......... Nothing to see.
Topic: Russian Invasion of Ukraine[In Progress] - page 366. (Read 76553 times)
......... Nothing to see.
They're surprisingly still holding on. https://youtu.be/vVlRFHTBhfw
The more people that pick up and run, the easier it will be for Putin to take over the area that you live in, and easier it will be for Putin to remove any freedoms that your neighbors have.
Are you okay with there being a higher chance of your fellow countrymen being enslaved by a ruthless dictator whose intent is to invade your country, while you run away?
That's easy to say if you don't have a family whose safety you have to consider first. If this happen to my country I'm retreating with my family to the mountains. Maybe if the government would build a force comprised of civilians and train them, maybe I'd join but not until I'm sure my family is as far away from the battles as possible.
Just yesterday, I managed to pick up some members of my family from Kyiv and moved them to the south of the country, but unfortunately I see real operational reports that say that columns of Russian equipment are moving closer to my house (despite 3,000 dead).
Have you considered fighting for your country and for your fellow countrymen? The more people that pick up and run, the easier it will be for Putin to take over the area that you live in, and easier it will be for Putin to remove any freedoms that your neighbors have.
Are you okay with there being a higher chance of your fellow countrymen being enslaved by a ruthless dictator whose intent is to invade your country, while you run away?
That's easy to say if you don't have a family whose safety you have to consider first. If this happen to my country I'm retreating with my family to the mountains. Maybe if the government would build a force comprised of civilians and train them, maybe I'd join but not until I'm sure my family is as far away from the battles as possible.
Have you considered fighting for your country and for your fellow countrymen?
Have you considered not lecturing someone trying to save their family?
I think when I fully take care of the safety of my family, I will also consider all possible options for protecting my land.
Won't that cause an increase in oil prices in Europe though? Russia is one of the largest exporters of CNG, while Europe also imports oil, at a decent percentage. The war itself already skyrocketed oil and gas prices, however, wouldn't these sanctions lead to a further increase in prices, in the near future?
Talking about the financial repercussions is the least important thing when people are literally dying, however, it was a question I wanted to ask, since Russia is one of the largest exporters in that industry.
No doubts that it will increase oil and gas price in Europe. But I think it's simply not acceptable to feed country which literally started war. Sanctions against Russia will hurt Europe too, but every decision have it's price and priorities should be chosen.Talking about the financial repercussions is the least important thing when people are literally dying, however, it was a question I wanted to ask, since Russia is one of the largest exporters in that industry.
I completely agree with you, excluding sanctions in the oil and energy sector is a large miss, either you're imposing sanctions or don't do it at all. Europe is importing more than 40% of its energy from Russia, while such move would have negative consequences for both parties, it's unacceptable to sustain trading deals with such an aggressive country, causing chaos to the whole Europe.
I understand that such sanctions would also affect European citizens, with higher gas prices, however, there could be a workaround by reducing taxation through EU funds, till we find alternative ways to power, and the situation settles.
The pro-Ukrainian propaganda machine is working quite well, creating this perception that there aren't corruption issues by the Ukrainian government. That still doesn't mean Ukraine shouldn't receive support from NATO (sanctions at the least), only because Russia capturing Ukraine means the other NATO countries have to deal with refugees from Ukraine, and an authoritarian Russia that receives no pushback from overthrowing a country's government isn't good for their own safety.
Tulsi Gabbard isn't off the mark, but she'll be seen as being pro-Russia offering a bit clarity on Ukraine.
uote]No they haven't....
There are literally lines of people lining up to receive weapons who are signing up to defend Ukraine from the tryant Putin.
There are literally lines of people lining up to receive weapons who are signing up to defend Ukraine from the tryant Putin.
And it's a death sentence for them. This shouldn't be encouraged for people with no training to be handed a weapon of war and die fighting the Russian army.
....Have you considered fighting for your country
....
No remember all guns have been taken away beforehand.....
There are literally lines of people lining up to receive weapons who are signing up to defend Ukraine from the tryant Putin. Zelenski has called on his people to make Molotov cocktails to throw at tanks and Russian (invading) troops.
....Have you considered fighting for your country
....
No remember all guns have been taken away beforehand. ....
Just yesterday, I managed to pick up some members of my family from Kyiv and moved them to the south of the country, but unfortunately I see real operational reports that say that columns of Russian equipment are moving closer to my house (despite 3,000 dead).
