We’re now in Day 2 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. President Biden spoke publicly yesterday afternoon, and other world leaders are also trying to communicate with their people about what is happening and what will happen going forward. The G7 leaders and NATO leaders are basically dealing with this on their own, regardless of whatever the UN Security Council plans to eventually do (issue a lukewarm statement, probably). European nations are already preparing for an influx of Ukrainian refugees. EU nations are debating sanctions and, reportedly, Russian oligarchs have lost billions (on paper) in the past 24 hours. Here’s President Biden’s speech yesterday:
People shrug off the efficacy of sanctions against Russia, but the Obama administration’s sanctions against Russia did very real damage. The Obama sanctions were a big part of why Putin did so much to get Donald Trump elected too, and one of the first things Trump did was remove those Obama-era sanctions (quid pro quo). So, I actually believe that sanctions are a big part of what’s next. Apparently, President Biden has also been presented with plans for large-scale cyberattacks on Russia. Yes, let’s do that too! Anonymous was already carrying out some cyberattacks in Russia yesterday – they took down RT (the Russian propaganda site/media) for hours and they were hacking into various Russian government sites too.
What’s interesting is the sight of so many Russians protesting the invasion, even knowing that they’ll be arrested and their families could be targeted for retaliation. There were large-scale protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg yesterday, and Russians at home and abroad are speaking out against Vladimir Putin. It’s remarkable.
Pushkin Square, maybe less than 1000 meters from Red Square and the Kremlin, is the cite of a significant protest. These people know the risks of challenging the regime. They’re on the street in-spite of major personal costs. pic.twitter.com/bYEfbO91xG
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) February 24, 2022
Look at the size of anti-war protestors in St Petersburg, Russia. Wow pic.twitter.com/dHg9Uwt9RQ
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 24, 2022
Solidarity.
Buildings around the world are lit up with the colours of the Ukrainian flag to show solidarity following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels
The Colisseum in Rome
Flinders Street Station in Melbourne
Foreign Affairs Ministry in Skopje pic.twitter.com/41PPFQhBf0— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 25, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- KYIV, UKRAINE – FEBRUARY 25, 2022 – The Motherland Monument is pictured at dawn on the second day of the Russian invasion, Kyiv, capital of Ukraine.,Image: 664856360, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Evgen Kotenko / UkrInform / Avalon
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- Washington, D.C. – United States President Joe Biden provides an update to the American people following the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.. Pictured: Joe Biden BACKGRID USA 24 FEBRUARY 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Putin thought the Ukrainians would hail the Russian soldiers on Day 1, he didn’t anticipate how much resistance he would face. Seeing all the people protesting in Russia was a bit of a balm for the soul yesterday. I’m watching in horror and also just so underwhelmed by the international response – we are just sitting by and letting Putin invade another country, it’s hard to accept…
I agree. It’s hard to watch. It feels like sanctions will do damage in the long run but what about the short run? What’s the point of damaging Russia when Ukraine is annexed?
If the oligarchs are hit financially hard enough and fast enough, it could get Russia out of Ukraine faster than involving other countries in a war with a nuclear power. Big if, but the suspension of the oil pipeline and freezing of funds is a really good start.
@ NCWoman, I think that Germany taking the action of the pipeline was brilliant!! It will certainly place an enormous amount of damage, so far. I agree that with the immediate loss of fortunes from Putin’s dictatorship will play a role in reversing Putin as well! Putin needs his buddies to support him and to help him continue to commit his continuing human rights violations.
@OrginalLala, I agree with all you said. I could not stad to watch and hear the violence. Soul crushing is exactly right. And Putin underestimated the resistance Ukraine would put up. My heart goes out to the people suffering and so do my prayers.
I heard Putin gets ruffled if his people protest what he does, and many did. Not sure if that is true but I am glad to hear there are protesters there.
Putin didn’t underestimate anything. This is truly his “moment” where he can say he was a strong President who finally rectified the “mistake” post-WW2 and bring Russia back to its former “glory.” But what’s so disgusting is that these aggressive leaders always think a show of force is what is necessary. Ukraine, Georgia, etc. are truly not that different from Russia, so if he really wanted to bring them into the Russian fold, he could have built up his own country on something other than corruption, then tried to federate former Soviet blocs. But being Russian (as opposed to being European or “Western”) is so unattractive that they don’t want it. And Putin will have to accept at some point that this is where he has gone wrong and why he won’t go down in history as he wishes.
I can’t believe the Ukranians have to go through this. It’s 2022, and we’re still starting wars, displacing people, destroying lives…and we’re all asking, “For what?”
People keep commenting as if the only thing the US is doing is sanctions. The United States has sent weapons to Ukraine. They sent at least 2 shipments in January alone.
Exactly. And the US is deploying troops to all NATO countries surrounding Ukraine — Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I strongly recommend donating to the Red Cross to help support Ukrainians in their time of need. The world is coming together to beat this bastard.
Crimea …
It would also be great to keep this sprit and apply financial sanctions against Saudi Arabia, who’s commiting war crimes in Yemen for years now or even Israel, who is displacing and attacking Palestinians in the same expansionism Russia is guilty of. Oh, wait, they are an USA ally, so never mind.
The US finances and starts so many wars and generate so much suffering in foreign countries.. they might speak pretty words but I want to see if they will actually do anything to help Ukraine…
Honestly the world would be so much better off without the evil superpowers like Russia, the US and China…
I’m with you both on this. Complete double standards. In 2022 Israel are sill getting away with running an apartheid system and committing crimes against Palestinians and yet the west support them. It’s sickening. Yet Israel are far from knocking the US off it’s spot as the most powerful country. Russia on the other hand?
I don’t think Putin is going to hold back. I suspect he has more up his sleeve than we are aware of. I hope I’m wrong but I think it’s going to be carnage if the US gets involved beyond sanctions and I suspect they know that, so it will come down to deciding what they’re afraid of most. Losing the top spot or potential devastation.
You would seriously lump the US in with China and Russia. That shows a lot of ignorance.
@Sal You might not like it because you feel that they’re very different entities but the reality is that in terms of influence and power, they are all in the top spots and have a great influence on the way the rest of the world operates.
In terms of military power, the current ranking is 1. USA, 2. Russia and 3.China, although I’d wonder whether Russia could have more hidden capabilities than we know about.
GDP ranking is 1. USA, 2. China and 3, Russia
Russia and China have been gaining on the US for years and if the history books are anything to go by, it’s only a matter of time before the balance shifts. It’s a frightening concept for us in the western world.
Yeah, right, as if. If these “great” countries would have intended to take some real measures they would have done it by now, instead they are still debating the sanctions… Some of them are actually opposing blocking Russia from the SWIFT payment system, which was something that really would have made an impact.
I’m from Romania, we have received 10.000 Ukrainian refugees just yesterday, we’ll probably get thousands more in the next days and most of us are wondering if we won’t be just like them in a couple of months.
Because only someone truly naïve could think that Putin will stop with Ukraine, after the response this invasion got from the world leaders.
I’m on the east coast of the US. I feel for Ukraine. That being said, Putin made it clear that if we go too far with sanctions that he will send nukes our way via submarine off of the US east coast. If we were to attack the sub before it fired on us than we will have declared war. So, the US is in a tough spot. Putin is completely unhinged and desperate for an excuse to use nuclear weapons.
Right now, we are preparing all of the NATO countries nearest Russia with weapons, supplies and ground troops. We know he won’t stop. Stopping him in Ukraine just isn’t an option right now.
Ok, so you aren’t doing much now because he threatened nuclear war. What makes you think he won’t make the same threat when he invades the next country? Will stopping him be an option then? Or are we just going to bow down to absolutely anything he wants because we might start WW3 otherwise? What’s to say he won’t want to annex Poland, then Germany, the Czech republic and so on until all of Europe is part of Russia?
