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

 

[870EVO]

Solely because the East wants NATO to be there. I've asked every single vatniktoid I ever could to show me one country that was forced into NATO without having a vote for it. Never got an answer. Russia is so fucking shit that its neighbors will sell their military to America for protection lol

You're kinda acting a bit naive about how world politics work. These countries aren't islands, they can be influenced by outside forces just like any other.

It kinda did. Even when Russia was lining out its troops, a lot of people did not want to believe Putin would actually invade. Then the nigger crazy man actually did it.

Oh so it's the "Putin is so crazy mad with power he blew up his own pipeline" narrative? Come on. Have some common sense.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

Frank: No evidence of Russian sabotage of pipelines

The German investigators currently have no evidence that Russia is behind the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines. "This cannot be proven at the moment, the investigations are ongoing," said Attorney General Peter Frank to the "Welt am Sonntag" newspaper. With the help of two research ships, water and soil samples as well as the remains of the pipelines were taken, and the crime scene was also comprehensively documented. “We are currently evaluating all of this forensically.”

At the end of September, a total of four leaks in the two pipelines were discovered after explosions near the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm. The Swedish security authorities determined in November that it was serious sabotage - but without naming a culprit. The sites of the explosion are in international waters in the Exclusive Economic Zones of Denmark and Sweden. Both countries are conducting their own investigations. "But we are in contact," said Frank.

Only a short time later, cables that were essential for the train radio system in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia were damaged. Rail traffic in large parts of northern Germany stood still for hours. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office is also investigating these incidents on October 8th. Frank said in the interview that the investigation was not yet complete. "But what I can say is that the suspicion that this was a foreign sabotage action has not yet been substantiated."

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/nWD7k

 

[CAPTAIN HAPPY]

You're kinda acting a bit naive about how world politics work. These countries aren't islands, they can be influenced by outside forces just like any other.

lol
Must be me and everybody I know who voted to join NATO and actually have a military to withstand the Russian gay troopers, whose nature was well known by older dudes who were forced to serve in the red army, many of whom had to survive all their dedovchyna bullshit while at it.
I'd say you're naive about the opinion of Russia of those who have to live near it and in it before so.

Oh so it's the "Putin is so crazy mad with power he blew up his own pipeline" narrative? Come on. Have some common sense.

What the fuck does the pipeline have to do with what I said lol
And yeah, Putin is batshit mad, this war proves it lol

 

[870EVO]

lol
Must be me and everybody I know who voted to join NATO and actually have a military to withstand the Russian gay troopers, whose nature was well known by older dudes who were forced to serve in the red army, many of whom had to survive all their dedovchyna bullshit while at it.
I'd say you're naive about the opinion of Russia of those who have to live near it and in it before so.

Politicans typically don't care what the population wants. They just want to be in power. Many of the politicians in these Eastern bloc countries campaigned to the population on entering NATO. I almost never look at a politicians stances and believe they are organic. Corporate and foreign lobbying, IMF and World Bank influence almost always gets to them.

What the fuck does the pipeline have to do with what I said lol
And yeah, Putin is batshit mad, this war proves it lol

From where I stand Putin is acting logically within the confines of a Politician who wants to protect his powerbase from Western influence. But we can agree to disagree.

 

[CAPTAIN HAPPY]

don't care what the population wants.

just want to be in power.

I almost never look at a politicians stances

Corporate and foreign lobbying, IMF and World Bank influence almost always gets to them.

So then fuck off and live in a log cabin, you hopeless fuck lol

From where I stand Putin is acting logically within the confines of a Politician who wants to protect his powerbase from Western influence. But we can agree to disagree.

So let me get this straight. The IMF and Co run the world, absolutely so, and into a dystopian authoritarian system, there is no hope, nobody has a real vote, give up Robert.
All the while, Putin is facts and logic by INVADING ANOTHER COUNTRY to DEFEND HIMSELF.

Sorry, I disagree to agree to retardation.