Have you considered fighting for your country and for your fellow countrymen? The more people that pick up and run, the easier it will be for Putin to take over the area that you live in, and easier it will be for Putin to remove any freedoms that your neighbors have.
Are you okay with there being a higher chance of your fellow countrymen being enslaved by a ruthless dictator whose intent is to invade your country, while you run away?
It's still holding on but Russia is still shelling it. I don't know if they're doing it indiscriminately or going after specific targets. Here's a video of a gas station in Kyiv blowing up. https://youtu.be/kA9keV1eQsE
I'm not sure if they just want to destabilize the government to force it to surrender but they do indeed seem to be taking time and softening the capital for a larger force to come in. They've been blowing up oil pipelines too.
This seem to be a possibility. Other members have suggested Russia wants a corridor to its puppet Belarus, which it is also using to destabilize the EU by flooding Poland with "refugees". And now Poland also have to deal with true refugees from Ukraine.
I don't think the real assault has started yet.
Putin just sent special forces, reconnaissance units, and ad-hoc gangs of insurgents with the aim to destabilize the current government.
The real bombing has not started yet.
It is important Ukrainians destroy all major roads, bridges, airports, etc. to make it harder to carry out a full invasion.
Putin just sent special forces, reconnaissance units, and ad-hoc gangs of insurgents with the aim to destabilize the current government.
The real bombing has not started yet.
It is important Ukrainians destroy all major roads, bridges, airports, etc. to make it harder to carry out a full invasion.
I'm not sure if they just want to destabilize the government to force it to surrender but they do indeed seem to be taking time and softening the capital for a larger force to come in. They've been blowing up oil pipelines too.
Yeah Blitzkrieg doesn't seem to be the plan. Which is odd as time usually plays again the aggressor, dissent grows proportionally to the length of conflict . See reports of attacks around Odesa and Mariupol' perhaps the plan is to take away Ukraine access to the Black sea, make it a landlocked country, and hand it back to EU for support.
This seem to be a possibility. Other members have suggested Russia wants a corridor to its puppet Belarus, which it is also using to destabilize the EU by flooding Poland with "refugees". And now Poland also have to deal with true refugees from Ukraine.
As some others have said already, banning Russia from SWIFT isn't very useful, and may in fact be counterproductive long-term. Banning them from SWIFT is like this: Imagine that most of Russia's exports were sent to the outside world via UPS, and you ban Russia from using UPS. It's very disruptive short-term (for both sides of the trade), but they're just going to switch to Fedex or whatever. Banning Russia from SWIFT is like that: it's short-term very disruptive, but it's not that hard for Russia to find an alternative, and long-term the ban weakens SWIFT. Banning Russia from SWIFT sounds like you're banning sending money to Russia by any means, but it's not. The West could ban sending money to Russia by any means, but Europe is highly dependent on Russian imports, so they're just going to pretend to "completely cut off Russia" by banning them from SWIFT.
The most damaging thing the West could do without putting boots on the ground would probably be to confiscate Russia's central bank reserves like the US did with Afghanistan's central bank.
If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually. The force differential is just too large. If Zelenskyy is dedicated to the idea of Ukraine fighting a protracted resistance in the same vein as Afghanistan or Vietnam, he should record a really good speech to broadcast after he is inevitably killed by the Russians, so that he can become an ideal martyr.
The most damaging thing the West could do without putting boots on the ground would probably be to confiscate Russia's central bank reserves like the US did with Afghanistan's central bank.
If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually. The force differential is just too large. If Zelenskyy is dedicated to the idea of Ukraine fighting a protracted resistance in the same vein as Afghanistan or Vietnam, he should record a really good speech to broadcast after he is inevitably killed by the Russians, so that he can become an ideal martyr.
Quote
Tsar Bomba
the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested
...their instruments indicated a yield of 50 Mt (209 PJ)
...In theory, the bomb would have had a yield in excess of 100 Mt (418 PJ) if it had included the uranium-238[14] fusion tamper which figured in the design but which was omitted in the test to reduce radioactive fallout
...8-kilometre-wide (5.0 mi) fireball reached nearly as high as the altitude of the release plane and was visible at almost 1,000 km (620 mi) away.[49] The mushroom cloud was about 67 km (42 mi) high[50] (over seven times the height of Mount Everest)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bombathe most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested
...their instruments indicated a yield of 50 Mt (209 PJ)
...In theory, the bomb would have had a yield in excess of 100 Mt (418 PJ) if it had included the uranium-238[14] fusion tamper which figured in the design but which was omitted in the test to reduce radioactive fallout
...8-kilometre-wide (5.0 mi) fireball reached nearly as high as the altitude of the release plane and was visible at almost 1,000 km (620 mi) away.[49] The mushroom cloud was about 67 km (42 mi) high[50] (over seven times the height of Mount Everest)
- The flare was visible at a distance of more than 1,000 km.[52] It was observed in Norway, Greenland and Alaska.
