I think we might see some nato intervention if he busts out some truly banned weapons(chemical or dumb indiscriminate artillery) on civilian populations.
There's already videos of protesters in Moscow "unarresting" fellow protesters. That speaks to both the size of the crowd and the police's ambivalence about suppressing them. Putin's margin for error in terms of domestic support for this war is razor thin.
I don't know that they actually know. More and more reports of "I had no idea we were expected to shoot people" from those that are ending up in the Ukraine... the propaganda machine is in full swing. I would love to know what the average Russian knows of this right now. In other news, Russian shipping is starting to feel the heat... here's a bunker ship (refueller) telling a Russian ship asking for fuel to go fuck themselves. https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/t2s0lb/georgian_bulker_refused_to_give_fuel_to_a_russian/
*world motto bars in the US are taking Russian vodka off the shelves and avoiding vodka drinks in general. Anything remotely Russian is toxic
It seems that a ton of commercial enterprises are starting to say "fuck you Russia." Especially one of their biggest exports, porn. Onlyfans are blocking Russians from broadcasting, who are complaining that they cannot buy food or make rent now... PornHub has blocked Russia.
I just wanna point out that this post could’ve been written on day one of this board, and it would still make sense.
If he slinks back from Ukraine he'll take a big PR hit, and be greatly diminished, but ultimately survive. If he stays the course in Ukraine and the West's sanctions fuck Russia's economy he'll be deposed. If he keeps up this nuclear talk, he'll "commit" suicide.
There are people and business owners that were alive during the sucky USSR days. And there are young people and new business owners that have quite enjoyed NOT having to live and work under the old way. That will embolden people to want to prevent the suckitude.
Will it be ribbed for her pleasure? Has anyone here read World War III by General Sir John Hackett? A work of fiction, it came out in 1978 and describes a hypothetical war between NATO and Warsaw pact countries fought (almost entirely) with conventional warfare and weapons. I must have read that 3 or 4 times in the early 80s when I was obsessing over nuclear war and the Soviet Union. His descriptions of the state of the Soviet military is dead on with what’s being described and some of you have posted: poorly trained and equipped soldiers with old equipment that the Soviets struggle to keep maintained and running. Incredible how prescient it was.
EU is providing Ukraine with fighter jets. Reports vary from them being in the sky now, to later this evening.
I hope so! Ruble is already down about 30%, so they're certainly getting fucked. Might as well make it enjoyable.
Source: https://twitter.com/EUSec_Defence/status/1498020843334643715 I'm curious what kind of jets the EU has available that Ukrainian pilots are trained to operate. No chance they send F-35s, Eurofighters, or Rafales, and even older F-16s are unlikely to be immediately piloted by Ukrainians. Maybe Poland's Mig-29s?
Would be cool if they could get a few A10’s out there. There’s a 3 mile unguarded convoy just chilling full of supplies and weapons.
To answer my own question, apparently in addition to Poland, Bulgaria flies the MiG-29 and the Su-25, and Slovakia flies the MiG-29. Bulgaria is reportedly sending their best pilot: