War

Roger A. Shrubber said:

better do it in secret, or putin will waste not one second in claiming that NATO was behind the entire thing, and entitle him (in his own mind) to attack nato troops, or worse

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printer said:

UK Accuses Russia of Using Mariupol Cease-Fire to Reset Forces

Britain said Saturday that Russia's proposed cease-fire in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was probably an attempt to deflect international condemnation while giving itself a chance to reset its forces for a renewed offensive.

"By accusing Ukraine of breaking the agreement, Russia is likely seeking to shift responsibility for current and future civilian casualties in the city," the British defense ministry said in an intelligence update.

Russia said earlier it had opened humanitarian corridors near the besieged cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha. Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian "nationalists" of preventing civilians from leaving, RIA news agency reported.

But Mariupol's city council said Russia was not observing the cease-fire.

UK Accuses Russia of Using Mariupol Cease-Fire to Reset Forces

Britain said Saturday that Russia's proposed cease-fire in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was probably an attempt to deflect international condemnation while giving itself a chance to reset its forces for a renewed offensive.

www.newsmax.com

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printer said:

Surprised by Putin's Invasion of Ukraine, Severity of Sanctions
Kremlin officials were supposedly surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine and were expecting milder sanctions for their decision to recognize the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of its neighbor as independent states, the independent Russian news organization Agency reported Friday.

One senior official told Agency that legislators "did not know" that the military would unleash the measure of force that it did and were shocked when news broke of the invasion.

The claim comes despite more than a month of reporting in the West that Russian military forces were growing to more than 100,000 along the country's border with Ukraine as well as in neighboring Belarus.

Putin's Cabinet, according to an unidentified source close to the administration, only was making preparations for sanctions by NATO and like-minded governments in reaction to recognizing Luhansk and Donetsk as sovereign nations on Feb. 21.

The sanctions that have caused the most concern to Russia are the exclusion from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (or SWIFT) system for some banks, the freezing of Russia's foreign assets and the withdrawal by major international companies from the country.

Sanctions also have included seizing assets owned by Russian billionaires closely tied to Putin.

"Everything is f*****," Agency quoted its source as saying.

One of Agency source's also said the Russian government convened meetings about the potential sanctions and even conducted stress tests in case the country's SWIFT connection was severed.

Despite their supposed shock, Russian government officials feel compelled to remain in their positions or be seen as a traitor.

"You can only quit to prison," the official said.

Business Insider reported Tuesday that Western intelligence claims Putin was so incensed at the sanctions by the United States and its allies that he threatened civilian targets to "set an example."

Report: Kremlin Surprised by Putin's Invasion of Ukraine, Severity of Sanctions

Kremlin officials were supposedly surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine and were expecting milder sanctions for their decision to recognize the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of its neighbor as independent states.

www.newsmax.com

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Fogdog said:

I'm just a mouse speculating on how to bell the cat. This is what old men do during wars. We talk about crazy strategy while young men fight and die.

Giving safe harbor and ground support to Ukrainian air defense forces would not be unprecedented in this war. Belarus is giving Russia license to launch missiles from their territory into Ukraine. They gave Russia license to stage an invasion into Ukraine -- the stalled forty mile convoy came from Belarus. Thus far, they haven't sent their own troops but they most certainly are providing military support for Russian actions. So, it would be risky but I'd say, justified by what Belarus is doing.

Providing an air base and supporting staff to Ukraine inside a NATO country would be a provocative and belligerent act. If we did it, I'd love it. It would be handing back to Putin one of the shit sandwiches he gave to the world. He'd blow a fuse.

Regarding belling the cat, how about we sneak some sleeping potion into its water and put the bell on him when he's out?

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DIY-HP-LED said:

I prefer the LSD solution and confinement to an insane asylum in Siberia to get Russia out of the jam! Vlad will be fine, when he comes down...

There will be covert action against Belarus by western intelligence agencies and the Ukrainians themselves, it is in their interest to foment trouble there, now that the gloves have come off. In many ways Ukraine provides an incredibly good proxy too and groups can strike out there in many directions, the Chechens are there from both sides for instance. All this will tie down forces he could use in Ukraine, as I said, the CIA are drooling over the possibilities and this will be their war in a big way.

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printer said:

Business Insider reported Tuesday that Western intelligence claims Putin was so incensed at the sanctions by the United States and its allies that he threatened civilian targets to "set an example."

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Fogdog said:

I don't know what kinds of actions Belarus has sustained. I'd just as soon not expand the conflict into Belarus. That wasn't my point in my earlier post. I'm just pointing out that Belarus is giving Russia safe harbor from which Russian forces are launching attacks into Ukraine.

Tit for Tat. And Putin can just fuck off if he doesn't like it. If Belarus can do it for Russia, A state that sides with Ukraine can do it too. Says the mouse.

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Fogdog said:

Its a hard listen because the russian translator isn't very smooth but Mikhail Khodorkovsky gives an intelligent analysis of the political outcomes from Putin's failure in Ukraine. He gives two scenarios. One scenario ends with the country completely breaking up due Putin closing the borders leading to economic degradation back to the 19th century. The other ends with the people rising up in revolution after years of deprivation.

The vid starts at about 3:30 and he talks about the scenarios I listed at around 7 minutes.

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