And that bit about you (I assume you mean the US) preparing the NATO countries nearest Russia…I am in one of those countries. Let me tell you from someone with feet on the ground that those preparations are severely lacking.
Exactly @Lorelei! Everyone is talking the talk, but no one is walking the walk. Sanctions don’t scare him, it’s a small price to pay in exchange for power show-off.
I feel like everyone is just watching from afar and hoping he will stop at Ukraine. Like, no one wants to provoke him openly, so he doesn’t attack them too, and this would then escalate to a WW3.
I’m in Moldova, and also, very afraid that next week we’ll be the ones refugeeing in another country. If the dude decides to bring back the USSR – we’re next on his hit list.
I hope that doesn’t happen to you, your family and loved ones. Unfortunately, this is Putin’s greatest wish, to restore the Soviet Union. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.
I’m so sorry Kronster, I imagine it’s 100x scarier for you in Moldova than it is for us. At least we have a tiny hope that being a part of NATO will somewhat protect us, although to be honest I’m not very confident.
I feel the same way, am terrified and not believing this will stop soon. I never thought that we’ll have to see another war. I have started preparations for being able to flee if necessary, it’s helping me cope. I have a toddler and am heartbroken that this is the world he will grow up in. Prayers for Ukraine and its people
Yeah I don’t think Putin cares about financial sanctions at this point. I feel so bad for those Ukrainians, they promise to help them (NATO) and now they are leaving them to fight all by themselves. Such a coward !
Genuine question, how and when did NATO promise to help them? My understanding (which admittedly is limited here) is that Ukraine is not a member of NATO.
@have you seen the news those past weeks ? They clearly said that they were going to help them if Russia invaded them.
Ukraine is a NAtO member.
Actually, the problem partially started with NATO: NATO wanted Ukraine and Ukraine wanted in to get a reassurence concerning proximity and militarization of Russia; Putin was strongly against it and it was known that Russia sees Ukraine’s NATO membership as a kind of a provocation/endangerment.
NATO just lost all credibility with invasion of Ukraine. The main point of NATO is that it’s members have an allied forced in the case of attack-Russia attacked, but NATO is not doing anything.
There is a new world order coming, no matter what comes out of this war-because this proved NATO doesn’t protect from the real danger at all.
Ukraine is not a nato member, If it was this would have triggered world war 3, which I imagine is why Putin has gone in before they get membership. Urgh can’t someone just assassinate Putin.
Ukraine applied to be a member in 2008, but in 2010 their president shelved the plan, preferring to be non-aligned. He fled Ukraine in 2014. The interim government had no plans to join. Currently, they are not in NATO but were taking steps necessary to the process. I lifted most of that from Wikipedia, so it may not be completely accurate, but that goes for with what my understanding of the situation was.
@lionfire, Ukraine is not a NATO member. They are a part of a program that can lead to the possibility of becoming a member, but they are not. So this is why NATO isn’t doing more, because they really are under no obligation to do so.
It’s disappointing that other countries are not doing more, but aside from the US, I don’t believe any country in the immediate vicinity has the military power to go up against Russia (and perhaps an allied China).
Financial sanctions may help, but I would not be surprised if Putin and his oligarchs did not already consider the effects of sanctions before and made appropriate plans.
@lionfire
Ukraine is NOT a NATO Member. Russia wont attack a NATO country. Putin is not stupid.
Angel you’re utterly incorrect. Biden and the NATO secretary general have made it clear repeatedly that NATO will not send troops in Ukraine. Ukraine is not a member state. Please people, inform yourselves better.
Ukraine is not an official member of NATO. They are an aspiring member still, but NATO has provided weapons and training to Ukraine. The issue is that Russia, while a tiny economy, is a nuclear power with outsized global influence thanks in part to (1) its oil, which is where a lot of Europe’s oil comes from, and (2) the Chinese gov’t, which uses them as a counterbalancing no-democracy pawn to further their own goals.
The US also provided Ukraine intel on the imminent Russian invasion—at least a year in advance–and the President of Ukraine did not take the info as seriously as they would have hoped. Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the intelligence committee, just commented on this Thursday.
