Russia and Ukraine

[The Valkyrie]

Putin fine-tunes Russia’s nuclear doctrine after Biden’s arms decision on Ukraine, in clear signal to West

CNN

Oh, good googly-moogly. It's not like they've not used nuclear threats like a hundred times before now, trying to scare off support for Ukraine.

Give Medvedev another two shots of vodka, he'll be waving around yet another world-death shot. It's a bluff. Call it. I'm pretty sure their canisters won't fire, or maybe manage a pad-to-pad launch at best.

I say we go with a pre-emptive retaliation snd nuke 'em now.

[Belacqua]

KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnubZfJA-Z8

[The Grand Nudger]

Awfully long tq.

I'm really unclear on what the point of all of these types of excuses are supposed to be. Saying "the us does it too" when asked whether russia is bad seems kindof counterproductive, especially from a person who's entire point is "us bad". Stranger still, suppose that the us and russia are bad, equally bad, whatever. Bad bad bad. And? The us and russia are bad and that's why ukraine should surrender to russia?

[Fireball]

Awfully long tq.

I'm really unclear on what the point of all of these types of excuses are supposed to be.  Saying "the us does it too" when asked whether russia is bad seems kindof counterproductive, especially from a person who's entire point is "us bad".  Stranger still, suppose that the us and russia are bad, equally bad, whatever.  Bad bad bad.  And?  The us and russia are bad and that's why ukraine should surrender to russia?

I'll bet Bel fingers his lips while he talks.

[The Grand Nudger]

Putin said he'd blow up the whole goddamned earth if ukraine attacked with western missiles. Well, they've been flinging a bunch of them for the past 72 hours. Something wrong with the icbms?

[Fireball]

One could hope that the electronics were dog-robbed for current use in the invasion. Wouldn't that be a delicious bit of irony?

[Mister Agenda]

Oh, good googly-moogly. It's not like they've not used nuclear threats like a hundred times before now, trying to scare off support for Ukraine.

Give Medvedev another two shots of vodka, he'll be waving around yet another world-death shot. It's a bluff. Call it. I'm pretty sure their canisters won't fire, or maybe manage a pad-to-pad launch at best.

I say we go with a pre-emptive retaliation snd nuke 'em now.

You just want souls for Valhalla.

[Thumpalumpacus]

If there's any doubt that Russia is scraping the bottom of the manpower pool, read this:

In a coordinated operation, Russian authorities conducted raids on three of Moscow’s largest and most popular nightclubs on Friday night, detaining hundreds of men and taking them to military conscription offices.

The raids, which took place at the Simachev, Mutabor/ARMA, and Mono nightclubs, began around 2 a.m. and continued for several hours, sending shockwaves through the city’s nightlife scene.

According to witnesses, dozens of police vehicles, including paddy wagons, lined up outside the nightclubs as enforcement personnel, accompanied by police K9 units, systematically entered the establishments. Clubgoers described the scene as chaotic, with people being escorted out in groups. The authorities focused their efforts on male patrons, detaining many of them and subsequently transporting them to local military conscription offices. Women, on the other hand, were eventually released after their passports were photographed.

One attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, described the atmosphere inside as tense and surreal. “It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. They came in and started checking IDs, taking the men away without much explanation. The music stopped, and everyone just froze,” the witness said.

[...]

Reports of these mass raids come amid growing pressures on the Putin regime to replenish forces as Russia’s military operations continue. In recent months, there have been multiple indications that the Kremlin is struggling to meet manpower requirements, with stepped-up conscription efforts throughout the country. The raids in Moscow, targeting some of the city’s most high-profile entertainment venues, represent a new level of intensity in these efforts.

https://defence-blog.com/russian-police-...y-service/

For almost three years Putin has worked to keep the effects of the war away from population centers ... now he's raiding them for fresh meat.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Their missiles are just as wayward:

New satellite images have surfaced showing the aftermath of a missile strike on the Pivdenmash aerospace plant in Dnipro, Ukraine, following an attack by Russia’s latest missile, referred to by President Vladimir Putin as “Oreshnik.”

Contrary to Russian media claims, the images show that the aerospace plant sustained only minor damage, sparking frustration among Russian propagandists who had previously touted the complete destruction of the facility.

The satellite photographs, published after the November 2024 strike, reveal that much of the missile’s payload failed to reach its intended target. Instead, several missiles impacted nearby civilian areas, causing damage to residential homes, garages, and other private structures. The Pivdenmash plant itself, a significant site for Ukraine’s aerospace industry, appeared largely intact despite the strike.

The Kremlin-connected Romanov Light Telegram channel addressed the situation, stating, “Satellite images of Pivdenmash have appeared, showing the site after the ‘Oreshnik’ strike. The workshops are still there, nothing has been ‘reduced to dust.’ However, it seems that the residential area above was hit.” This comment reflects growing dissatisfaction among some Russian military commentators about the effectiveness of the strike.

https://defence-blog.com/russian-propaga...r-missile/

You know shit's bad when your Wunderwaffen ain't pulling your chestnuts out of the fire.

[Leonardo17]

BrianSoddingBoru4:
 
   It’s happening all over the planet. Even in places like France and Germany the far right is making serious progress and everyone is scared in one way or another. + Russia and probably China are backing these movements because they think it will help them to destabilize the West.

    Still, if we go back some 500 years in history, whenever we wanted to remove a government there had to be corpses lying in the streets of our capital cities or at least a few hundred deaths among high ranking people by poison, strangulation or being thrown into the waters of the Bosporus.

    So even with a personality like Narendra Modi in India, if that person has been fairly elected, we have to respect it as the will of the people.

    But: Are we teaching our young individuals to understand their huge responsibility as a citizen of this or that country? Do we educate both rich and poor people on issues like critical thinking, skepticism toward all sources of information (especially social media)? And the basic philosophy that is the foundation of our social contract as it is today, that’s a whole different issue.  
 

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- I don’t think the Donald Trump will completely give up on Ukraine. Even if he does, Europe is not giving up on Ukraine. I think Zelensky’s proposal is the best one we have. NATO should ensure the security of the remaining Ukrainian territories while the rest is left to whenever the regime change happens in Russia.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/germanys-scho...27004.html
 
- The reason why I am worried are not missiles. I don’t know why a rather poor country like Russia has 5000 of them. France and the UK have some 250 warheads each (China has 500 of them). Personaly I don’t even understand why they don’t start dismantling at least ¾ of these weapons.
 
- The real danger is the North-Korean troops. What if France decides to keep its promise and start sending ground troops as well? If that happens, we are technically in a new global conflict. That’s how close we are right now.
 
Otherwise: Who cares about Iran or North Korea having nuclear capabilities for instance? There is no weapon in this world that can magically transform a rogue state into a strong, modern state that meets the basic requirements of true statehood.