Russia

[The Argonaut]

Hey Argo if you happen to see this, because we really don’t have a better thread for it, any concerns about traveling to Ireland any time soon might be more relevant to airspace restrictions. Like, would your flight need to travel through Russian controlled airspace? If so, careful, don’t get shot down.

I was planning to swim

[Anders]

Putin on the phone with western European leaders saying that his troops are not bombarding Ukrainian cities. He must believe his own iies.

[Anders]

I have an account on a Russian social media site, because it is a place where you can find old movies for streaming in English, movies I can’t find elsewhere. Checked some of the comments there on news about Ukraine. Debate seemed split, although a little careful from those negative to the government.

[Anders]

[simple schoolboy]

[spike]

Putin says sanctions introduced on Russia are equal to a "declaration of war"

[dimejinky99]

He faked an interview with a bunch of air stewardess’s?!

[Rob]

There is so much about all this that makes no sense, unless you consider Putin has either gone mad... or? There was talk at the beginning of this that he's in his own bubble and not listening to (or allowing) dissenting opinions from anyone, even within his circle. At this point though, does that really seem plausible? He's been in power 25 years, , he's seen a lot. He's either mentally ill, or actually does believe his mission is to restore Russia to Soviet era dominance, and is intent to try (which is also insane). Nothing in the news ever stresses me out. Trump was ridiculous, but even he & his presidency didn't stress me out. This shit is stressing me out, though.

[elliseamos]

Tl;Dr Rob is stressed out, team.

[McParadigm]

There is so much about all this that makes no sense, unless you consider Putin has either gone mad... or? There was talk at the beginning of this that he's in his own bubble and not listening to (or allowing) dissenting opinions from anyone, even within his circle. At this point though, does that really seem plausible? He's been in power 25 years, , he's seen a lot. He's either mentally ill, or actually does believe his mission is to restore Russia to Soviet era dominance, and is intent to try (which is also insane). Nothing in the news ever stresses me out. Trump was ridiculous, but even he & his presidency didn't stress me out. This shit is stressing me out, though.

The simple truth is that Putin sees NATO as an existential threat to his country because his worldview was forged in a different world.

Beyond that, though, Russia entered 2022 in a position of weakness, with no clear offramp from decline. It has not in recent decades cultivated the industry or professional class necessary to recover from the economic hit it will take in a post-oil dependent world. It relies on projections of strength to cover for internal rot. And now Putin sees Ukraine as an effective target to assert Russian regional dominance. He also probably hoped that a quick or vicious victory would lend Russia a perception of power beyond its actual abilities…a reputation of might that it could lean on in the coming decade.

His nation’s economy depends on a resource that everyone wants to move away from. Its military might is evidentially deteriorated…relying on conscripts and unable to keep pace with the full scope of technological change…and its nuclear arsenal is aging and ill-maintained.

Perhaps worst of all, he’s been humiliated at the spy game…western governments documented his false justification plans as quickly as they were drawn up, and seemed to feed his troop movements to Ukraine in real time. If Putin‘s Russia has lost its famed reputation for being head and shoulders above everyone else in the spy game, what does it have? Every day, it becomes a smaller player on the world stage.

He has a Cold War mindset, a totalitarian’s ego, and the KGB man’s sinister chill. He naïvely thought that Trump would pull us out of NATO, and is now more or less out of time to swing his dick on the world stage. Worse, his Cold Wartime approach to the problem…aggressively smashing a weaker neighbor…has now backfired. Even if/when Ukraine falls, he has managed to destroy Russia’s military significance and its economy in one swoop. He has one card left to play, so he is running around the room and threatening to play it at the top of his lungs.

[simple schoolboy]

Visa and Mastercard shutting down operations in Russia seems unecessarily cruel and self defeating. If you're in a developing country, wouldn't you be looking for an Indian or Chinese payment processor right about now?

This makes it clear to the average Russian that its also about them, despite being near powerless to affect change.

[Rob]

There is so much about all this that makes no sense, unless you consider Putin has either gone mad... or? There was talk at the beginning of this that he's in his own bubble and not listening to (or allowing) dissenting opinions from anyone, even within his circle. At this point though, does that really seem plausible? He's been in power 25 years, , he's seen a lot. He's either mentally ill, or actually does believe his mission is to restore Russia to Soviet era dominance, and is intent to try (which is also insane). Nothing in the news ever stresses me out. Trump was ridiculous, but even he & his presidency didn't stress me out. This shit is stressing me out, though.

The simple truth is that Putin sees NATO as an existential threat to his country because his worldview was forged in a different world.