@ncwoman agree that Ukraine is not a NATO member but not sure where you get your data on Russia being a tiny economy it’s one of the top 15 for GDP in the world!
Also it’s not just oil exports, russia is a very significant natural gas supplier to heat Western Europe through the Yamal Europe pipeline. One trunk of this actually goes through ukraine and another through poland. The Russians started shutting off gas supplies in January I heard so they have been posturing on this already. Luckily gas storage in Poland is at a very high level so they can pump from those stored supplies to meet demand.
It goes without saying but oil is much easier to get from elsewhere as it can be shipped on a tanker, however gas being fungible is mostly still shipped via pipeline or requires infrastructure and long term supply contracts for LNG so you are more beholden to the country of origin.
NOO – Russia is considered a small economy when calculations are done per capita. Italy has a bigger economy per capita than Russia. But Putin is possibly the richest man in the world….
Ordinary Russians would be much more comfortable if they didn’t have their resources siphoned off by Putin and his friends. This is true in any country, but Russia is especially vulnerable.
Sanctions have a serious effect on Putin and his rich friends because it hits them especially in the wallet. If this weren’t true, Putin would not have been so anxious to get them removed earlier.
He held adopted children essentially hostage to get their adoptive US parents to pressure our government to remove the sanctions.
Putin even interfered with our elections and provided funds through third parties to help elect his puppet to the US Presidency in 2016, and Trump immediately started to move toward doing just what Putin wanted: remove the sanctions. It was just harder to do than Trump thought, because Congress moved preternaturally fast in a bipartisan effort to block him on that point very early in his term.
Putin is obsessed with controlling Ukraine, and Trump’s only interest in the 2016 Republican platform was softening the plank on military assistance to Ukraine. Later Trump delayed for months on releasing allocated aid to Ukraine (already dealing with Russian incursions) which the House of Representatives had already approved.
The choice of Trump was not out of the blue or accidental. Russians had been encouraging him to run for years. Long-term thinking by ex-KGB Putin.
So Putin will say he doesn’t worry about sanctions, but his actions before say otherwise. It is not just because of the fragility of the Russian economy for regular citizens. He does not have unwavering support for this invasion of Ukraine in high places, and his rich friends are not going to stand by and see their own assets and freedom of movement jeopardized by Putin’s Folly.
My heart is breaking for Ukraine and what they are going through. From the beginning it was a lose-lose situation for them.
With that said, I personally believe this line of thinking (NATO get involved! USA Where are you? etc) is a super scary slope. The last thing the world needs is for NATO to actually get involved – any provocation of any NATO member is going to elicit a response from the United States. This is what Putin wants but nobody in the rest of the world does. This would be the beginning of WWIII. This is pitting two Nuclear super powers against each other and nobody, NOBODY will win from this.
Are the sanctions working? Short term absolutely not: Long term absolutely. Somebody also already commented in here that the sanctions from the Obama era absolutely weakened Russia. Do I think the United States has a shit history with foreign policy? Absolutely, theres no argument here. But what we see right now is history writing the playbook on modern nuclear warfare. Pray that none are ever launched in our lifetime.
I agree that anyone else challenging Putin militarily is exactly what he wants and would be playing into his hands. As it is, he’s still somewhat limited. If anyone declares actual war against him, I think he’ll ironically be much more justified to his followers and his people in threatening nuclear war and pushing further.
@ C
100% Agree. I understand that emotions are running high – completely righteously so. This is Putins war, nothing that was ever provoked by Ukraine aside from simply existing outside the Russian fold.
The sanctions are the best step and bargaining chip the western nations can hold. You know its bad when Switzerland makes a stand as well. As it stands, I see at the moment four possible outcomes from Russias invasion:
1) They forcefully annex Ukraine back into Russia against their will and stop there.
2) Russia tries to play nice and ‘split’ Ukraine into east and west – see WWII Berlin.
