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Russia invading Ukraine (NEWS/UPDATES)

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Beery said:
I'm sorry but this war has only been instigated by one side. Regardless of whether these deaths were accidental or on purpose. They are 100% unnecessary and could have been avoided, by simply not invading
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There will come a day when this war will be studied and looked at dispassionately. That day is quite far in the future. At the moment it is very much good guys v bad guys. I’m not usually a person who cares that deeply about stuff I cannot do much about but I identify with those brave souls stood in front of this despicable war machine and it’s about time Russians acted too. Last week I would have said I understand the reasons behind Russians not rebelling inside their country but I’m running out of those reasons.
 
Harry Angstrom said:
There will come a day when this war will be studied and looked at dispassionately. That day is quite far in the future. At the moment it is very much good guys v bad guys. I’m not usually a person who cares that deeply about stuff I cannot do much about but I identify with those brave souls stood in front of this despicable war machine and it’s about time Russians acted too. Last week I would have said I understand the reasons behind Russians not rebelling inside their country but I’m running out of those reasons.
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The excuses that Putin has used are just that, excuses.

Separists (funded and supplied by Russia) have been fighting the goverment for quite a few years now. He claims that it's to protect Russians. Well if they consider themselves Russian then they should have fucked off back to Russia.

This is nothing but a land grab for resources as was the Crimea.
 
Beery said:
I'm sorry but this war has only been instigated by one side. Regardless of whether these deaths were accidental or on purpose. They are 100% unnecessary and could have been avoided, by simply not invading
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Absolutely. That there is an aggressor is nearly always true in war though.
 
Another funny one but this one is an actual true story

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Ukrainian citizens have been hacking into the Russian forces radio comms whilst streaming it live on Twitch and calling them a "Bylat" which means a fuck if you're a bloke or a slag if you're a woman, and they've been playing Gangnam Style on 24 hr loop
 
sonson said:
Putin isn't a Soviet. His main driver isn't history of the USSR, its Tsarist Russia and also very inspired by the history and military expansion of the Orthodox Church. Good article here

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I said this really early on but Empires do what empires do. At the heart of the concept is the idea that a certain central core or ideology is destined for greatness and is superior, and that the best good for humanity will come from its dominance. Diversity, autonomy and sovereignty of people is second to the power of whatever mandate the Empire claims for itself. That means Empires always subjugate and always expand. By definition they believe themselves to be centre of the universe.

So you're wrong in saying that ideologically Russia are like the Nazis, they're really not.

But as Empires, they are. But that is *all empires*. The experience of the Ukraine now is an insight into the experience of any nation with a concept of its own identity being coerced/forced/ into accepting the imperial claims of its conqueror.
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Some very good posts which I have enjoyed reading.

I learnt my history from years of reading and watching Documentaries, and dont laugh watching films from the period, its funny how much you can learn about a nation by watching the propaganda films of the time, I wish I hadn't left school early at 15 and stayed on, my writing skills and grammar leave a lot to be desired, but I sometimes feel not having an "academic" background can sometimes be an advantage, as your learning what other people think, its important to have the skill set to be able to think for yourself, something which is being lost in current times.
Only way an empire expands imo is Culturally or by force, we see it time and time again all throughout history, People dont really think of the USA as an empire, as it doesn't quite fit the "movie" standard of what we think is an empire, but it is, from the early days of the states coming together due to Culturally being the same, to the civil war where the south and north had completely different values and had moved apart culturally, so the north had to use force in keeping those states in line and in their empire. Now the USA exports their cultures via tech and companies world wide, to make advancements in the culture war world wide, not for the good of there hearts but in their interests, a very clever carrot and stick approach, every once in a while the US flex's its muscles to remind people what it can do.

China has had a colourful past, its history is rich and varied, but we can see the reasons why China would mistrust the west, we haven't over the years played nice, but now China is playing the same game the US does, using money to influence people around the world with the carrot, but at the same time the peoples of china are becoming more westernized its fascinating to say the least, puts the Chinese leadership in a bit of a pickle to be honest as this culture war plays out.

India hardly gets a mention in some quarters and thats a mistake, its a growing power and should not be underestimated, we see the poor people in poverty there and some judge India as a backward nation due to that, but we have to remember our empire was built on the backs of a population in poverty, we looked like India, high pollution, mass poverty with a large gap between the haves and have nots, a bit like China a decade or three ago.

Back on topic, Russia is an empire in decline and is doing what all empires in decline do, lash out trying to hold on to past glories, its in that dangerous phase, look at when western roman empire failed, is scary how much this looks like that, outside forces chipping away at areas, shrinking the land that was in the empire, military a shadow of its past, the glory days long gone. I think this is the end for Russia as we know it, its been long on the cards to be honest, It maybe will take a few years yet but I can see an underlying shift in Russia, is coming back to being much more aligned with the EU , the population at least, the leadership will follow in due course.

think moving forward, we will see the EU as a major player now, it could be argued as a new empire, it ticks all the boxes to be one, remember not all empires come about through force, so we could see in years to come, EU, US, India and China as the new world order of super powers.

History has a funny way of repeating itself, its why I love looking back to get a sense of what may happen moving forward.
 
OzzyMac said:
That's the Russian spin. Wouldn't surprise me if they now can't afford the fuel
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Probably right, that or a tit for tat retaliation. I would tell them to go fuck themselves to be honest. If they pull stunts like that, people will cut them out of space projects, once again their arrogance and anger will see them lose.
 
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Concordsafc said:
He’s one brave bloke like, I know the USA want him out like but he’s refusing isn’t he. If the fighting comes to the streets he will be there.
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He should be out of the country by now. When the inevitability takeover he's dead. He'll do more good speaking from exile in the States.
 
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