Russia-Ukraine war and related tensions Megathread

[Yoda]

Russians now reportedly dumping their soldiers into the sea to save the Ukrainians the trouble of shooting them:

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1497664806958030851?s=20&t=b_94FJ3infb...

Ya know what struck me the most from reading this? I truly believe I felt more sadness and grief over this senseless loss of (Russian) young life than Putin or his generals ever will. Russian lives mean nothing to Putin. On the other hand, I guarantee Zelensky's heart breaks every time he loses a single man.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Russians now reportedly dumping their soldiers into the sea to save the Ukrainians the trouble of shooting them:

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1497664806958030851?s=20&t=b_94FJ3infb...

Ya know what struck me the most from reading this? I truly believe I felt more sadness and grief over this senseless loss of (Russian) young life than Putin or his generals ever will. Russian lives mean nothing to Putin. On the other hand, I guarantee Zelensky's heart breaks every time he loses a single man.

Hell, it's possible Zelensky feels more grief over Russian losses than Putin does. He's a native Russophone and was relatively pro-Russia and neutrality-curious by post-Euromaidan standards, until he absolutely couldn't be anymore.

[Storebought]

Infantry walking in utterly exposed with a few light vehicles in front, in broad daylight seems like not the best idea. https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1497823461510725632?s=20&t=6bRrpIGEe...

Putin and the Russian army are not the evil geniuses we had thought.

It's stuff like this where I find the gloating too much: Russian troops in Kharkiv are a bad thing, no matter how you spin it. (Unless some later footage shows these same troops either captured or killed).

[Middle-aged Europe]

https://mobile.twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1497849912905674752

[President Johnson]

Some latest updates:

I guess this once again undermindes Putin's appalling talkingpoint of a "corrupt Nazi regime" and hopefully raises awarness among the Russian people.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1497871771466412039


This would be huge, if true. Almost the US losses of years in Iraq.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1497874453178552325

[jaichind]

Zelensky indicates he is ready for talks but not in Belorus as that is not neutral.  It seems he is suggesting places like Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest, or Baku.  On this issue, he has a point.  Russia is invading via Belorus so it is hard to argue that Belorus is "neutral". 

[Yoda]

https://twitter.com/alexeyguzey/status/1497774158578548738

"It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men and he did not like it much. He was glad he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies and threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not rather have stayed there in peace."

It's quotes like these where you can really see the affect WWI had on Tolkien and how it influenced his writing. It's not hard to imagine him having had this exact same thought on the battlefield as a young man.

[It’s so Joever]

Some latest updates:

I guess this once again undermindes Putin's appalling talkingpoint of a "corrupt Nazi regime" and hopefully raises awarness among the Russian people.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1497871771466412039


This would be huge, if true. Almost the US losses of years in Iraq.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1497874453178552325

Don’t buy the numbers until we get a source that doesn’t have an incentive to inflate things for morale.

[CumbrianLefty]

Zelensky indicates he is ready for talks but not in Belorus as that is not neutral.  It seems he is suggesting places like Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest, or Baku.  On this issue, he has a point.  Russia is invading via Belorus so it is hard to argue that Belorus is "neutral". 

On the topic of Belarus, it seems there have also been some protests there in the last day or two?

[Middle-aged Europe]

In an emergency session of the German Bundestag today it is expected that a joint resolution of SPD, CDU/CSU, Greens, and FDP will be passed calling for:

- Additional military support for Ukraine exceeding the support that had already been authorized yesterday.

- An increase in Germany's defense budget.

- Admittance of Ukrainian refugees in Germany.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-krieg-ampel-fraktionen-und-union-fordern-gemeinsam-mehr-unterstuetzung-a-ee925946-8be7-47b8-9309-07d88df8c3d8

Also, flight ban for Russian planes in German airspace takes effect 3 p.m. today:

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/luftraum-deutschland-russland-101.html


Developments would have seemed completely incredible mere four days ago. I guess that one SPD politician comparing current events to a European 9/11 the day before yesterday was entirely correct.

[jaichind]

I recommend New Delhi for Russia-Ukraine talks.  Modi has the only world leader that has spoken to both Putin and Zelensky after the conflict started and both seem to view Modi as someone they want on their side.  And so far India has been neutral in this conflict.

[Chips]

While I used to be able to sympathize with some of Putin's views on certain issues, now I just can't. Putin is 100% without a doubt a war criminal now and I do not sympathize with war criminals! I still don't support US troops in Ukraine and hope that both sides can find a solution rather quickly, which sadly looks pretty unlikely at this point.

Just thought I'd give my two cents.

 I am trying to restrain myself from hyperbole in asking this, but on what possible issues could one agree with Vladimir Putin on? Serious question.

Bringing stability to your country and raising it up from being an Oligarch dominated disaster zone like Russia in the 1990s or the United States.

Hit the nail on the head.

[ugabug]

Is it possible Putin has fallen into the same "yes man" trap many other strong men leaders have?  As in:
1.strongman wins control
b.strongman gets rid of all dissent
III.strongman is surrounded by people who tell him what he wants to hear
D.strongman believes them, steps into something bad that should have been obvious

I think it's that along with a good helping of the victory disease where after Putin has succeeded to many times in the past and being surrounded by yes men who tell him what he wants to hear he's begun to really believe he's a genius who's playing 4D chess.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_disease#:~:text=Victory%20disease%20occurs%20in%20military,leading%20his%20troops%20to%20disaster.

[President Johnson]

In an emergency session of the German Bundestag today, it is expected that a joint resolution of SPD, CDU/CSU, Greens, and FDP will be passed calling for:

- Additional military support for Ukraine exceeding the support that had already been authorized yesterday.

- An increase in Germany's defense budget.

