War in Ukraine — Megathread

What Putin needs:

Pale Rider (1985) - Ending Scene

 

No, he needs Shane to tell him he's a low down Russian liar and then be shot.

 

Belarus Putin’s mission to Minsk raises fears he will drag country into Ukraine war

 

Raises whose fears? Only Zelensky's lol. He is shitting his pants right now.

 

My personal opinion - not likely to be popular - is that Zelensky is just a puppet who is profiteering and getting personal gain out of the war... of course, I want to think he did not want this war... but things happened like this and he is staying there only for personal gain, while the Ukrainian population suffers and people die.

His dream of getting into NATO or the EU will never happen. We do not need more hungry mouths to feed. In Spain, for instance, we have more than enough with the Moroccan invasion sponsored by our own government!

EU politicians are a bunch of corrupt idiots. The EU Vice President is already in jail and I hope she stays there for the rest of her life, after accepting bribes from Qatar, and storing the money in an apartment most likely provided to her for free, and paid by European taxpayers... what a shame!

 

Well it's hard to say what's what and who's who right now. Time will tell if Zelensky gets killed/somehow wins, then he was a patriot, if he hi-tails it in the last moment, then he was a traitor.

On the other hand, when the US is involved, there is always a puppet, so I'm leaning towards agreeing with you.

The way he came to power is really mind boggling - a comedian/comic movie actor with his own movie production company, suddenly makes a TV series about a school teacher who becomes a President by set up, then soon after actually becomes a real President? Smells like social conditioning to me. Also the fact that he is part of WEF doesn't help...

 

Of all days to write out these hot takes, you both decide to pick today. Lmao.

President Zelensky makes surprise visit to...

When’s the last time we ever saw a leader go anywhere near the frontlines? Bakhmut has to be one of the most dangerous places on the planet, but Zelensky has no problems casually going there and risking his life. Meanwhile Putin is hiding far away from the battle and from his own populace.

Man has balls of solid brass, they can hear them clanging all the way in Moscow. Hell, now I know why my tinnitus has been spiking lately.

 

Rumor has it Putin is in the Special Military Operation zone.

In other news, Zelensky has left Bakhmut and is on his way to meet his puppetmaster Joe Biden.

 

Huh, that’s odd. Everyone’s been telling me Joe Biden is senile and has had dementia ever since he took office. But now he has the mental capacity to be a puppet master. How peculiar...

I find it amusing how people keep forgetting who initiated this conflict to begin with. Ukraine has the support of so many countries that’s not named, USA. ‘BUT AMERICA’ is not a good excuse this time around.

Anyways, considering we're giving a lot of assistance (#1) that's helping his country survive, it makes perfect sense why he’s visiting. He’s grateful. He will be addressing Congress and gifting them the Ukrainian flag that was signed by those Bakhmut soldiers. It’s honestly a brilliant move. A huge morale boost for those Ukrainian warriors fighting in the frontlines. It also makes those congressional leaders who don't want to assist Ukraine (looking at you Kevin McCarthy) look like straight up fools.

Welcome to America, Zelenskyy.

I know there are many people here who cannot stand the American war machine (for many good reasons), but I don’t think Ukraine would be standing so strongly without US involvement at this point in time. And I'm not even talking about munitions or equipment, but our intelligence and optical reconnaissance satellites programs is lightyears ahead of anybody else. It has been invaluable for Ukraine.

I think if we look at Zelenskyy’s actions so far in the war, he's done a solid job in leading his country and garnering up international support. I know a lot of people like to criticize him for pushing propaganda and constantly requesting support from NATO, etc, but that's exactly what he should be doing to support his country and defend against Russian aggression. Calling him a puppet makes no sense. He and his country are literally fighting for their survival and their right to exist as an sovereign nation.

Zelenskyy’s address to US Congress today will be one for the history books.

 

Putin is a fucking piece of filth who should have been killed long ago.

 

There was a comprehensive report in the NYT recently on all facets of the war in Ukraine.

The below (indented) excerpt is a very revealing excerpt from the above linked NYT article. It clearly shows how the U.S. is intimidated by the prospect of Ukraine (overly) succeeding in Ukraine, and moving beyond the current stalemate.

