War Invasion of Ukraine News Megathread - Thread is only for articles and discussion of articles, general discussion thread is still in Happenings.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the United States will impose sanctions “far beyond” the ones that the United States imposed in 2014 following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

“This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Biden said in a White House speech, signaling a shift in his administration’s position. “We will continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates,” he added.

Russian elites and their family members will also soon face sanctions, Biden said, adding that “Russia will pay an even steeper price” if Moscow decides to push forward into Ukraine. Two Russian banks and Russian sovereign debt will also be sanctioned, he said.

Also in his speech, Biden said he would send more U.S. troops to the Baltic states as a defensive measure to strengthen NATO’s position in the area.

Russia shares a border with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to go into the separatist Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine after a lengthy speech in which he recognized the two regions’ independence.

Western powers decried the move and began to slap sanctions on certain Russian individuals, while Germany announced it would halt plans to go ahead with the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

At home, Biden is facing bipartisan pressure to take more extensive actions against Russia following Putin’s decision. However, a recent poll showed that a majority of Americans believe that sending troops to Ukraine is a “bad idea,” and a slim minority believes it’s a good one.

All 27 European Union countries unanimously agreed on an initial list of sanctions targeting Russian authorities, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, and EU foreign affairs head Josep Borell claimed the package “will hurt Russia … a lot.”

Earlier Tuesday, Borell asserted that Russian troops have already entered the Donbas region, which comprises Donetsk and Lugansk, which are under the control of pro-Russia groups since 2014.

And on Tuesday, the Russian Parliament approved a Putin-back plan to use military force outside of Russia’s borders as Putin further said that Russia confirmed it would recognize the expanded borders of Lugansk and Donetsk.

“We recognized the states,” the Russian president said. “That means we recognized all of their fundamental documents, including the constitution, where it is written that their [borders] are the territories at the time the two regions were part of Ukraine.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Putin said that Ukraine is “not interested in peaceful solutions” and that “every day, they are amassing troops in the Donbas.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday morning again downplayed the prospect of a Russian invasion and proclaimed: “There will be no war.”

“There will not be an all-out war against Ukraine, and there will not be a broad escalation from Russia. If there is, then we will put Ukraine on a war footing,” he said in a televised address.

The White House began to signal that they would shift their own position on whether it’s the start of an invasion.

“We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine,” said Jon Finer, the White House deputy national security adviser in public remarks. “An invasion is an invasion and that is what is underway.”

For weeks, Western governments have been claiming Moscow would invade its neighbor after Russia gathered some 150,000 troops along the countries’ borders. They alleged that the Kremlin would attempt to come up with a pretext to attack, while some officials on Monday said Putin’s speech recognizing the two regions was just that.

But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Tuesday that Russia’s “latest invasion” of Ukraine is threatening stability in the region, but he asserted that Putin can “still avoid a full blown, tragic war of choice.”

Article

 

[The Demon Pimp of Razgriz]

And the reason why that war became a world war instead of just a bum summer war between Austria and Serbia was because of the fact that the Western Allies had hysteria over Prussian Germany being the new superpower of the globe. Prussia put the Germany economy at work creating the most feared war machine in Europe; that turned the Brits against Germany, seeing Germany as a rival, and since the Prussians founded the German Empire while beating France into a pulp in 1871, that turned the French against them, too. This in turn, led to the alliance system with Russia where if one member was at war with Germany, other nations will follow suit.

A lot of that is really on Kaiser Willy (who, not coincidentally, fired Bismarck). The British and Germans actually had cordial relations, because their royal families are directly related to each other (I believe Queen Victoria was Willy's grandmother). But it was Willy who became obsessed with having a large colonial empire (something Bismarck didn't want) and a large navy, which is what really scared the British. Had he actually focused on Germany's strength, which was its army, instead of being obsessed with matching the U.K. due to his own inferiority complex, relations might not of deteriorated so much. France was always going to oppose German unification because it would have threatened their preeminence on the continent. Bismarck knew this, which is why he lured them into war in the first; it was necessary to unify Germany.

If it was Austrian Germany instead, the most you will get is MAYBE Russian and Turkish involvement, since they also had Balkan ambitions. But since the British and the French wouldn't fear Austrian Germany, they won't intervene, and neither will America. It will just be Teutons, Slavs, and Turks blowing each other up while the Western Europeans and the Americas laugh at them.

