Russia invades Ukraine

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Then you got jumped on for it

Sorry maybe my post wasn't worded well. I just couldn't believe I read "all lives matter" haha. I guess maybe he had never heard that slogan before.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Then you got jumped on for it

You see me still breathing don't ya?

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Dion

You see me still breathing don't ya?

I must have that feature disabled

[Minnie]

I'm not at anyone's throat. I do, however, think chutney or chubrey or whatever, is a strange little man, who can sod off. *shrug*

[kn]

This is heartbreaking. It brought me to tears as I saw my wife and daughter in this video. God bless the people of Ukraine.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/com...eb2x&context=3

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

Last I heard Chernobyl plant operators being held hostage by Russian military and likely not being allowed to their jobs

I think this is extremely concerning and not getting enough attention overall. This situation could lead to a catastrophe and potentially cause millions upon millions of deaths.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/europ...ntl/index.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/...nvades-ukraine

Lyman said he is most worried about spent fuel stored at the site, which has not been active since 2000. If the power to cooling pumps is disrupted or fuel-storage tanks are damaged, the results could be catastrophic, he said.

Some reports out there are saying that a nuclear waste storage facility near the plant was destroyed during a battle between the two sides, releasing radioactive waste into the environment. There also seems to be evidence of dramatically rising radiation levels at the plant and the surrounding area.


Honestly the Flames are the furthest thing from my mind tonight. The situation in Ukraine is a complete disaster and showing no signs of taking a turn for the better.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by FlameyMcFlameFace

I understand. But imagine going 30-60 days as a citizen in these parts, and thats if the sanctions have a critical role. It would feel like years. I'm more concerned for the citizens and what will happen to them in this time while we wait for the sanctions to "kick in".

I guess in the west, we ask the question, is that the risk/gamble we take on the Ukrainian people to avoid a war with a bully?


This sucks man.

I was being sarcastic.

I feel the same as you. And I believe we should be standing up to the bully.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Minnie

I'm not at anyone's throat. I do, however, think chutney or chubrey or whatever, is a strange little man, who can sod off. *shrug*

It doesn't get much better when you see his Covid stuff.

[Pointman]

Some facts about Ukrainian revolution on February 2014 (not to be mistaken with Orange revolution a decade earlier)

Elected president had only a year left in his term

He wasn't closely associated with Putin throughout most of his tenure. Contrary, in September 2013 he approved a draft of a association agreement with EU. He also apparently flirted with the idea of joining NATO

This didn't sit well with Putin. He pressed and two months later Ukrainian president declined to sign EU agreement. Clearly he was persuaded by Russians, rather than had his own country best interests in mind

This, in turn, infuriated Ukrainians who wanted to join EU. They came out on the streets and had been protesting for a couple of months

Eventually they went full MAGA in February 2014, with about a year left on president's term

This resulted in bloody disposal, rather than peaceful elections, and the rest is history

Here's an angry pro-russian piece from September 2013, blaming alleged Putin puppet for foregoing his promises for close ties with Russia and pivoting west instead.

https://en.topwar.ru/33502-utka-po-i...zahromala.html

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by kn

This is heartbreaking. It brought me to tears as I saw my wife and daughter in this video. God bless the people of Ukraine.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/com...eb2x&context=3

[CaptainCrunch]

I'm taking updates and casualty reports with a grain of salt. However Washington Post has reported the Russia is on the outtskirts of Kyiv, there have been several explosions and near constant air raids



So at the very least if the reports are of rocket attacks on Kyiv are accurate using cruise missiles. I expect by tomorrow Kyiv will be in range of Russian battle field artillary or within 50 to 90 km of the outskirts of the city. I doubt that the Russians would be all that interested in fighting an urban war. Its likely that they'll lay seige to the city and pound it until the government surrenders.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

Ukraine is reportedly furious that the EU sanctions package did not include SWIFT sanctions.

Highly doubt that the US would be on board with disconnecting Russia from SWIFT as the NSA has their hooks in there pretty deep. They will want to know where the cash is coming from and going...

Freezing the accounts of elites and banning investment in sovereign debt is a pretty good squeeze.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by kn

This is heartbreaking. It brought me to tears as I saw my wife and daughter in this video. God bless the people of Ukraine.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/com...eb2x&context=3

It appears to be a video posted on February 21 on Telegram in the breakaway part of the Donbass about a man saying goodbye to his family who are being evacuated to Russia while he stays and fight the Ukrainian Army.


https://t.me/Prikhodko1970/2768

[CASe333]

Originally Posted by accord1999

It appears to be a video posted on February 21 on Telegram in the breakaway part of the Donbass about a man saying goodbye to his family who are being evacuated to Russia while he stays and fight the Ukrainian Army.

https://t.me/Prikhodko1970/2768

If true then I think it just shows the humanity on both sides. I'll be honest that I cried when I first saw this and to me it doesn't matter whose side this portrays.


I really hope that this crisis brings Canada back together and we step up in unity against this war. We once were known as helping bring freedom during WW2. North America and Europe needs to wake up with how we have fostered this.

I understand there are reasons for Germany or other European countries not cutting off LNG/oil from Russia but shouldn't they be ready for this? I don't care what side of the political spectrum you side on, we can agree that when a country is a war mongerer they should immediately be cut off from the world's economy.