3) Provoked by the sanctions and loss of access to the world economy, Russia launches assults into NATO countries, beginning WWIII.
4) Russian billionaires ‘remove’ Putin from power in order to have their money returned and come to some sort of negotiations.
Yes, you have to play the long-game with Putin. Sanctions are meant to de-escalate the invasion and hopefully cripple Russia, because violence begets violence and Putin is an unstable war mongerer with no real care for casualties. Biden also knows that announcing aggression/war is not a smart move–matching Putin’s political subterfuge (who claims Russia is not a dictatorship), Biden will launch covert air strikes and operations without announcing them as such. And for folks calling for war—I am not sure you understand the ramifications of a world war in terms of casualties and nuclear war. Not to mention biological war-fare possibilities. You think COVID is bad? Watch and see what a dictator can do.
@ HelloDolly!
I would like to also add onto your point regarding ramifications of a world war in hopes of somebody scrolling by and reading this with their ‘calling for war’ mentality.
The only two nuclear bombs dropped in a war was in Hiroshima & Nagasaki – creating a death count of between 129,000 and 226,000 people, many of them civilians.
A brief search and quoting wikipedia here (exact numbers probably vary somewhat), the three biggest nuclear weapons holders are:
1) Russia with 1,456 active nuclear weapons
2) United States with 1,357 active nuclear weapons
3) UK with 120 active nuclear weapons.
There is an estimation of over 13,000 warheads, however many of them having already been deactivated.
Assuming these numbers are correct, that makes a total of 2,933 active nuclear weapons. If two bombs can kill already 226,000 (lets take the high number here), a arsenal of this size has the capacity to kill over 300 MILLION PEOPLE.
Please please reconsider your stance if going to war is truly something you wish for.
Many great points, TSY.
The United States has sent weapons to Ukraine to help them fight. NATO countries ARE helping, just in a less provocative manner, because Europe is facing a madman with nuclear weapons.
China is watching closely because if Putin gets away with it then China (the stronger nation) can seriously consider invading Taiwan. And Putin won’t stop at Ukraine.
All autocrats and ‘strong men’ leaders will be watching with interest, including the one that rules my country. It is very worrying.
This.
I am so disappointed in the US’ lack of action. I know we’re being hamstrung by the likes of Germany who need Russian oil but it’s frustrating given the consequences of our inaction now and later with Taiwan.
This is such a tough situation. What do you do to try and stop a madman with enough weapons to destroy the world?
They have no other choice than to fight him, that’s the only way. If he gets away with Ukraine, he will invade every Eastern European country.
Unfortunately you are right.
Several other Eastern European countries are part of NATO now.
Ukraine is not.
If a NATO country is attacked, all the other countries will be obliged to defend the one attacked country. Ukraine doesn’t have this protection, sadly.
I did read volunteers are going from abroad to help defend, but that is different of course from governments putting their all behind Ukraine.
Tbh all these sanctions sounds like empty words. Like waiving their finger on Putin. I wish they block the access to SWIFT system.
I’m in Poland, people here have been organising help for refugees. Clothes, shelter, medicine, psychological and legal assistance. I wish I could do more. It’s heartbreaking.
Agreed. Sanctions only work if he cares about the hardships of his people, he doesn’t. Sanctions aren’t going to hurt Putin or the Ollie’s because they have planned for this .
Sanctions just help him keep his own people in line.
These particular sanctions are not just targeting financial activity of everyday people but the oligarchs who fund him and keep him in power as well as how they will fund and organize their military. They are targeting the Duma too. The level of these are unprecedented.
They’re working on blocking access to SWIFT. Apparently it is trickier than it sounds, otherwise it backfires and causes more damage to other countries. That’s why it wasn’t immediate. But they know such sanctions are coming, two major Russian banks were sanctioned right away.
There comes a time the world must accept that dictators have no regard for peace. Putin is a megalomaniac with a dream of rebuilding the Russia he once knew and is hell bent on doing whatever it takes to accomplish it.