Beyond that, though, Russia entered 2022 in a position of weakness, with no clear offramp from decline. It has not in recent decades cultivated the industry or professional class necessary to recover from the economic hit it will take in a post-oil dependent world. It relies on projections of strength to cover for internal rot. And now Putin sees Ukraine as an effective target to assert Russian regional dominance. He also probably hoped that a quick or vicious victory would lend Russia a perception of power beyond its actual abilities…a reputation of might that it could lean on in the coming decade.

His nation’s economy depends on a resource that everyone wants to move away from. Its military might is evidentially deteriorated…relying on conscripts and unable to keep pace with the full scope of technological change…and its nuclear arsenal is aging and ill-maintained.

Perhaps worst of all, he’s been humiliated at the spy game…western governments documented his false justification plans as quickly as they were drawn up, and seemed to feed his troop movements to Ukraine in real time. If Putin‘s Russia has lost its famed reputation for being head and shoulders above everyone else in the spy game, what does it have? Every day, it becomes a smaller player on the world stage.

He has a Cold War mindset, a totalitarian’s ego, and the KGB man’s sinister chill. He naïvely thought that Trump would pull us out of NATO, and is now more or less out of time to swing his dick on the world stage. Worse, his Cold Wartime approach to the problem…aggressively smashing a weaker neighbor…has now backfired. Even if/when Ukraine falls, he has managed to destroy Russia’s military significance and its economy in one swoop. He has one card left to play, so he is running around the room and threatening to play it at the top of his lungs.

Agreed, this is my thinking but I couldn't quite put it into words like this. Part of me thinks of him like like an animal backed into a corner, ready for his (potentially) last stand. And it's not going well. Desperation is a hell of a drug, especially combined with pride, which makes this scary.

[simple schoolboy]

There is so much about all this that makes no sense, unless you consider Putin has either gone mad... or? There was talk at the beginning of this that he's in his own bubble and not listening to (or allowing) dissenting opinions from anyone, even within his circle. At this point though, does that really seem plausible? He's been in power 25 years, , he's seen a lot. He's either mentally ill, or actually does believe his mission is to restore Russia to Soviet era dominance, and is intent to try (which is also insane). Nothing in the news ever stresses me out. Trump was ridiculous, but even he & his presidency didn't stress me out. This shit is stressing me out, though.

The simple truth is that Putin sees NATO as an existential threat to his country because his worldview was forged in a different world.

Beyond that, though, Russia entered 2022 in a position of weakness, with no clear offramp from decline. It has not in recent decades cultivated the industry or professional class necessary to recover from the economic hit it will take in a post-oil dependent world. It relies on projections of strength to cover for internal rot. And now Putin sees Ukraine as an effective target to assert Russian regional dominance. He also probably hoped that a quick or vicious victory would lend Russia a perception of power beyond its actual abilities…a reputation of might that it could lean on in the coming decade.

His nation’s economy depends on a resource that everyone wants to move away from. Its military might is evidentially deteriorated…relying on conscripts and unable to keep pace with the full scope of technological change…and its nuclear arsenal is aging and ill-maintained.

Perhaps worst of all, he’s been humiliated at the spy game…western governments documented his false justification plans as quickly as they were drawn up, and seemed to feed his troop movements to Ukraine in real time. If Putin‘s Russia has lost its famed reputation for being head and shoulders above everyone else in the spy game, what does it have? Every day, it becomes a smaller player on the world stage.

He has a Cold War mindset, a totalitarian’s ego, and the KGB man’s sinister chill. He naïvely thought that Trump would pull us out of NATO, and is now more or less out of time to swing his dick on the world stage. Worse, his Cold Wartime approach to the problem…aggressively smashing a weaker neighbor…has now backfired. Even if/when Ukraine falls, he has managed to destroy Russia’s military significance and its economy in one swoop. He has one card left to play, so he is running around the room and threatening to play it at the top of his lungs.

[blueviper]

He faked an interview with a bunch of air stewardess’s?!

I thought he wasn’t sitting near people because of his fear of Covid.

[LetMeSleep]

He faked an interview with a bunch of air stewardess’s?!

I thought he wasn’t sitting near people because of his fear of Covid Novichok.

[dimejinky99]

He’s not there they greenscreened him in.
Now they’re saying it’s twitter video compression.


Meanwhile. Very stable genius

[elliseamos]

If Putin believes/says that US/EU sanctions are a declaration of war, why do we need clarity on what a no fly zone means? Aren't we already at war, Putin?

Trump's right, though. But not Chinese flags. Kazakhstan needs to get their revenge.

[elliseamos]

[dimejinky99]

Ukraine provides Europe and the world with a lot of its wheat. This is going to create huge problems quite soon internationally.

[elliseamos]

Time to get more chickens?

From Feb. 18th.