 

[870EVO]

So then fuck off and live in a log cabin, you hopeless fuck lol

So let me get this straight. The IMF and Co run the world, absolutely so, and into a dystopian authoritarian system, there is no hope, nobody has a real vote, give up Robert.
All the while, Putin is facts and logic by INVADING ANOTHER COUNTRY to DEFEND HIMSELF.

Sorry, I disagree to agree to retardation.

You're way oversimplifying everything I said. But I can tell your emotionally invested in this so I'll stop.

 

[CAPTAIN HAPPY]

You're way oversimplifying everything I said. But I can tell your emotionally invested in this so I'll stop.

lol
Whatever you say, cowboy.

 

[MS Paint Gigachad]

You're way oversimplifying everything I said. But I can tell your emotionally invested in this so I'll stop.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/psychological_projection

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Igor "Bereg" Mangushev, who showed the skull of an Azovstal defender on stage calling for the annihilation of Ukraine has been shot in the head.

Russian neo-Nazi from the formation of “Light Russia” Igor Mangushev, speaking with the alleged skull of a fighter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine , was shot in the head, writes ASTRA .

It is reported that Mangushev was taken with a blind gunshot bullet wound to the head to the Kadiivka hospital in the Luhansk region. There is no official confirmation of the information. At the same time, the media note that Mangushev’s Telegram channel has not been updated since February 3.

Mangushev (call sign “Bereg”) is the leader of the neo-Nazi movement “Light Rus'”. He is also considered the creator of PMC “raccoon”, which closely cooperated with the FSB of the Russian Federation. In 2011, he was involved in beatings, as well as for participating in a rally against the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The real name is Reimer, which he changed to Mangushev.

In his personal Telegram channel, he regularly called for the killing of the civilian population of Ukraine: “We will burn your houses, kill your families, take away your children and raise them Russian,” for example, he wrote in his channel on August 25.

 

[Spicey McHaggis]

Igor "Bereg" Mangushev, who showed the skull of an Azovstal defender on stage calling for the annihilation of Ukraine has been shot in the head.


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Damn the Ukrainians have been getting spicy with some of these types. Can't say he didn't deserve it.

 

[AgendaPoster]

OK time for some news to attenuate the spergouts some

Medvedev is BIGLY MATI:

Russia's Medvedev says more U.S. weapons supplies mean 'all of Ukraine will burn'​

(A)

"All of Ukraine that remains under Kyiv's rule will burn," journalist Nadana Fridrikhson quoted him as saying in a written interview with her.
Fridrikhson asked Medvedev, who as deputy chairman of the Security Council has become one of Russia's most hawkish pro-war figures since its invasion of Ukraine, whether the use of longer-range weapons might force Russia to negotiate with Kyiv.
"The result will be just the opposite," Medvedev replied, in comments that Fridrikhson posted on her Telegram channel.
"Only moral freaks, of which there are enough both in the White House and in the Capitol, can argue like that."
The Pentagon said on Friday that a new rocket that would double Ukraine's strike range was included in a $2.175 billion U.S. military aid package.
With the first anniversary of the invasion approaching on Feb. 24, Russian forces have been on the back foot for the last eight months, and do not fully control any of the four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow has unilaterally declared part of Russia.
President Vladimir Putin casts Russia's campaign in Ukraine as an existential defence against an aggressive West and has, like Medvedev, several times brandished the threat of a nuclear response, saying Russia will use all available means to protect itself and its people.
Asked what would happen if the weapons that Washington has promised Ukraine were to strike Crimea - which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 - or deep into Russia, Medvedev said Putin had addressed the matter clearly.
"We don't set ourselves any limits and, depending on the nature of the threats, we're ready to use all types of weapons. In accordance with our doctrinal documents, including the Fundamentals of Nuclear Deterrence," he said. "I can assure you that the answer will be quick, tough and convincing."
Russia's nuclear doctrine allows for a nuclear strike after "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened".
--------------------------------
And a "civilian" fuel depot caught fire by itself, so the Russian authorities saw fit to put regions of high terroristic threat lmao. Especially love this news. I was from the start against Ukrainians wasting so much human potential on fighting the vatniks head to head. Terrorize the fuck outta them so their civilians know the war exists. Once Russian missiles hit cities in Ukraine, once Mariupol was literally turned to dust, nobody should care for similar measures inside Russian cities - until Russia stops.