- Admittance of Ukrainian refugees in Germany.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-krieg-ampel-fraktionen-und-union-fordern-gemeinsam-mehr-unterstuetzung-a-ee925946-8be7-47b8-9309-07d88df8c3d8

Also, flight ban for Russian planes in German airspace takes effect 3 p.m. today:

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/luftraum-deutschland-russland-101.html


Developmemts would have seemed completely incredible mere four days ago. I guess that one SPD politician comparing current events to a European 9/11 the day before yesterday was entirely correct.

Scholz just said Bundeswehr will receive an universal extra 100 billion Euros for a number of investments. Defense budget will be increased to reach the 2% of GDP in the coming years. I wonder whether the government will continue to insist on the debt brake after 2023, as initially proposed. Budget plannings were already tight before and cuts in green energy investments certainly won't happen as we need them not only to match climate goals, but also reduce dependency from Russian energy. Anyway, I can't say how glad I am we're in coalition with the FDP and not Die Linke.

Really great strategic move by Putin now that he has gotten NATO to pile up defense capabilities by massive amounts.

[Middle-aged Europe]

In an emergency session of the German Bundestag today, it is expected that a joint resolution of SPD, CDU/CSU, Greens, and FDP will be passed calling for:

- Additional military support for Ukraine exceeding the support that had already been authorized yesterday.

- An increase in Germany's defense budget.

- Admittance of Ukrainian refugees in Germany.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-krieg-ampel-fraktionen-und-union-fordern-gemeinsam-mehr-unterstuetzung-a-ee925946-8be7-47b8-9309-07d88df8c3d8

Also, flight ban for Russian planes in German airspace takes effect 3 p.m. today:

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/luftraum-deutschland-russland-101.html


Developmemts would have seemed completely incredible mere four days ago. I guess that one SPD politician comparing current events to a European 9/11 the day before yesterday was entirely correct.

Scholz just said Bundeswehr will receive an universal extra 100 billion Euros for a number of investments. Defense budget will be increased to reach the 2% of GDP in the coming years. I wonder whether the government will continue to insist on the debt brake after 2023, as initially proposed. Budget plannings were already tight before and cuts in green energy investments certainly won't happen as we need them not only to match climate goals, but also reduce dependency from Russian energy. Anyway, I can't say how glad I am we're in coalition with the FDP and not Die Linke.

Really great strategic move by Putin now that he has gotten NATO to pile up defense capabilities by massive amounts.

100 billion sounds pretty huge, considering that Germany's defense budget for 2021 was 47 billion.

I suppose the air force will now finally get the F/A-18E/F's and/or F-35's we have been debating about for years.

[GoTfan]

Still here, everyone. Disconnected for a short time to get my head right.

[certified hummus supporter 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

https://mobile.twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1497875259432783875

https://mobile.twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1497885721931268103

[BlueSwan]

Historic speech by Olaf Scholz. Germany completely changes its defense policy. It sounded like he would invest 100 billion EURO right here and now in military equipment and from now on spend at least 2% of GDP yearly on defense. This will furthermore have a ripple effect in that other NATO countries - like my own - have been hiding behind Germany in not spending the 2%. That will almost certainly change now.

This could actually be a real turning point. It could also signal a new world order where democratic Europe rises from the pathetic dependence on the United States.

[BlueSwan]

Really great strategic move by Putin now that he has gotten NATO to pile up defense capabilities by massive amounts.

Yup. Putin has lost his mind. This will be his death sentence.

[President Johnson]

Awesome quote by CDU and Opposition leader Friedrich Merz in his Bundestag speech: "This clean democrat* [Putin], that he actually never was, has now turned into, on display for the whole world, a war criminal..."

* He used the term lupenreiner Demokrat, a referring to what Gerhard Schröder once called Putin. There's no exact translation for lupenrein, it means something like very "pure" or "clean" (the exact translation would be "lens clean").

[Middle-aged Europe]

Really great strategic move by Putin now that he has gotten NATO to pile up defense capabilities by massive amounts.

Yup. Putin has lost his mind. This will be his death sentence.

Ironically, Vladimir Putin was far more effective in getting the defense budget to 2% than Donald Trump ever was.

[rc18]

This is rapidly turning into a geopolitical catastrophe for Russia, perhaps the worst in its history. And for what? Even if they bump off Zelenskyy now there's no way they'll keep their puppet in power.

Surely there must be some in the Kremlin getting twitchy fingers seeing Putin dismantling Russian power far more effectively than any opponent.

[jaichind]

After some internal pressure, mostly from within the LDP, Kishida has added Japan to the list of countries that is joining the SWIFT sanctions.

[Blair]

Historic speech by Olaf Scholz. Germany completely changes its defense policy. It sounded like he would invest 100 billion EURO right here and now in military equipment and from now on spend at least 2% of GDP yearly on defense. This will furthermore have a ripple effect in that other NATO countries - like my own - have been hiding behind Germany in not spending the 2%. That will almost certainly change now.

This could actually be a real turning point. It could also signal a new world order where democratic Europe rises from the pathetic depence on the United States.

It’s worth noting ofc that even at the height of the Cold War the land forces between each side were not hugely outmatched in quality- and that was with a much larger USSR and a number of Warsaw Pact states.

Putin cannot go toe to toe with a U.K. France and Germany at Cold War levels of spending- along with other countries like Poland.

[Middle-aged Europe]

This is rapidly turning into a geopolitical catastrophe for Russia, perhaps the worst in its history. And for what? Even if they bump off Zelenskyy now there's no way they'll keep their puppet in power.

Surely there must be some in the Kremlin getting twitchy fingers seeing Putin dismantling Russian power far more effectively than any opponent.

I have said it before: We need more Putin "Downfall" videos.