And the world’s response to his atrocities….”Our prayers are with Ukraine”. “Sanctions will be placed”. Please God make it make sense.
There are lots of people trying to help the refugees, particularly in the neighboring countries.
Maybe there’s a local protest or fund raising you can join?
Good for the people for holding a massive protest. It’s hard to remember that the “normal” people are probably against this invasion as well, and they did it knowing they were putting themselves and their families in danger. I’m hoping the world puts a stop to this- no one stopped him in Crimea and now here we are.
I am actually proud and supportive of Russians holding demonstrations in the streets!!! The act of protests in Russia are not taken lightly, as they have no free speech and are usually handled swiftly and harshly. In Russia, that would get you sent to prison or the death penalty. The fact that Russian citizens are protesting against their “president” is a glorious display of standing up to their dictator!!!
I’m so sorry @ Jessica! I actually wrote the exact same thing as you did but your version is 10x’s better than mine.
I think Putin was prepared for some of the outcome but not all of it.
As CNN made sure to underline, the situation in Russia is not like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union because while Putin is making sure to spin this as a war of Russian survival, everyday people can get outside sources of information and they will.
Massive protests inside Russia. To the point where even officials are admitting they are going to have to explain this better to the Russian people. Apparently they barely communicated the lead up to this and a ton of Russians woke up to war in complete surprise.
There has been much more of a response from the rest of the world than I anticipated even if it’s not what it could be. And yes, the sanctions they have already agreed to implement will hit the oligarchs propping him up hard.
I don’t think any country has the kind of united military to face off with Russia. In particular because so many US Republicans support Putin. So this is a good start to starve the hydra instead of cutting off one head only for it to sprout another.
I think if anyone gets involved using military power outside of sending defenses to NATO, China will get involved. As it is, I think they’re reluctant to step in and have the same financial sanctions placed on them until they have to.
They have not taken the option of cutting Russia off from SWIFT off the table. I agree it would be for the best. As I understand it, Hungary, Italy, and other countries were expressing hesitation about that. We’ll have to see how the next days pan out.
I don’t have any answers though, and could always be wrong.
I agree with you, it is a complicated situation. And if they cut off Russia from SWIFT they may bank in China which would cause another set of issues. The US should do more but they all have to be strategic in their response.
+1
I feel like this is a very delicate turning point, and the things that happen now are going to determine whether the situation escalates or deescalates. The issue with sending in troops is that it gives Putin the visuals, news clips, rhetoric, and huge amounts of social media ammunition to back up his claim that “they are attacking us, we must hit back.”
Russia’s strength is not really in its military and warheads— it’s in its unparallelled ability to wage a global social media war. They can make up lies and conspiracies from thin air and have them believed, disseminated, VALIDATED by real people in the real world with real power. Imagine what his troll battalions can do with a few image manips.
Just in case some people are still on the fence – multiple videos shows a russian tank steamrolling a civillian car. Like the tank basically changed direction in order to ride over the car. Luckily the civillian survived and people were able to remove him from the car.
This is so sad. An ukrainian man saying good bye to his children that are being sent to a safe zon.
https://mobile.twitter.com/UkraineNews0/status/1496845105428193286?cxt=HHwWjICjjaus7sUpAAAA
Heartbreaking.
An old man showed up to join the army. Says he’s doing it for his grandkids.
They’re passing out guns to Ukrainian civilians now and also spreading instructions for making Molotov cocktails.
My heart is breaking. I can’t imagine a scarier scenario than having to send your wife and children to safety and you stay to fight for your country and your family.
I think Putin underestimated how little he can control the narrative. He walked into this trying to say that he was doing “peace keeping” but NO ONE bought it because the Biden administration revealed his propaganda before Putin could.
Now, you have modern technology sharing the truly heart breaking stories of the Ukrainian people. Families being torn apart, videos of civilian apartments being bombed, photos of bedrooms with unspent missiles crashing through the roof. Children and families huddled in subway stations.
Now, there is already a Ukrainian hero….The Ghost of Kyiv. Apparently there is a fighter pilot that downed 6 Russian military aircraft in 1 day.