- The explosion's nuclear mushroom rose to a height of 67 km.[14] The shape of the "hat" was two-tiered; the diameter of the upper tier was estimated at 95 km (59 mi), the lower tier at 70 km (43 mi). The cloud was observed 800 km (500 mi) from the explosion site.
- The blast wave circled the globe three times,[16] with the first one taking 36 hours and 27 minutes.
- A seismic wave in the earth's crust, generated by the shock wave of the explosion, circled the globe three times.
- The atmospheric pressure wave resulting from the explosion was recorded three times in New Zealand
- Glass shattered in windows 780 km (480 mi) from the explosion in a village on Dikson Island.
- Ionization of the atmosphere caused interference to radio communications even hundreds of kilometers from the test site for about 40 minutes.
And this was 1960 technology.
Lets all read up on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction and then think how much we want to move the doomsday clock forward before we start putting bounties on heads. This blue marble is already just 100min away from midnight
I finally found the way to profit from this war!
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.59369597
Now I just waiting for a local contact that can tow the cars to Poland. I think that the NATO would gladly pay for them! I mean, as a scrap metal of course, they are of little use apparently. I think that the Russian army is quite experienced in these types of sales, judging by how fast the Chinese space programme is progressing.
This guy could do the towing..
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/russian-invasion-of-ukrainein-progress-5382794
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.59369597
Now I just waiting for a local contact that can tow the cars to Poland. I think that the NATO would gladly pay for them! I mean, as a scrap metal of course, they are of little use apparently. I think that the Russian army is quite experienced in these types of sales, judging by how fast the Chinese space programme is progressing.
This guy could do the towing..
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/russian-invasion-of-ukrainein-progress-5382794
Looks like Russians are not very well prepared. Lack of communication. They don't know where they are going, or what the current situation is.
In fact, there are already several proofs that this is exactly the case. Captured Russian soldiers say that they were not warned that they would be sent to war in Ukraine. Putin secretly planned the invasion and lied to the entire world until the very last moment, so it is not surprising that the soldiers received orders at the last minute.
Well, actually, it's happening. US is considering to freeze reserves of Central Bank of Russia - over $643 billion:
That is good. I would confiscate everything from them. All the dollars in the banks, all the gold bars, all the properties outside Russia's borders. Everything they own. I bet that would have an impact.
No doubts that it will increase oil and gas price in Europe. But I think it's simply not acceptable to feed country which literally started war. Sanctions against Russia will hurt Europe too, but every decision have it's price and priorities should be chosen.
I am from Europe, and I say let it be. Winter is almost over, and Europe will survive without their gas.
Kyiv did not fall because of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14gVDF2b1vA
If you know Russian, you will be pissing your pants. I did. Hilarious clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14gVDF2b1vA
If you know Russian, you will be pissing your pants. I did. Hilarious clip.
Yeah there are some signs that refueling and resupply wasn't a big part of the plan because the invasion was supposed to be completed very quickly.
Maybe Ukrainians should offer $1 million for each Russian tank. I think these kids would gladly take that and walk back to Russia on foot.
Ukraine government started accepting Bitcoin, Ehtereum and USDT donations. If you want to help, here is information:
https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282
I'm also proud that people in my country donated over €4 million just in few days to Blue-Yellow organisation which supply aid to Ukraine:
https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en/
I know it's spot in the sea, but I think it's biggest donation campaign in my country history.
https://gazettengr.com/u-s-considers-freezing-650-billion-reserve-of-russian-central-bank/
It's easy to tell ask for Putin's head. But c'mon, this guy have nuclear weapon button and considering from his recent actions, he completely lost his mind. Nobody is going to risk that much.
Kyiv did not fall because of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14gVDF2b1vA
If you know Russian, you will be pissing your pants. I did. Hilarious clip.
Looks like Russians are not very well prepared. Lack of communication. They don't know where they are going, or what the current situation is.