The British and the French also have interest in the Balkans. Its why the Crimean War happened, and why they intervened in the numerous Russo-Turkish Wars. They wouldn't have sat back and let the Austrians dominate Southern, Eastern, and Central Europe. A hegemon like that would have been a major no-go. It why Bismarck blocked the Prussian King from bringing the Austrians to their knees and annexing them, which was his original goal; he didn't want Prussia (and Germany by extension) to face the rest of a hostile Europe alone.

Also, the Sick Man of Europe were the Ottomans.

The Austrians weren't really much better. Things may have improved had Archduke Ferdinand lived, as he wanted to federalize the Empire.

 

[LORD IMPERATOR]

Spoiler: Why Austrian Germany would be better

A lot of that is really on Kaiser Willy (who, not coincidentally, fired Bismarck).

In 1884, Bismarck had Germany join in the race for colonial empires, which increased rivalry with the other European empires. Willhelm II just backed it up by building a German navy to compete with Britain and France, which drove relationships to more sour ends. Also, strengthening the army will just cause more tensions with Russia and France. Even if Bismarck stayed in power, Germany's status as the one fielding the strongest European army made everyone but Austria (who was their ally) wary of the Germans and willing to stomp them out.

The Austrian Hapsburgs, at most, would probably unify Germany through making the German Confederation (which they already led) more centralized, instead of going to war with France and stomping the shit out of Paris, at most, they'll just have a defensive war where the French would get repelled, causing less anger with the French when they lose. They would also not bother with a massive naval buildup, which would keep the Brits calm.

The British and the French also have interest in the Balkans.

Yes, but their interest is just at most, helping the losing side instead of going full-in with one side or another. They wanted to keep Russia from dominating the Crimea, but also wanted to keep the Turks from recovering.

The Austrians weren't really much better. Things may have improved had Archduke Ferdinand lived, as he wanted to federalize the Empire.

Compared to the Hohenzollerns, the Austrians didn't piss off the rest of the world as much, with their massive military buildup.

Though I guess in the case of Wagner Group he is correct.
Wagner is basically just Russian special forces without saying they are Russian special forces.

They're basically Russian special forces that go in and out of other countries pretending to not be Russian special forces. At least back then when people really didn't know much about the Wagner Group.

Most of what Blackwater did in Iraq was actually guarding/escorting State Department convoys.
They figured it was better to have a bunch of Ex-SEALs and Ex-Rangers riding escort rather than having some enlisted kids in their 20s do it or risk tieing down the active-duty rangers & SEALs to play baby-sitter.

Which basically made them glorified bodyguards, instead of what the Wagner Group did, which was more akin to irregular warfare.

See, eliminating non-civilian moving targets isn't that easy, and they can shoot back sometimes. This way russians can add plenty of names to their kill list easily and safely.

Some names look Polish, Poland should dig up all red army graveyards and using the bonemeal inside for fertilizer fuck the memory of that army and everyone who ever died fighting for it.

The Polish are chomping at the bit to get involved with the war. They hate the Russians almost as much as Ukraine does. Even more so back in peacetime.

I expect a lot of Lost Cause type cope the rate the war is going.

Russiaboos are going to whine and mope about how the Russians really were the good guys or how NATO gave them no choice. Also, expect more whining about Ukrainian Nazis like what we recently experienced.

A friend of mine pointed out that this is like if Germany tried to invade Austria, instead of using diplomacy, and lost.

And yet the Russiaboos were still trying to tie it to Iraq, where the Americans and their allies took control of the air WITHIN HOURS of starting the war.

At this point it’d expect them to make the stupidest decision possible.

Considering that their army is made up of drunkards and corrupt yahoos, them making dumb decisions isn't that unlikely.

In some ways they’re almost like the SS except without the ideological underpinnings.

They basically are; they're there when Putin wants something done.

 

[MG-34]

Due to so many unknown civilians being murdered in their personal vehicles and their belongings being burned or stolen, the unknown dead are buried with their license plate as a grave marker for identification later.

 

[LaxerBRO]

Archive

I wouldn’t mind if Russia took out Colbert.

Is Colbert actually fighting?

 

[LORD IMPERATOR]

Is Colbert actually fighting?

He's just latching onto a cause.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

Article Archive

Russian war disinformation — from the Bucha massacre to the sinking of the Moskva battleship — keeps growing​

From the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and throughout the conflict, Moscow has pursued a strategy of aggressive public dissembling, prevarication and disinformation aimed at creating an alternative reality to explain how events have unfolded on the ground.

In Russia itself, the rules for even talking about Ukraine have become Orwellian, with citizens now facing lengthy potential prison sentences for simply stating that their country is at war, let alone expressing opposition to it. (The Kremlin-approved term for the conflict is “special military operation,” not war.)