All Russian regions bordering Ukraine make high terrorist threat level indefinite​

(A)

Belgorod Region Governor noted that a civilian industrial facility in Borisovka was attacked on Friday night
The "yellow" (high) level of terrorist threat in the Belgorod Region will be indefinite, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Saturday. This means that all Russian regions bordering Ukraine - including Kursk and Bryansk Regions - now have indefinite "yellow" terrorist threat level.
"The need to maintain the ‘yellow’ level of terrorist threat is absolutely obvious. This is why it will be indefinite starting today. The right to do so was provided by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, in accordance with the national law. And I have to use it. We will, of course, withdraw the restrictive measures as soon as the situation improves," Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.
He noted that a civilian industrial facility in Borisovka was attacked on Friday night.
"The fire has been localized and the extinguishing is underway. Our Ministry of Emergency Situations employees successfully do their job, in my opinion. Thank god, nobody was injured, as the employees were evacuated on time. We do everything we can now to minimize the damage," the governor said.
---------------------------------
Lastly, some super-funneh propaganda. It is well known that the progressive, shitlib West is incredibly Nazi tolerant, hence everyone getting banned for shitposts and people being cut from Paypal and banking for having opinions completely acceptable in 2000.

Ukrainian crisis was sparked by West’s disregard for neo-Nazis’ crimes — envoy to UN​

(A)

Vasily Nebenzya stressed that Western countries participating in Sunday’s UN Security Council meeting had "failed to offer a word of compassion to Donbass residents"
The crisis in Ukraine was sparked by the West’s disregard for the crimes of neo-Nazis, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Sunday.
"At this point, the focus should be on improving the situation that led to the crisis that we are going through. It did not begin with Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, it was sparked much earlier as for eight years, the West has been turning a blind eye to the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis in Donbass," he pointed out.
Nebenzya stressed that Western countries participating in Sunday’s UN Security Council meeting had "failed to offer a word of compassion to Donbass residents." "It is homes in Donbass, destroyed by Ukrainian troops and nationalists, that Western media outlets are now shamelessly passing off as the consequences of our military operation in Ukraine," the Russian envoy noted.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that the Russian Armed Forces were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. The ministry emphasized that the Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons and there was no threat to civilians.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

China Helping Russia’s War With Ukraine With Military Aid—Violating Sanctions—Reports Show​

China is providing military aid to Russia in violation of U.S.-led sanctions placed by western countries, according to Russian trade data reported by the Wall Street Journal, as tensions build between the U.S. and western countries and China, amid a spy balloon scandal and a canceled Beijing visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

KEY FACTS​

China’s state-owned defense companies have shipped navigation equipment and parts to fighter jets and other military technology equipment to Russian defense companies, according to Russian customs data.

According to that data, provided by Washington D.C.-based C4ADS, China has sent tens of thousands of shipments of goods to service Russia’s military (some goods had multiple purposes and could be used commercially, the Journal reported).

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia “has enough technical potential” for its “special military option,” although that potential, he said, “is constantly being improved,” the Journal reported.

The report comes one day after Chinese officials said they had strengthened a “mutual political trust” with Russia, following Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week, Reuters reported.

It also comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled his planned trip to Beijing—the first visit by a senior White House official to China in five years—after U.S. officials reported a Chinese spy balloon floating over Montana.

TANGENT​

U.S. officials this week also pressed the United Arab Emirates and Turkey—both U.S. trading partners who have rejected sanctions against Russia—to curb financial ties with the Kremlin, multiple outlets reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.. According to sources, those goods—including $800 million in exports from Turkey—could be used by Russia’s defense industry to further its invasion of Ukraine.