Putin thinks he is good at propaganda, but he failed to recognize that the truth is more powerful, and social media is allowing Ukrainians to share their truth.
Putin also forgot the advantage that Ukrainians have: they are fighting for their homes and families, while the Russian troops are fighting for Putin’s fantasies.
In Russia, their grandparents’ generation was invaded by the Nazis and Russians have long historical memories. They are unlikely to enjoy being the invaders this time around. That’s why Putin tried to claim they were fighting “nazis” in Ukraine, to try to use that memory to inspire support for the invasion. Nobody really seems to be buying what he is peddling.
May I just say, as one of MANY who finds world news overwhelming but wants to stay informed, I REALLY appreciate Celebitchy’s informed coverage of world events/politics. I don’t want to be flip but I know I can turn here and digest small doses of important info I need to know and then turn to another comparatively insignificant post about a style choice to keep despair at bay.
Thanks for continuing to put the “smart” in my escapism, 10 years on. ❤️
I do this too. I also appreciate the international commentariat here and the intelligent discussion in the comments. Between personal experience and education there’s significant insight, self-correction and multiple constrasting perspectives represented.
Well this is a scary development…
https://eurasiantimes.com/russia-sends-bone-chilling-message-to-sweden-threatens-with-military-implications-if-they-go-the-ukraine-way/
This could actually make Sweden and Finland join Nato faster (even if it is for their own safety) … But they are EU countries which can lead to a European war. I don’t think that if Russia invades these two countries, EU will stand aside, just watching…
Only time will tell….
Heartbreaking situation. Just horrible. Putin has gone full on mad, so many innocent being hurt. Please let’s all hope, pray and WORK together to make this end. But for those blaming Biden, give me a break. Trump was IMPEACHED for denying Ukraine aid – huh. It’s true so F off (sorry language to anyone blaming the Democrats or Biden. Enough.
“Trump was IMPEACHED for denying Ukraine aid”
I had completely forgotten! Thank you for the reminder. It feels like that was a lifetime ago.
Yep, I keep thinking back to the impeachment trial.
The actions of Putin just sadden me. I hope these sanctions work, but I’m unsure it will phase Putin. None of those things bother Putin. This has been in the works for him for years. He has mapped and planned this out. He doesn’t care about sanctions or pipelines or Space projects. Supposedly it will take one more day for the city of Kyiv to fall, and that’s catastrophic. I want to know what we are going to do to stop it.
I’m sick of the excuses for leaving Ukraine to be taken over. I know they are not part of NATO. I know Putin is threatening nukes. But if Putin was taking over a more “important” country the threat of nukes wouldn’t stop Allie’s from bombing the shit out of Russia. Are we to allow Russia to become more powerful and now his threats become even more concerning. I hope we have a plan that I’m unaware of because watching the Ukraine people die in the face of evil is heart breaking.
The only way WWIII will be triggered if he goes after Poland which is in NATO. And if he gets away with taking over Ukraine. He will be emboldened to do it. I work with people in these countries and I am so scared for them. And all I can do is let them know they have an open invitation to my home if they need to flee their countries.
This is a precarious situation for all involved, and Putin is a madman but also adept at trickery and manipulation. Someone like that with potential backing from China and access to a nuclear arsenal must be dealt with in a game of chess, not checkers. He doesn’t care about his own people. It is difficult to navigate a situation like that, and unfortunately now looking back we can see clear as day what was brewing in the US and Europe. He got almost everything he wanted in place first. The outcome of all of this will be determined by the countries who set aside differences and work together domestically and internationally and those that fall apart. It is going to require sacrifice. Here in the US our companies need to step up from their own pocketbooks to relieve the financial burden of what’s to come on workers, among other things. I’m also sure the US and others have provided aid that won’t be reported, and though it breaks our hearts to see this unfold, we are dealing with a tinderbox and shooting from the hip will compromise our allies as well. Putin doesn’t care if the world burns.