While Ukraine has also focused on using social media to showcase its military victories in the conflict and to spread the hortatory powers of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, the information war fought by Kyiv has been largely reflective of that which can actually be documented.

In contrast, Russian state media and top Russian officials have repeatedly propagated an entirely false reality in which Moscow, not Kyiv, is faced with an existential military threat; where Ukrainians, not Russians, are committing horrific war crimes against Ukrainian civilians; where Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis; and where Russia’s war aims are proceeding entirely according to plan.

Here are some of the most flagrant falsehoods advanced by Moscow about Russia’s attack on Ukraine:

The massive buildup of troops on Ukraine’s border preceding the invasion was for 'training exercises'

Beginning last summer, a spike in Russian military personnel and equipment amassing on Ukraine’s border set off alarm bells in Western capitals. Russia repeatedly and strenuously denied that the buildup was for anything other than routine military exercises. Moscow even continued denying its aim to invade Ukraine after troops it had sent to Belarus for joint military drills did not return to Russia after the drills' conclusion.

As roughly 200,000 Russian troops swelled on Ukraine’s northern, eastern and southern borders, and an invasion appeared imminent, Russian officials called U.S. warnings about an attack “absurd” and “hysterical” just a few short weeks before Moscow’s aggression sparked the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

Russia’s invasion is operating on schedule and according to plan

Moscow has repeatedly claimed that its “special military operation” in Ukraine is proceeding as planned. But this is demonstrably false. Russia’s original plan was to make a lightning strike on the capital, Kyiv, capture or kill Ukrainian leadership and force Ukrainian legislators to vote in a pro-Russia puppet government.

But that plan disintegrated amid fierce Ukrainian resistance, including a critical victory at an airport near Kyiv that foiled Russian troops from establishing a beachhead near the capital. Buoyed by these early victories, Ukrainians have managed to beat back Russia’s assault on Kyiv and other major cities such as Kharkiv, preventing Moscow’s forces, so far, from taking those major population centers.

Further undercutting the claim that the war is proceeding to plan, up to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far, according to NATO estimates, including over half a dozen generals. Ukraine has also claimed responsibility, via rocket attack, for sinking Russia’s Moskva cruiser, the flagship vessel of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and the largest military ship sunk since World War II. (Russia has said the vessel sank because of a storm after catching fire.)

Russia, having pulled its troops back entirely from Kyiv and its environs, has refocused its assault on Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Moscow now claims that carving that region out of Ukraine to create an independent statelet — in reality a Russia puppet regime — was always its primary war aim. But this is a wholesale rewriting of very recent history in which Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that the central goal was the “de-Nazification” of the whole of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government is run by neo-Nazis

Putin’s attempts to link Ukraine with Nazism have also proved a stretch. Russia has claimed that the Ukrainian government is an outlaw state run by neo-Nazi extremists. In fact, Zelensky is Jewish and won election in 2019 as a moderate. And though Ukraine has struggled with corruption, its government is squarely mainstream in nature — and, in fact, far less right-wing than some European states like Hungary.

Russia’s reference to “neo-Nazis” seems to spring from the activities of the Azov Battalian, a Ukrainian militant group with neo-fascist leanings that was integrated into Ukraine’s national guard in 2014. But Azov affiliates make up a tiny percentage of Ukraine’s total military forces, and Azov’s own leadership has sought to distance the organization from its more overtly neo-fascist past.

Moreover, Russia’s purported “de-Nazification” objectives ring particularly hollow since Russia has employed its own neo-fascist paramilitary operatives to fight in Ukraine, including the Wagner Group, which is closely connected to the Russian government, and the Russian Imperial Movement, which the U.S. designated a terrorist group in 2020.

The massacre in Bucha was staged (and if it's not, Ukraine is to blame)

After Russian troops retreated from the Kyiv region, Ukrainian forces fanned out across the city’s suburbs, which had seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war. What the Ukrainians discovered shocked them as well as much of the world: widespread evidence of war crimes and atrocities committed by Russian forces. Russian forces in Bucha appeared to have wantonly executed people it knew to be civilians, including women and children, and forced women into sex slavery.

Russia immediately offered a series of contradictory explanations for the scenes in Bucha: that Russian troops had left the town before the killings began (which was false); that the killings were staged (false); and that if the killings were real, the massacre was a “false flag” by the Ukrainians (also false).

