Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[Frodo]

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1575872826170540032

[Person Man]

Putin in his speech asked the Russian people if they want to live in a country where mother and father become parent 1 and parent 2.  This mimics some of the themes of Giorgia Meloni in some of her speeches.  It is clear Putin is also trying to appeal to the populist Conservative Right in the EU.

Eight months ago, I’d have completely agreed he was doing this for his fans at home and abroad. Since then, I’ve learned to ask myself, “What if he’s just that stupid?”

I think it is possible he actually believes most of this and is suffering from online brainrot after COVID-era isolation. There’d be some twisted irony in his “anti-colonial” speech leaning so heavily on Western-manufactured kulturkampf, but it can’t be ruled out.

What’s Putin’s stance on the N-word?

[Storr]

No Panic!

https://twitter.com/NLwartracker/status/1575778455832219649?s=20&t=aAs5skoqY...

[Storr]

The pocket around Lyman is closing.

8 hours ago:

https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1575775162674212865?s=20&t=aAs5sk...

24 minutes ago:

https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1575896773511434240?s=20&t=aAs5sk...

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1575872826170540032

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1575851485241696256?s=20&t=aAs5skoq...

[Storr]

The pocket around Lyman is closing.

8 hours ago:

https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1575775162674212865?s=20&t=aAs5sk...

24 minutes ago:

https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1575896773511434240?s=20&t=aAs5sk...

Pro-Russian telegram channel RYBAR's most recent map. 8:00 pm Moscow time was 1:00 pm EDT.

https://twitter.com/tinso_ww/status/1575904529647738880?s=20&t=aAs5skoqY0A9F...

[President Johnson]

Ukraine is ineligible under current NATO rules to join because it requires new members not having any territorial disputes. However, I'd support admission at some point. Before, the collective Western world should put them in a position to reclaim all of its territory, including the whole Donbas and Crimea. We need to increase arms supply, including heavy weapons like tanks. Scholz really needs to give up being so hesitant here.

[emailking]

Biden calls Nord Stream pipeline leaks a ‘deliberate act of sabotage’

President Joe Biden on Friday called the Nord Stream pipeline leaks a “deliberate act of sabotage” and accused Russia and President Vladimir Putin of “pumping out disinformation and lies,” though he did not directly accuse Moscow for the sabotage.

Biden said that the US is working with allies to “get to the bottom of exactly – precisely what happened” and he has already directed resources to help allies enhance protection of the pipeline.

“Let me say this, it was a deliberate act of sabotage and now the Russians are pumping out disinformation and lies,” Biden said, the first time he has described the incident as an act of sabotage.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/30/politics/biden-ukraine-putin-pipeline/index.html

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, Italian TV agrees with me:

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1575910197964713984?s=20&t=EzKoBEgWJHeVYI...

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

The Ukrainian Ministry Of Defense is sh**tposting again:

https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1575173225197158407?cxt=HHwWjoCqufzskdwrAAAA

[Person Man]

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1575910197964713984?s=20&t=EzKoBEgWJHeVYI...

Why go around the river when the right flank can cut them off?

[Alben Barkley]

https://twitter.com/thewiretwo/status/1575630680696197120?s=20&t=rlrIU1LL1qo...

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Yeah, that's the right response, I think. Putin has made clear that he can't be given an off-ramp, but giving Russia an off-ramp after him is an important.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1575872826170540032

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1575851485241696256?s=20&t=aAs5skoq...

If this isn't *chef's kiss*, I don't know what is.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Assassinating Putin is technically an act of war, so it's a big gamble to assume that whoever would end up in charge of the Russian military (Prime minister Mikhail Mishustin, at least according to their constitution) wouldn't retaliate or be pressured to retaliate by hardline elements.

(Strictly speaking it would also violate a couple of executive orders issued under Ford, Carter, and Reagan banning the assassination of foreign leaders - but those could be easily rescinded by Biden, I guess.)

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The US seems to be following a policy aiming for calculated brinksmanship. Or pre-brinkmanship - we might do X if you do Y.
Putin is getting a taste of his own medicine.

[Mehmentum]

Yes, this is good.  Putin won't bat an eye at sending others to their deaths, but there's a better chance he was some sense of self-preservation.  A guarantee that he, personally, will die if he tries to order a nuclear strike might be more compelling for him than a promise of a declaration of war.  Laying out the consequences very clearly ahead of time is a good idea.  The goal, after all, is to deter Putin from using WMDs, not baiting him into it.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

Yes, this is good.  Putin won't bat an eye at sending others to their deaths, but there's a better chance he was some sense of self-preservation.  A guarantee that he, personally, will die if he tries to order a nuclear strike might be more compelling for him than a promise of a declaration of war.  Laying out the consequences very clearly ahead of time is a good idea.  The goal, after all, is to deter Putin from using WMDs, not baiting him into it.

Cannot agree with this more. "Strategic ambiguity" is a terrible idea in these sorts of situations where things are no longer far-off hypotheticals but are instead near-term potentialities.

[DaleCooper]

Unambiguous talk is essential when responding to belligerent nuclear powers. I would be concerned if the Biden Administration wasn't making it clear that Putin would be killed immediately if he uses any nuclear weapons.

One of the few good things Trump said in the White House was when he made clear that he would annihilate the Kim dynasty of North Korea if he started a nuclear war. Of course brain-rotted liberals were offended by that then and the hypocritical conservatives that supported Trump then will hate Biden for this now, but that's a reflection of American foolishness. In reality, both were correct to respond unambiguously.