[Huntingwhale]

Giving an update on my wife and her family's situation. They are close to Kharkov in the NE part of the country.

- They went to bed last night with gunfire in the distance. Could hear yelling and some troop movement through their village. Nothing in their own village thankfully, but south of them is where some of the fighting took place.

- Was texting my wife through all hours of the night. I'm tired AF, but want to be there for each message she sends me. 4 of them are in a single room probably the size of your standard living room. They sleep in their jackets and clothing, bags beside them. Ready to leave at a moments notice. Poor Babushka is having a hard time. She's older, very immobile and has heart issues. They are keeping her in their room to keep an eye on her.

- Only one single food store is open for their entire town currently. 2-3 hours wait in line to get supplies, and by then time they got their turn at 8am there was no bread left. Bought what they could. Told her to use our creditcard if possible any time making a purchase, to save cash. Really, that's all I can do to help her.

- They are essentially trapped in their village for now. Some people this morning actually tried to leave for work but were stopped by roadblocks leading towards Kharkov. There are 2 main roads. One has the bridge destroyed. The other is blocked by Russian troops telling them to return home. It's sad that people choose to go to work when this is happening. But this is a very poor village. These people have nothing compared to us. I have been there before and I was probably the "richest" person who has ever stepped foot there in recent memory. My wife and her family are lucky to be one of the luckier ones in terms of income and having a car. So for these people to make the decision to leave their homes and attempt to earn some kind of income with the threat of soldiers blocking the way....####.

- It is a 12 hour walk to Kharkov, through forested areas. Usually there is a train that connects these locations, but obviously that has been stopped for the time being. That village is dependent on that train, or being one of the lucky few to have a car.

- Some soldiers come to the village to speak to the locals occasionally. Most are young and from various parts of Russia. She has so far recognized Armenian, Siberian and Tajikistan accents. They tell them that they aren't there to fight locals. Interestingly enough, some have said they were lied to about the purpose of their deployment. They were told it was for training purposes. They found out about being part of an invasion hours before. Wife gets the feeling that they don't want to be there, they were lied to (like the rest of us). Still, she knows to keep her head on a swivel and trust nobody.

- I don't want to give away any locations anymore, but one of the Russian cities just over their border is one of the soldier's reloading points for food, supplies, etc. She said the Russian soldiers just go back and forth when they are hungry or tired. Meanwhile, her village is being starved. She said one food supply is allowed through each day (if I understand that correctly) and as soon as it showed up today, people rushed the truck. Hence, no bread. She's so stressed she hasn't been able to keep food down for 2 days . Told her to fill all the empty bottles and containers they have with water, just in case. I think they have a water well, but better to have extra water supplies.

- Her best friend has a Russian cousin in that border city and works at one of the stores the soldiers often buy from. He said their main purchases are vodka, smokes, and bags (?).

Honestly don't know how this ends for them. Ideally getting to the Western border countries is the way out. But they are literally trapped. And even if they could leave, who knows what they would encounter on the 20 hour drive to the Western border. She said they can't even think about another country right now, as they are in survival mode

She said no one is fighting in their village. The few troops that were supposed to be stationed there have run away. Can't blame them. I'm hoping and praying the soldiers view their village as 'neutral' , not a threat and just leave them all alone. There is nothing there for them anyways. But yeah, the nightmare continues. I'm not a crier, but not ashamed to say last night was a rough one. I truly appreciate those who reached out to me on PM to offer support and the tiny distractions as small as they were. Even cracked a smile at one point.

[Heavy Jack]

No words HW all I can do is join with everyone here and wish your wife and her family a safe exit from there. That was riveting to read and I can only imagine the roller coaster of emotions you’re going through right now my friend, pls feel free to pm me as well.

‘What you think about you bring about’ is a mantra I’ve lived by for so many years that I learned from my mom and I’ll be thinking the best thoughts for you and yours my friend.

[curves2000]

US intel is reporting that this appears to be an operation that will most likely be over fairly soon baring any significant and strategic pushback.

"Once the city is surrounded, US intelligence believes the plan will be for Russian special forces to move in and seize an airport - likely Sikorsky or Boryspil - which would then be used to fly in a much larger force of up to 10,000 paratroopers who would assault the capital.

The job of the paratroopers would be to enter the city, find Zelensky, his ministers, and parliamentarians, before forcing them to sign a peace deal handing control of the country back to Russia or a Moscow-backed puppet regime - effectively ending the war without Putin's ground forces needing to complete the difficult and bloody task of seizing and occupying the whole country"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rdest-day.html


If this actually ends up being the case, and with the intel that the global community has, that more was not done to safeguard Ukraine, it's shameful and morally wrong. How can the powers actually allow this to happen? Enough with the show of support with the lights and the press releases. What's the 2nd plan for when this continues?

[WCW Nitro]

I don't get what the long-term plan is for Russia.Ok, you install a puppet government, then what? How long will that government be able to rule when it won't have the support of the majority of the country, the uprising is inevitable. People say Putin is this genius, but to me he was in a great situation before all this, trade deals with the world and personal wealth and an army that is strong enough that no country will invade it regardless of how close NATO gets.

[combustiblefuel]

" Russian warship.. go #### yourself"

That's all that needs to be said about this unnecessary war.

[Zoller]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

" Russian warship.. go #### yourself"

That's all that needs to be said about this unnecessary war.

RIP to every single one of those men