In fact, the transference of blame to Ukraine for Russia’s own heinous actions has been a hallmark of the war. Russia also claimed that its attack on the Kramatorsk train station, which killed over 50 civilians trying to flee violence in Ukraine’s east, was committed by the Ukrainians themselves.

And Russia has a long history of attempting to commit false flag operations to misattribute blame for the war. In the run-up to the invasion, these included plans for a staged, or even real, chemical attack perpetrated by Russia in eastern Ukraine that U.S. officials warned was going to be made to look like the work of Kyiv’s forces, in order to provide Moscow with a casus belli.

Moscow has also claimed, without any evidence, that the U.S. is planning on using an army of infected birds to send bioweapons into Russia.

U.S. officials have continued to worry that Russia will employ chemical weapons and blame their use on Ukraine.

 

[Snekposter]

Go commit russian warship.

You mean spontaneously explode then sink? Christ, I'm gonna have to borrow this for later use.

IIRC the NATO 40,000 number was for total casualties, not just dead.
Their actual guess was like 7k-15k.

I believe some people here (me included) ran some numbers and we came to the conclusion that about a third of the total casualties are KiA. In most conflicts its a 3:1 ratio of WiA to KiA, but that makes the assumption the nation has something called proper medical care. Which Russia absolutely does not, being Russia.

Moscva can track (and destroy) up to 8 individual targets and this is time tested tech.

That's it? Only 8? Aegis can handle over 100 different fleet-wide intercepts. And that's just what's publicly released.

Also, Visegrad 24 Twitter as hot as ever.

View attachment 3183743View attachment 3183740View attachment 3183737

Russians chimped out on a cemetery in Kharkiv.

Christ, imagine being so petty as to smash up a bunch of markers for people who died in 1940 against actual Nazis.

 

[thx1138]

View attachment 3183743View attachment 3183740View attachment 3183737

Russians chimped out on a cemetery in Kharkiv.

Russians are niggers.

 

[Tovarisz]

The Polish are chomping at the bit to get involved with the war. They hate the Russians almost as much as Ukraine does. Even more so back in peacetime.

Only complete retards want to actually get involved with this war in the dirty way. Help fuck over russia? Sure. I doubt very many would be truly willing to uniform up though.

Slavs are generally known for harboring almost asian levels of hatred for each other, before the war all slav countries were bitch slapping one another like Czech Republic suing Poland in EU courts just a few months before the war. Poles and Ukrainians were not exactly getting along before the war because of UA economic migrants and historical issues and I bet once this war is over, it will take at most 1-2 years for that to go back to being normal.

They're getting along now because every single slav nation was raped, pillaged and severely beaten up by russians at multiple points in their history and when russians start demanding respect and being called "liberators" everyone starts wishing all their nukes in all their silos and storage just blew the fuck up and took that country with it.

 

[RodgerDodger]

Archive

I wouldn’t mind if Russia took out Colbert.

And Bonus we can get Zelensky to take over his spot. I mean he is a TV Comedian after all.

 

[JimboWhales]

Mission accomplished comrades!

https://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/151184-ukraine_operation/

 

[Snekposter]

Only complete retards want to actually get involved with this war in the dirty way. Help fuck over russia? Sure. I doubt very many would be truly willing to uniform up though.

Slavs are generally known for harboring almost asian levels of hatred for each other, before the war all slav countries were bitch slapping one another like Czech Republic suing Poland in EU courts just a few months before the war. Poles and Ukrainians were not exactly getting along before the war because of UA economic migrants and historical issues and I bet once this war is over, it will take at most 1-2 years for that to go back to being normal.

They're getting along now because every single slav nation was raped, pillaged and severely beaten up by russians at multiple points in their history and when russians start demanding respect and being called "liberators" everyone starts wishing all their nukes in all their silos and storage just blew the fuck up and took that country with it.

The only thing that can stop your typical Slav from starting shit with their neighboring Slavs: Russia.

Literally the only thing they can agree upon.

 

[East_Clintwood]

Mission accomplished comrades!

https://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/151184-ukraine_operation/

Peskov also said that all the tasks assigned to the Russian Armed Forces would be undoubtedly fulfilled.

Well all tasks other than capturing Kiev. Or killing Zelensky. Or capturing Kharkiv. Or capturing Sumy. Or not getting thousands of your vehicles and their occupants blown up. Or not losing a bunch of ships to a country with no fucking navy. But sure other than that all tasks were definitely fulfilled.

 

[Snekposter]

Well all tasks other than capturing Kiev. Or killing Zelensky. Or capturing Kharkiv. Or capturing Sumy. Or not getting thousands of your vehicles and their occupants blown up. Or not losing a bunch of ships to a country with no fucking navy. But sure other than that all tasks were definitely fulfilled.