It's like the U.S. is asking Ukraine to fight Russia with one hand behind its back. Why? And why not give Ukraine thousands of inexpensive drones similar to the Iranian drones Russia is using to take out Ukraine's infrastructure? Think taking out large swaths of Russia's infrastructure might make Putin pause about continuing his ongoing war?

"American officials realized early on that they had vastly overestimated Russia’s military. The morale of rank-and-file soldiers was so low, the Americans said, that Russia began moving its generals to the front lines to shore it up.

But the generals made a deadly mistake: They positioned themselves near antennas and communications arrays, making them easy to find, the Americans said.

Ukraine started killing Russian generals, yet the risky Russian visits to the front lines continued. Finally, in late April, the Russian chief of the general staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, made secret plans to go himself.

American officials said they found out, but kept the information from the Ukrainians, worried they would strike. Killing General Gerasimov could sharply escalate the conflict, officials said, and while the Americans were committed to helping Ukraine, they didn’t want to set off a war between the United States and Russia.

The Ukrainians learned of the general’s plans anyway, putting the Americans in a bind. After checking with the White House, senior American officials asked the Ukrainians to call off the attack.

“We told them not to do it,” a senior American official said. “We were like, ‘Hey, that’s too much.’”

The message arrived too late. Ukrainian military officials told the Americans that they had already launched their attack on the general's position.

Dozens of Russians were killed in the strike, officials said. General Gerasimov wasn’t one of them.

Russian military leaders scaled back their visits to the front after that..."
​

 

Historic speech from Zelenskyy today in his address to US Congress. The references to the Battle of the Bulge at Christmas, the Iranian drones, and including references to the revolutionary war were all genius. Smart of him to appeal to America's historical love of victory. Ukraine's diplomacy has been rock solid for the most part. A few missteps, but pretty damn good.

Flag was also sent. Kudos.

I have to agree too. And I loved what Zelenskyy had to say about financial assistance in his speech today.

WATCH: American aid to Ukraine 'is not...

Enough said.

 

From an European point of view, I would like that, for once, EU politicians cared about the EU and not anything else.

I think China and India are taking the right stance. Europeans do not have to bear the cost of this war, as it has nothing to do with us. It is a conflict outside the borders of the European Union.

Germany and EU politicians are putting the economy at risk and there's now people who are freezing in their homes because they cannot pay for gas or electricity.

In the meantime she was getting money from Qatar... how nice huh? That's what EU politicians do: steal from the citizens.

 

Pavel Antov, sausage tycoon, dies after falling from Indian Hotel window - after another of his party died of a stroke on the same trip.

Indian police do not suspect foul play. No suspicious circumstances.

 

Falling out of a hotel window is classic KGB playbook, so are helicopters crashing, and dying while on vacation...

 

The United States has given Ukraine over 22 billion dollars in aid since January 2021. How much more does Zelenskyy expect us to provide, before we can't even afford to keep our own country afloat? This is going to go on forever, Russia has China on its side. The sanctions are not working. Ukraine is not going to win, they have to come to some kind of agreement with Putin.

 

In order for Ukraine to come to an agreement with Russia, Zelensky will need to be replaced because he will never give up Ukrainian territory because as soon as he does, the people of Ukraine will oust him. Too many people and soldiers have given their lives to defend Ukraine, so just saying ok Russia, take what you took, just stop shelling us? I think not. Both sides have lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Putin also can't just say aww, the hell with it, and walk back to Russia for the same reason. It's called a point of no return.

 

Unlikely to happen. Russia has caused billions of dollars worth of damage and they will want to keep some captured territory. The west is in it for the long haul. It may only be resolved when Putin dies. I think maybe the west can afford, say $50BN a year, to keep Ukraine going. It is relatively small money compared with the overall spend on the military.

 

I am wondering why there is such scepticism in the USA when it comes to supporting Ukraine. I think there was no such scepticism during the Afghanistan & Iraq war and now we have a war in Europe. And they only need military aid and money. No US trooper will risk his life there.