KEY BACKGROUND​

Moscow and its affluent oligarchs have been dealt heavy economic sanctions from western Europe and North America since it invaded Ukraine nearly one year ago, with businesses pulling out of Russia and western countries alienating themselves from the Kremlin. In recent months, Ukrainian forces have recaptured Russian-occupied territory in the eastern and southern regions of the country, although Russia has continued its onslaught of missile attacks on key Ukrainian cities. U.S. officials warn a potential Russian spring offensive could be coming as the weather warms up, prompting the U.S. to send advanced Abrams battle tanks while Germany sent its Leopard 2 tanks last month. President Biden, meanwhile, has also expressed concerns about Chinese companies supplying military equipment to Russia, Bloomberg reported, after White House officials reportedly found evidence suggesting Beijing was supporting Russia’s military effort.

CONTRA​

Putin had admitted at a meeting in Uzbekistan with Chinese President Xi Jinping last September that China had “questions and concerns” about Moscow’s invasion—Putin’s first meeting with Xi since the invasion began and his first admission that the two countries might not see eye-to-eye on the war. China, which has been boosting imports of Russian oil even as western Europe moves to close itself off from Russian energy exports, had declared a “friendship with no limits” with Russia last February, before the start of the war.

SURPRISING FACT​

Although Russia has been hard-pressed to find military aid, it has also found an ally in the Wagner Group—a group of mercenaries that Russian officials had repeatedly asserted they had no connection with. U.S. officials, however, claim the group has recruited more than 50,000 people, including 40,000 Russian convicts, to fight in Ukraine, U.S. officials have also accused it of supplying military aid to Moscow last March, and last month, the U.S. Department of Treasury last month designated the Wagner Group a “transnational criminal organization”

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/DDgz8

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

If Americanism is the issue and fags are what Russia hates...
... why not invade the US, and bust open San Francisco's pozzedhole?

The same reason the US almost went to war over Cuba. When your enemy is on your border, it's a problem. So of course a CIA-backed coup that puts US friendly leadership in charge of their most important border region would create a problem for them. How would we respond to a Chinese-backed coup in Mexico? You think we would just say "welp, that's democracy for ya!". Be real.

I mean, the US invaded Iraq for less, and they're nowhere near our border. Why is this sort of thing weird to you?

you defend the entirety of his work as if it were the one thing.

Don't create a strawman and expect to be taken seriously. I've done no such thing .

You claim that Dugin's works are important to the Russian style of governance

OUR MEDIA tells us "Dugin is Putin's brain" and part of this philosophy is what is driving Russia's foreign policy. So either they're lying to us for propaganda purposes, or it's true. I'm not the one making that claim. CNN, Fox News, NYTimes, NPR etc tell me it's true so it must be.

You see this as support of Dugin or Putin or anti-Ukraine, but that isn't the point. It's support for a counterweight to the US. And yes, I'm rooting for China to invade Taiwan too. The reason is simple and logical - There needs to be a multipolar world. Living under one world government dictated by the globalists is not a good thing. The more power and wealth that is concentrated in fewer places, the worse off everyone is.

Seriously - you guys are in support of the US being the sole hyperpower without any concern for what that means. How do you keep a single hyperpower in check? Or are we trusting that the globalists that want us to own nothing and be happy and eat bugs, will take care of everything?

What exactly do you think their end goal is once there is no one left to counter their power? Serious question.

 

[AgendaPoster]

The same reason the US almost went to war over Cuba. When your enemy is on your border, it's a problem. So of course a CIA-backed coup that puts US friendly leadership in charge of their most important border region would create a problem for them.

I mean, the US invaded Iraq for less, and they're nowhere near our border. Why is this sort of thing weird to you?