How's that line from the Dilbert strip go? "We've had monumental success ever since we redefined it as the slowing of failure."

 

[Suburban Bastard]

Is Colbert actually fighting?

I wish, dude is so unfunny sometimes I wish he would die alongside half of the current SNL regulars

 

[RodgerDodger]

Mission accomplished comrades!

https://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/151184-ukraine_operation/

Press X to Doubt

 

[Bisdejl]

View attachment 3183737

Russians chimped out on a cemetery in Kharkiv.

These look like they could be related to the Katyn massacre.

 

[RodgerDodger]

The only thing that can stop your typical Slav from starting shit with their neighboring Slavs: Russia.
View attachment 3184159
Literally the only thing they can agree upon.

The weird thing is if you take most of them outside of the home country and drop them someplace like Brooklyn they all suddenly become the bestest friends and cluster together... except the Russian's who they all continue to hate.

 

[Les Morfalous]

Or maybe because we know what Nazis did because we had family members who fought in the war and had to rebuild our country like my great-grandfather. Americans went home to unharmed cities while ours were destroyed by allied bombings. But please lecture me about my own history, its not like i haven't argued with faggots on gab before who tried to explain to me how my great grandfather must have lied to my family and my grandmother and that one random bitchute video holds all truth.

Explain how any of that is relevant to you sucking russian dick like a 5 dollar crack whore?

 

[The Demon Pimp of Razgriz]

In 1884, Bismarck had Germany join in the race for colonial empires, which increased rivalry with the other European empires.

Bismarck only begrudgingly got involved in the imperial race because others in Germany were pushing for it. Its why Germany's colonial empire was so limited compared to the other powers.

Also, strengthening the army will just cause more tensions with Russia and France.

France already hated Germany because of historic Franco-German enmity, Alsace-Lorraine, and simple geopolitical calculus; a united Germany was the most powerful state on the continent, not France. Russia didn't care about Germany, it cared about the Balkans. Russia opposed Germany because it was allied with Austria, who also wanted to dominate the Balkans. Austria, Germany, and Russia were actually in an alliance together after the Franco-Prussian War called the Three Emperor's League. The whole point was that all three powers would cooperate and control Eastern Europe together, keep the Poles and other weaker peoples down, and nullify Austria's and Russia's rivalry in the Balkans through designated spheres of influence. In the end it ultimately collapsed because the Austrian and the Russians just couldn't get over their mutual rivalry in the Balkans. Bismarck actually had a separate top secret treaty of neutrality drawn up between Germany and Russia afterward called the Reinsurance Treaty, that ultimately didn't last because Bismarck was fired by Kaiser Willy and the treaty wasn't renewed. It was the termination of this treaty that actually drove the Russians to ally with the French instead. Its failure was seen as a major longstanding cause to WWI. Had it been maintained, WWI may never have happened.

They're getting along now because every single slav nation was raped, pillaged and severely beaten up by russians at multiple points in their history and when russians start demanding respect and being called "liberators" everyone starts wishing all their nukes in all their silos and storage just blew the fuck up and took that country with it.

Ironically, Russia's bad history with the other Slavic people's of today was because of similar reasons to them invading Ukraine now; they saw themselves as the natural "protectors" and "suzerains" of the other Slavs, and this is what drove their imperialistic foreign policy in Europe prior to the First World War (that led them to, for instance, partition Poland, and make war upon the Ottoman Empire), and what's driving their policy now.

The Austrian Hapsburgs, at most, would probably unify Germany through making the German Confederation (which they already led) more centralized, instead of going to war with France and stomping the shit out of Paris, at most, they'll just have a defensive war where the French would get repelled, causing less anger with the French when they lose. They would also not bother with a massive naval buildup, which would keep the Brits calm.

Would never have happened. The German people, and the French and the Russians would never have allowed it.

Yes, but their interest is just at most, helping the losing side instead of going full-in with one side or another. They wanted to keep Russia from dominating the Crimea, but also wanted to keep the Turks from recovering.

They also had interest in propping up individual states (the British were very close to the Greeks, for instance), and wanted to prop up their influence in the Black Sea, Middle East, and Mediterranean.

Compared to the Hohenzollerns, the Austrians didn't piss off the rest of the world as much, with their massive military buildup.

Only because they weren't really a threat to anyone but Russia; their army was the worst in Europe by World War I. The Germans were practically propping them up by the end of the war.