work presumably.
Ah that makes sense. I thought he meant some media talking head in Ireland.

[Ben]

Just looking at YouGov and the patriotism and thirst for war is fucking real considering it’s a bunch of hermits that usually answer this stuff. Also a fair chunk of them must think nukes are a bit lol because they’re ready to see us fire the bastards.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Here's more from Vladimir Putin, who is addressing the Russian Security Council - and, indirectly, the Ukrainian military.

He says Banderites - a reference to World War Two anti-Soviet fighter Stepan Bandera - and so-called neo-Nazis "have put up heavy armaments including multiple rocket launch systems" in cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv.

"Neo-Nazis" is a regularly used by President Putin to deride the Ukrainian government. Ukraine's President Zelensky, who is Jewish, has dismissed the term.

Putin says: "They are acting like terrorists across the world, shielding behind people in order to accuse Russia of causing casualties among the peaceful population.

"It is known for sure that all this is happening on recommendations from foreign consultants, American advisers above all."

He then addresses Ukrainian forces.

"I am addressing Ukrainian armed forces servicemen once again: do not allow neo-Nazis and Banderites to use your children, your wives and the elderly as a human shield.

"Take power into your own hands. It looks like you and us will find it easier to reach an agreement than with that gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis in Kyiv."

Can someone just stick a bullet in this prick and end it.

[Magic]

I get how that sort of narrative would work in the days of the early 1900s but lol at using it these days.

[Spikey M]

Just looking at YouGov and the patriotism and thirst for war is fucking real considering it’s a bunch of hermits that usually answer this stuff. Also a fair chunk of them must think nukes are a bit lol because they’re ready to see us fire the bastards.

It'll be all the women and pensioners under no threat of being sent to fight.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

As Russian forces advance on the Ukrainian capital, the authorities are calling on the population to do everything they can to resist the invading troops.

Both the Ministry of Defence and the Interior Ministry are appealing to Kyiv residents to "inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails and neutralise the enemy".

A leaflet with step-by step instructions of how to make petrol bombs has been posted on the Ministry of the Interior's social media.

Interior Ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko says 18,000 machine guns "have been handed out in Kyiv to all volunteers, all those who want to defend our capital with weapons in their arms".

"Ukrainian military equipment is entering Kyiv now to defend it. I am asking all residents of Kyiv - please do not film it, do not film its movements. This is necessary to protect our city."

1497146600929570823

[Lewis]

There is something very off about their divvy leader encouraging normal people to do that from his hiding place. You're either fit to be mobilised or you aren't.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, got to think that handing out tens of thousands of Ak-47s probably isn't going to play out well in the long run, but then, desperate times and all.