[Beet]

Unambiguous talk is essential when responding to belligerent nuclear powers. I would be concerned if the Biden Administration wasn't making it clear that Putin would be killed immediately if he uses any nuclear weapons.

One of the few good things Trump said in the White House was when he made clear that he would annihilate the Kim dynasty of North Korea if he started a nuclear war. Of course brain-rotted liberals were offended by that then and the hypocritical conservatives that supported Trump then will hate Biden for this now, but that's a reflection of American foolishness. In reality, both were correct to respond unambiguously.

Should Harry Truman have been killed? Let me guess, that was different.

Also, all Putin has to do to respond to this is to have a trigger that nukes will fire on the event of his assasination.

[Alben Barkley]

Yes, this is good.  Putin won't bat an eye at sending others to their deaths, but there's a better chance he was some sense of self-preservation.  A guarantee that he, personally, will die if he tries to order a nuclear strike might be more compelling for him than a promise of a declaration of war.  Laying out the consequences very clearly ahead of time is a good idea.  The goal, after all, is to deter Putin from using WMDs, not baiting him into it.

I knew we had people "deep in the heart of the Kremlin" just waiting for the activation order. I would have been deeply disappointed and disturbed if we didn't. It's comforting to know that if Putin goes there, retaliation against him personally will be swift and brutal. Of course these reports will surely also fuel his paranoia and make his table grow all that much longer... but it doesn't matter that much in the end. Fact is if the US/CIA wants you dead, they'll find a way to make it happen!

[Alben Barkley]

Unambiguous talk is essential when responding to belligerent nuclear powers. I would be concerned if the Biden Administration wasn't making it clear that Putin would be killed immediately if he uses any nuclear weapons.

One of the few good things Trump said in the White House was when he made clear that he would annihilate the Kim dynasty of North Korea if he started a nuclear war. Of course brain-rotted liberals were offended by that then and the hypocritical conservatives that supported Trump then will hate Biden for this now, but that's a reflection of American foolishness. In reality, both were correct to respond unambiguously.

Should Harry Truman have been killed? Let me guess, that was different.

Also, all Putin has to do to respond to this is to have a trigger that nukes will fire on the event of his assasination.

Yes... Yes it was. And if you are seriously arguing otherwise, you're not the kind of person worth seriously arguing with. Truman was wiping one of the most evil regimes to ever exist off the face of the planet, and saving lives in the long run. Putin would be escalating a pointless, aggressive conflict in which HE is the clear bad guy and murdering even more people for no good reason whatsoever. He is Hitler in this scenario. Not Truman.

Disgusting, disgraceful comparison. If it were up to me you'd have your American citizenship stripped for it!

And your second point assumes that others left in Russia will fulfill the dying wishes of their madman tyrannical ruler and kill themselves in the process (Hitler's people sure didn't!), unless he has some magic device that fires nukes automatically if his heart stops.

[Beet]

Unambiguous talk is essential when responding to belligerent nuclear powers. I would be concerned if the Biden Administration wasn't making it clear that Putin would be killed immediately if he uses any nuclear weapons.

One of the few good things Trump said in the White House was when he made clear that he would annihilate the Kim dynasty of North Korea if he started a nuclear war. Of course brain-rotted liberals were offended by that then and the hypocritical conservatives that supported Trump then will hate Biden for this now, but that's a reflection of American foolishness. In reality, both were correct to respond unambiguously.

Should Harry Truman have been killed? Let me guess, that was different.

Also, all Putin has to do to respond to this is to have a trigger that nukes will fire on the event of his assasination.

Yes... Yes it was. And if you are seriously arguing otherwise, you're not the kind of person worth seriously arguing with.

Disgusting.

And that assumes that others left in Russia will fulfill the dying wishes of their madman tyrannical ruler (Hitler's people sure didn't!), unless he has some magic device that fires nukes automatically if his heart stops.

They might not, but they might. Or it might escalate in other ways. It's a roll of the dice and making that kind of gamble is a tad reckless, to put it mildly.

[Alben Barkley]

Unambiguous talk is essential when responding to belligerent nuclear powers. I would be concerned if the Biden Administration wasn't making it clear that Putin would be killed immediately if he uses any nuclear weapons.

One of the few good things Trump said in the White House was when he made clear that he would annihilate the Kim dynasty of North Korea if he started a nuclear war. Of course brain-rotted liberals were offended by that then and the hypocritical conservatives that supported Trump then will hate Biden for this now, but that's a reflection of American foolishness. In reality, both were correct to respond unambiguously.

Should Harry Truman have been killed? Let me guess, that was different.

Also, all Putin has to do to respond to this is to have a trigger that nukes will fire on the event of his assasination.

Yes... Yes it was. And if you are seriously arguing otherwise, you're not the kind of person worth seriously arguing with.

Disgusting.

And that assumes that others left in Russia will fulfill the dying wishes of their madman tyrannical ruler (Hitler's people sure didn't!), unless he has some magic device that fires nukes automatically if his heart stops.

They might not, but they might. Or it might escalate in other ways. It's a roll of the dice and making that kind of gamble is a tad reckless, to put it mildly.

Oh but it's not a "tad reckless" to invade a neighboring country for fascist reasons and then to deploy nukes first yourself?

What would you do, bend over and let Putin f--k you and everyone else on Earth he wanted to in the ass?

Thank GOD you're not in charge!

Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. The risk is absolutely worth it.