Russian POWs said that some troops are dumping fuel from their tanks not to advance into Ukrainian territory, to avoid being killed.
Putin must be furious.
It's simply hilarious. But I'm very surprised that Russian army is so poorly prepared. From what I read, they never had so many victims in such short time in any other war since WW2. But I have bad feeling that they don't show their real potential.
https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1497594592438497282
I'm also proud that people in my country donated over €4 million just in few days to Blue-Yellow organisation which supply aid to Ukraine:
https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en/
I know it's spot in the sea, but I think it's biggest donation campaign in my country history.
The most damaging thing the West could do without putting boots on the ground would probably be to confiscate Russia's central bank reserves like the US did with Afghanistan's central bank.
If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
Well, actually, it's happening. US is considering to freeze reserves of Central Bank of Russia - over $643 billion:If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
https://gazettengr.com/u-s-considers-freezing-650-billion-reserve-of-russian-central-bank/
It's easy to tell ask for Putin's head. But c'mon, this guy have nuclear weapon button and considering from his recent actions, he completely lost his mind. Nobody is going to risk that much.
Won't that cause an increase in oil prices in Europe though? Russia is one of the largest exporters of CNG, while Europe also imports oil, at a decent percentage. The war itself already skyrocketed oil and gas prices, however, wouldn't these sanctions lead to a further increase in prices, in the near future?
Talking about the financial repercussions is the least important thing when people are literally dying, however, it was a question I wanted to ask, since Russia is one of the largest exporters in that industry.
No doubts that it will increase oil and gas price in Europe. But I think it's simply not acceptable to feed country which literally started war. Sanctions against Russia will hurt Europe too, but every decision have it's price and priorities should be chosen.Talking about the financial repercussions is the least important thing when people are literally dying, however, it was a question I wanted to ask, since Russia is one of the largest exporters in that industry.
As some others have said already, banning Russia from SWIFT isn't very useful, and may in fact be counterproductive long-term. Banning them from SWIFT is like this: Imagine that most of Russia's exports were sent to the outside world via UPS, and you ban Russia from using UPS. It's very disruptive short-term (for both sides of the trade), but they're just going to switch to Fedex or whatever. Banning Russia from SWIFT is like that: it's short-term very disruptive, but it's not that hard for Russia to find an alternative, and long-term the ban weakens SWIFT. Banning Russia from SWIFT sounds like you're banning sending money to Russia by any means, but it's not. The West could ban sending money to Russia by any means, but Europe is highly dependent on Russian imports, so they're just going to pretend to "completely cut off Russia" by banning them from SWIFT.
The most damaging thing the West could do without putting boots on the ground would probably be to confiscate Russia's central bank reserves like the US did with Afghanistan's central bank.
If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually. The force differential is just too large. If Zelenskyy is dedicated to the idea of Ukraine fighting a protracted resistance in the same vein as Afghanistan or Vietnam, he should record a really good speech to broadcast after he is inevitably killed by the Russians, so that he can become an ideal martyr.
The most damaging thing the West could do without putting boots on the ground would probably be to confiscate Russia's central bank reserves like the US did with Afghanistan's central bank.
If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually. The force differential is just too large. If Zelenskyy is dedicated to the idea of Ukraine fighting a protracted resistance in the same vein as Afghanistan or Vietnam, he should record a really good speech to broadcast after he is inevitably killed by the Russians, so that he can become an ideal martyr.
Kyiv did not fall because of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14gVDF2b1vA
If you know Russian, you will be pissing your pants. I did. Hilarious clip.
Looks like Russians are not very well prepared. Lack of communication. They don't know where they are going, or what the current situation is.
Russian POWs said that some troops are dumping fuel from their tanks not to advance into Ukrainian territory, to avoid being killed.
Putin must be furious.
Looks like Russians are not very well prepared. Lack of communication. They don't know where they are going, or what the current situation is.
In fact, there are already several proofs that this is exactly the case. Captured Russian soldiers say that they were not warned that they would be sent to war in Ukraine. They were told that they were being taken to the exercises. The father of one of the prisoners of war said the same thing. His son was called up to serve in the army just six months ago. That is, most of them may be untrained young guys who are used as cannon fodder. I am sure that if they had been warned in advance, many of them would rather be arrested for refusing to serve in the army than be killed and kill the inhabitants of Ukraine.https://korrespondent.net/ukraine/4451228-poiavylos-vydeo-doprosa-sdavshykhsia-desantnykov-rf
https://www.unian.net/war/otec-zahvachennogo-v-plen-rossiyskogo-voennogo-razoblachil-lozh-okkupantov-novosti-donbassa-11719567.html
... It's very disruptive short-term (for both sides of the trade)...