It's weird, so just as I wanted the US back to the Murica after it dealt with the Muslim nerds, I want Russians back to the vatniklands.
Oh wait.
You want to annex land?
How about no and we get to fuck you up for it?

 

[Blatant hypocrite]

OUR MEDIA tells us "Dugin is Putin's brain" and part of this philosophy is what is driving Russia's foreign policy. So either they're lying to us for propaganda purposes, or it's true. I'm not the one making that claim. CNN, Fox News, NYTimes, NPR etc tell me it's true so it must be.

Don't act like you didn't just spend 3 posts defending/praising Dugin, and insisting that his ideals are good for Russia and the world. Before finding out he's actually a schizo.

Your current words are an admission that you only support these things because they're the opposite/an alternative, and you don't truly care about how good or bad they are. Just because they're not the Current Thing. You are not fundamentally different from the Twitter folk who support Stalin and North Korea to own the libs.

You are a pure contrarian by your own words, and you should reflect on that before you lecture anyone about ideals in future.

---

Article Tax:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64521865

https://archive.ph/JQE7f

This concerns the two British guys who were killed some days ago.

Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw's bodies recovered in prisoner swap - Ukraine

The bodies of two British volunteers killed in eastern Ukraine in January have been recovered as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff said the bodies of Chris Parry, 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, 47, had now been returned to Ukraine.

No indication has been given as to when they will be handed to British embassy staff to be flown home.

The families of the men said they were killed during a humanitarian rescue.

The two volunteers were last seen heading to the city of Soledar on 6 January.

Mr Bagshaw's family said the pair were attempting to help an elderly woman when their cars were hit by a shell.

Soledar had been the focus of intense fighting and last month Russia's military claimed to have captured the Ukrainian salt-mine town after a long battle. The government in Kyiv disputed the claim.

Despite the continued fighting in Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's chief of staff, said 116 Ukrainian soldiers had been released on Saturday.

He said released prisoners included defenders of Mariupol, partisans from Kherson and snipers from Bakhmut, as well as two personnel from special operations.

Russia's defence ministry said 63 servicemen had been returned as part of a "complex mediation process".

It said it included people of a "sensitive category" thanks to the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, though it did not specify what those people did.

It is the second prisoner swap carried out between the two countries so far this year.

Mr Yermak said Ukraine is continuing efforts to bring everyone home.

Mr Parry and Mr Bagshaw had been in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine doing voluntary work.

In a statement issued by the UK Foreign Office last month, Mr Parry's family said his "selfless determination in helping the old, young and disadvantaged" in Ukraine had made them "extremely proud".

"We never imagined we would be saying goodbye to Chris when he had such a full life ahead of him. He was a caring son, fantastic brother, a best friend to so many and a loving partner to Olga," they said.

They added that Mr Parry, originally from Truro in Cornwall, "found himself drawn to Ukraine in March in its darkest hour at the start of the Russian invasion and helped those most in need, saving over 400 lives plus many abandoned animals."

Scientific researcher Mr Bagshaw was a British national but lived in New Zealand. He had been a volunteer in Ukraine since April.

In a statement, Mr Bagshaw's family said last month: "Andrew selflessly took many personal risks and saved many lives; we love him and are very proud indeed of what he did.

"The world needs to be strong and stand with Ukraine, giving them the military support they need now, and help to rebuild their shattered country after the war."

Another foreign national volunteering in Ukraine, Pete Reed, was killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut - the location of heavy fighting in recent days - on Thursday.

Mr Reed, a 33-year-old American volunteer aid worker, was killed "while rendering aid," according to a statement from the humanitarian aid group he founded, Global Response Medicine.

The UK government has previously warned against all travel to Ukraine, saying there is "a real risk to life".

British nationals still in Ukraine should leave immediately if it is safe to do so, it added.

 

[GatorAids]

The same reason the US almost went to war over Cuba. When your enemy is on your border, it's a problem. So of course a CIA-backed coup that puts US friendly leadership in charge of their most important border region would create a problem for them. How would we respond to a Chinese-backed coup in Mexico? You think we would just say "welp, that's democracy for ya!". Be real.