 

Because Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal, a big industrial military complex, and a population of 140 million. History also shows that any country that attacked Russia (Hitler, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, etc) was ultimately defeated.

Putin can destroy your house in about 30 minutes with the push of a button.

The Taliban were no threat to anybody, just a bunch of wild animals.

Did you forget the Cuban Missile Crisis?

 

Russia, allied with China, is far more powerful than the Taliban or the Iraqi army.

We cannot afford to sponsor this unwinnable war in Ukraine which will cost millions of lives, and trillions of dollars.

 

Hi @xyz -- The primary reason I've been able to discern is because of Russia's wide-ranging propaganda machine(s) targeting MAGA Republicans, mostly on social media. They're really not very smart, and (probably) don't realize how they're being manipulated. However, they may know, and don't care, because it suits their narrative in some manner. It all strikes me as a freakin' freak show!

 

I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve seen yet another Russian businessmen/oligarch die in strange circumstances since this war began. They’re dropping like flies.

This kind of cooperation we’re seeing between Ukraine and US is honestly a great use of our massive military. If these weapons of war are going to be created and all this money be spent, then I'm glad it's helping a country defend itself and win against a large and aggressive invader. Way better than our misadventures of the past.

Also not sure why you think this is a unwinnable war. Have you been following the war? Hardly anything has gone right for Russia and whatever successes they’ve had won’t be sustainable in the long run. Ukraine and US will continue to engage until either Russia pulls out completely or Russian state collapses in on itself. Both lead to Putin’s end. That is the endgame with this war. Nothing else, certainly not negotiations with Putin. The only person desperate for a deal is Putin himself because he’s being bled out dry. That’s why he’s the only one that actually wants or needs a deal.

I roll my eyes anytime someone says “helping Ukraine is a waste of tax dollars and we should help Americans instead”. These are the same people that are also against student loan relief. Their hypocrisy is astonishing.

 

Forcing people who did not go to college, or struggled to pay the cost of it themselves, to pay for others' college loans, is totally wrong and I hope it never happens. It was just another undoable promise that Biden used, to gain support.

 

The worst thing that Biden did, was promising to end the COVID-19 crisis, and having over 600,000 more deaths from it, during his first 18 months in office. For that alone, he should have been impeached. If Donald Trump had embezzled 900 billion dollars from the U.S. Treasury, it would not have been even close to as bad as Biden's campaign promise to end COVID-19 deaths.

 

I agree the Democrats are not very smart. Just look at Biden and all the debacles since he took over. MAGA has nothing to do with it.

 

I am not so sure if you can say that Russia allied with China. China probably does not want to break all economic ties with the west. I think a few billions each year for a few years is possible. By the way this gives probably a good boost to the US defense industry and Europe is now buying expensive LNG gas from USA instead of the cheap Russian one.

 

Lockheed Martin is doing really well.

When one wants a child to change a certain behaviour one can say "every time you do - whatever - a kitten dies"...

...and with investors in the weapon industry it goes like "every time there's war, the American cat of money gets fatter."



Did you say Lockheed Martin??? No NASDAQ? Haha.

 

As we used to say, "War is good business - invest your son". In this case, our sons are not yet "invested", others' are.

The War Industry will profit, at the expense of the American taxpayers, and the dead soldiers and civilians killed in Ukraine.

 

Bottom line - Ukraine is bleeding out soldiers daily by the hundreds. These kinds of unprecedented losses are not sustainable in the long run.

At this rate, Ukrainian army will be washed out of manpower, no matter how much money or weapons the west is sending - weapons are useless if no one to wield them. USA made it clear, it won't send troops to Ukraine and neither will EU.

There are also rumors that Poland is preparing to annex western Ukraine in May 2023 by force whether Ukraine likes it or not.

As much as I would love to see Russia defeated, I just don't see it happening. USA is only keeping Ukraine alive on life support - "For as long as Ukraine is there" -Joe Biden to Zelensky.

Think about what these words imply.

Ukraine is going the way of the Dodo. It's only a matter of time and USA is just prolonging the killing with its half measures.