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually...
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually...
Something that works short-term may be just good enough for the case. One year of campaign is extremely costly, so Ukraine can just fight and delay, cause as much human costs (sorry for the term) for the Russian Army and, even if formally loosing territory, making this "business" too expensive for VP.
For what other wars have taught us, in urban warfare the weapon , means and communications superiority is less relevant versus the will to resist and the morale of the troops. Ukraine cannot fight but in the cities, as the air superiority makes anything else impossible. Unfortunately, this means that the destruction will be extreme.
As some others have said already, banning Russia from SWIFT isn't very useful, and may in fact be counterproductive long-term. Banning them from SWIFT is like this: Imagine that most of Russia's exports were sent to the outside world via UPS, and you ban Russia from using UPS. It's very disruptive short-term (for both sides of the trade), but they're just going to switch to Fedex or whatever. Banning Russia from SWIFT is like that: it's short-term very disruptive, but it's not that hard for Russia to find an alternative, and long-term the ban weakens SWIFT. Banning Russia from SWIFT sounds like you're banning sending money to Russia by any means, but it's not. The West could ban sending money to Russia by any means, but Europe is highly dependent on Russian imports, so they're just going to pretend to "completely cut off Russia" by banning them from SWIFT.
The most damaging thing the West could do without putting boots on the ground would probably be to confiscate Russia's central bank reserves like the US did with Afghanistan's central bank.
If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually. The force differential is just too large. If Zelenskyy is dedicated to the idea of Ukraine fighting a protracted resistance in the same vein as Afghanistan or Vietnam, he should record a really good speech to broadcast after he is inevitably killed by the Russians, so that he can become an ideal martyr.
The most damaging thing the West could do without putting boots on the ground would probably be to confiscate Russia's central bank reserves like the US did with Afghanistan's central bank.
If you wanted to get rid of Putin ASAP, I think the most effective thing that could be done would be to put a $1 billion bounty on Putin's head, plus a promise of immunity for any past misdeeds. You have to imagine that many of Putin's close associates would rather this nutcase be dead. The West was more-or-less fine with Russia's internal authoritarianism, and Russia's oligarchs had a good thing going, but now Putin has screwed it all up for them. All of these sanctions are clearly designed to eventually make Russians angry enough to get Putin toppled, but a bounty+immunity would be a lot more effective. (I think that issuing this sort of bounty would be considered an act of war, though.)
I was surprised that Kyiv didn't fall last night, and I keep hoping that the Russians are somehow fought off, but it's almost unimaginable that Kyiv isn't going to fall eventually. The force differential is just too large. If Zelenskyy is dedicated to the idea of Ukraine fighting a protracted resistance in the same vein as Afghanistan or Vietnam, he should record a really good speech to broadcast after he is inevitably killed by the Russians, so that he can become an ideal martyr.
Just responding to a number of posts:
- SWIFT system - withdrawing Russia from it hurts everyone. In the short term, Russia get a strong impact from it, long term they banks will adapt, join or develop other systems,...
- NATO intervention - NATO cannot send troops, however as NATO countries are official "Neutral Powers" they are free to sell (even if it is a dollar a rocket) weapons to any of the sides. e.g. it would be legal for the UK to send 10.000 tank blasters to Ukraine (at a dollar per unit if they wish). Ukraine is not short on soldiers.
- Putin cannot withdraw without experiencing severe issues at home. However, a multi-year war is very costly and cannot be maintained. If Ukraine holds for a year, there is a good chance of Putin having made the biggest error of his career as a despot.
- SWIFT system - withdrawing Russia from it hurts everyone. In the short term, Russia get a strong impact from it, long term they banks will adapt, join or develop other systems,...
- NATO intervention - NATO cannot send troops, however as NATO countries are official "Neutral Powers" they are free to sell (even if it is a dollar a rocket) weapons to any of the sides. e.g. it would be legal for the UK to send 10.000 tank blasters to Ukraine (at a dollar per unit if they wish). Ukraine is not short on soldiers.
- Putin cannot withdraw without experiencing severe issues at home. However, a multi-year war is very costly and cannot be maintained. If Ukraine holds for a year, there is a good chance of Putin having made the biggest error of his career as a despot.
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