I mean, the US invaded Iraq for less, and they're nowhere near our border. Why is this sort of thing weird to you?



Don't create a strawman and expect to be taken seriously. I've done no such thing .



OUR MEDIA tells us "Dugin is Putin's brain" and part of this philosophy is what is driving Russia's foreign policy. So either they're lying to us for propaganda purposes, or it's true. I'm not the one making that claim. CNN, Fox News, NYTimes, NPR etc tell me it's true so it must be.

You see this as support of Dugin or Putin or anti-Ukraine, but that isn't the point. It's support for a counterweight to the US. And yes, I'm rooting for China to invade Taiwan too. The reason is simple and logical - There needs to be a multipolar world. Living under one world government dictated by the globalists is not a good thing. The more power and wealth that is concentrated in fewer places, the worse off everyone is.

Seriously - you guys are in support of the US being the sole hyperpower without any concern for what that means. How do you keep a single hyperpower in check? Or are we trusting that the globalists that want us to own nothing and be happy and eat bugs, will take care of everything?

What exactly do you think their end goal is once there is no one left to counter their power? Serious question.

China has a military base in Nicarauga. Should we invade them? Also you're a naive nigger if you think Russia or China want a multipolar world. They don't hate that the world is unipolar, they hate that they aren't the hegemon.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

Ukraine's economy shrinks over 35% in 2022, UN reports​

Ukraine's economy has shrunk by more than 35% in 2022 due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reads the UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 Report presented by Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua on Jan. 25.

The UN recorded a monthly budget deficit of $5 billion in Ukraine over the last 11 months of full-scale war in the country.

"The economy of Ukraine contracted by over 35% in 2022, owing to the massive destruction of its physical infrastructure, including railway and other links with neighbouring countries, road networks and bridges; the disruption of production and trade activities; large losses in the labour force due to migration or conscription; and the displacement of population," the report reads.

Experts claim Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, the blockading of its marine ports and damage to metal plants have also undermined the economic situation.

About one third of total public expense was covered with direct monetary funding from the National Bank of Ukraine, the country’s central bank, which has caused the depletion of foreign currency reserves and devaluation of the local currency, the UN report states.

Though the European Union plans to allocate EUR 18 billion ($19.6 billion) for Ukraine in 2023, it may be inadequate against an estimated $5 billion monthly budgetary shortfall.

"The outlook for the Ukrainian economy in 2023 and 2024 is highly uncertain and will depend on many factors, including the cessation of hostilities and the launch of reconstruction efforts," the international experts wrote.

https://archive.md/O2cHC

Ukraine and Russia trade nearly 200 prisoners of war in swap​

Ukraine and Russia traded almost 200 prisoners of war in a swap announced separately by both sides on Saturday.

The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said 116 Ukrainians had been returned, while Russian news agencies cited Moscow's defence ministry as saying 63 Russian POWs had been freed.

"We managed to return 116 of our people, defenders of Mariupol, partisans from Kherson, snipers from the Bakhmut (front) and other heroes of ours," Yermak wrote on Telegram.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address that since the war started last February, Ukraine had secured the release of 1762 men and women from Russian captivity.

Yermak also said the bodies of volunteer aid workers Andrew Bagshaw and Chris Parry had been sent back to Ukraine.

Bagshaw is a dual citizen of the UK and New Zealand and his parents said that their son's body had been found in Ukraine.

Speaking to the media his father, Phil Bagshaw, said that his son's body was in the mortuary at the children's hospital in Kyiv.

His mother Dame Sue Bagshaw said Ukrainian officials had "to go through a process where they do a proper ID and post mortem, and then the death certificate, we'll have a copy of it".

RNZ is contacting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in an attempt to clarify the situation with regard to Andrew Bagshaw.

Russia's Defence Ministry said the released Russian servicemen included "sensitive category" persons, whose exchange was made possible through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to agencies.



- Reuters with additional reporting from RNZ

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/dVJlE

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer to Newsmax: War in Ukraine to End in 'Six Months'​

Speaking on comments made by CIA Director William Burns on Thursday, retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer said on Newsmax that the war in Ukraine would end in six months.

Shaffer told "Saturday Report" that on Thursday, the "director of the CIA said that this is going to be resolved — is going to be ended — one way or another within about six months."

"So," Shaffer added, "the prospects of this going in Ukraine's way right now is diminishing; with the lack of support, they need right now to stop the upcoming offensive."

Earlier, Shaffer said the recent supply of tanks from Western nations to Ukraine, as well as the country's dwindling manpower, would not be enough to stop Russia's spring offensive.

"The small number of tanks," Shaffer said, "that the West is going to provide; that is to say, the 31 Abrams, the 88 Leopard 2s from Germany, the ... 14 or 15 Challengers from England are not going to arrive in time, by all accounts, to stop the spring offensive — this late winter-spring offensive — by the Russians, so it's a numbers game."

On Thursday, Burns said, according to CBS, that Russian President Vladimir "Putin, I think, is betting right now that he can make time work for him. The key is going to be on the battlefield in the next six months, it seems to us."

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/MXb2Z

First Leopard 2 tank from Canada on its way to Ukraine​

An aircraft with the first Leopard 2 tank on board that Canada is sending to Ukraine has departed from Halifax.

Source: Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence of Canada, on Twitter

Quote: "Today, a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft departed Halifax carrying the first Leopard 2 main battle tank that Canada is sending to Ukraine.

Canada stands with the people of Ukraine – and we’ll continue to provide Ukraine’s Armed Forces with the equipment that they need to win."

Previously: On 26 January, Anand announced that Canada will send four Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine in the coming few weeks.

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/RJMHI

 

[No. 7 cat]

They're getting the full Euro WWII experience albeit updated to the 21th Century.

Many already do, and tbh for many of those countries domestic production just isn't cost effective for many items. The quantities purchased just don't make it worth it. Even the ones that do tend to buy a fair amount of foreign components to make their equipment.

Hopefully the T-80 and T-84 continue to be made by the Kharkiv Design Bureau and Works.

On the contrary: the west probably wants Putin to stay in power. A nice, friendly, obedient Putin maybe, but still, russia under one guy. They still want russian grain and gas, and it's not like the worlds 3rd biggest arms stockpile (even disregarding nukes, theyll have anti tank weapons; at the very least a quarter-million AKs) falling into various factionalist warlords hands is something we want.

Putin probably might make a predictable Third World Dictator in some confused minds. Better one iffy Dictator than a little army of them if Russia were to break up. Hope you're wrong on keeping Putin. Navalny (if he survives) would be the better choice. Dictatorships just store up rage. Putin has plenty of putinettes under him who'd be all democracy and respecting borders and boundaries as Putin spouted for years.

 

[870EVO]

Hopefully the T-80 and T-84 continue to be made by the Kharkiv Design Bureau and Works.


Putin probably might make a predictable Third World Dictator in some confused minds. Better one iffy Dictator than a little army of them if Russia were to break up. Hope you're wrong on keeping Putin. Navalny (if he survives) would be the better choice. Dictatorships just store up rage. Putin has plenty of putinettes under him who'd be all democracy and respecting borders and boundaries as Putin spouted for years.

https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/1314587438568833025

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1621606953708396547

 

[No. 7 cat]

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https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1621606953708396547

Bolton is right. Moreover, the neighbors who experienced the bloody tyranny of that empire of failure and death are not stinting in their aid. Polish T-72s and other Warsaw Pact stuff is directly useful. Zelenskiy noted Putin is nothing. Nothing he says is remotely trustworthy. Likely Simonyan misinfo and demoralisation shit. Silly woman might be suffering fake tan poisoning.