Russian Invasion 2022

[Oldschool]

My money is on this week.

[FLIP]

They won't invade now as it's too late, they'll just claim it was all a training exercise to save face.

Western nations have been stocking Ukraine heavily with man held anti air and anti tank rockets, and so now any invasion by Russia will result in great loses to them. The US and UK tactic of basically making public all of their intelligence findings has meant all eyes are on Russia and so few believe their intents are as they publicly state.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

aren't the Russians just staging a de-facto occupation of belarus?

Loads of their troops are there and likely to stay indefinitely and oversee constitutional referendum.

I'm no expert but all they have achieved with the willy waving at the UKraine border is to bring the EU member states closer together...ditto for NATO..as well as improving EU & US relations.

The big loser in all of this (so far) is the UK, which, post-brexit, looks incredibly diminished on the world stage.....a side show led by a clown.

[Laighin Break]

FYI the country is Ukraine, not The Ukraine - the article should not be used

[MylesNaGapoleen]

FYI the country is Ukraine, not The Ukraine - the article should not be used

was that directed at me?

i was talking about the Ukraine border....it doesn't sound right without the article. happy to be corrected if I am the mistaken one!

[Laighin Break]

FYI the country is Ukraine, not The Ukraine - the article should not be used

was that directed at me?

i was talking about the Ukraine border....it doesn't sound right without the article. happy to be corrected if I am the mistaken one!

No not you, the poll title mentioned The Ukraine

[Oldschool]

FYI the country is Ukraine, not The Ukraine - the article should not be used

was that directed at me?

i was talking about the Ukraine border....it doesn't sound right without the article. happy to be corrected if I am the mistaken one!

No not you, the poll title mentioned The Ukraine

Typo apologies.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

that escalated quickly.

it is scary what putin is up to...but annoyingly....this gives johnson & the tories their "falklands". A war that save a struggling tory party & thatcher in 1982. Triple crown & 5N championship year for us, btw.

Watch him slip into "churchill" mode now.

[FLIP]

that escalated quickly.

it is scary what putin is up to...but annoyingly....this gives johnson & the tories their "falklands". A war that save a struggling tory party & thatcher in 1982. Triple crown & 5N championship year for us, btw.

Watch him slip into "churchill" mode now.

Yes, clearly the worse thing here is Boris, not an actual fascist invading a sovereign country who wants no part of them.

[paddyor]

It’s an invasion.

[Oldschool]

that escalated quickly.

it is scary what putin is up to...but annoyingly....this gives johnson & the tories their "falklands". A war that save a struggling tory party & thatcher in 1982. Triple crown & 5N championship year for us, btw.

Watch him slip into "churchill" mode now.

Yes, clearly the worse thing here is Boris, not an actual fascist invading a sovereign country who wants no part of them.

Jaysus lads this has nothing to do with Boris.
It has, however, everything to do with one of the most dangerous men on this planet. The one with his finger not too far away from a button that controls the launch of ICBMs with Nuclear bombs on board.

[Hornet]

that escalated quickly.

it is scary what putin is up to...but annoyingly....this gives johnson & the tories their "falklands". A war that save a struggling tory party & thatcher in 1982. Triple crown & 5N championship year for us, btw.

Watch him slip into "churchill" mode now.

???

[JohnB]

I see that quisling Trump announced that the invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine by its traditional imperialist aggressor, Russia was very ‘smart’ and ‘genius’. He’s buried so far up Vladimir’s rectum I’m surprised that he hasn’t found polyps. He seems to be aroused by the presence of dictators and autocrats. He’s a sad excuse for a man.

[Ruckedtobits]

World Rugby, the IOC, FIFA, UEFA and every other sporting Governing Body should immediate suspend Russia and all representative teams or Clubs teams involved in international competition.

This is not like South Africa and apartheid. This is like Hitler and Germany. The Russian people, soldiers and leaders will only understand how abhorrent their leader's action in declaring war against Ukraine are, when they see their isolation at close quarters.

The IRFU should lead the way and call for the suspension of Russia from World Rugby.

[fourthirtythree]

Maybe we should reconsider fossil fuel subsidies as our response to rising costs? Costs have been rising for ordinary people for a decade, it's real estate that is the engine of unaffordability in Ireland, something our government of landlords and real estate investors is incapable of admitting. Kerching.

Hitting the funds in the IFSC would be fun, but it's oil and gas that fuels the Russian economy that Putin relies on. This price rise will make the war almost profitable. Extra half a billion a day with the current price rise. Over 40% of the Russian federal budget is provided by fossil fuel revenues.

And the big three parties in Ireland are in favour of subsidies for fossil fuel.

[ronk]

The corrib gas pipeline is looking like a pretty good decision now.

[Oldschool]

The corrib gas pipeline is looking like a pretty good decision now.

Yep absolutely.
However the decision not to go ahead with the LNG storage tanks near Foynes has gone from being just a very bad decision to awful. No foresight or imagination at all.

[Oldschool]

Maybe we should reconsider fossil fuel subsidies as our response to rising costs? Costs have been rising for ordinary people for a decade, it's real estate that is the engine of unaffordability in Ireland, something our government of landlords and real estate investors is incapable of admitting. Kerching.

Hitting the funds in the IFSC would be fun, but it's oil and gas that fuels the Russian economy that Putin relies on. This price rise will make the war almost profitable. Extra half a billion a day with the current price rise. Over 40% of the Russian federal budget is provided by fossil fuel revenues.

And the big three parties in Ireland are in favour of subsidies for fossil fuel.

The shinners were trying to prevent the Corrib gas find from being developed.
So the alternative to your government of Landlords etc isn't looking like it would be any better.

[Ruckedtobits]

"This is the beginning of a war against Europe, against European structures, against democracy, against basic human rights, against a global order of law, rules, and peaceful coexistence,”

That's the statement of a multi-national force leader who, with his colleagues, has joined the Ukranian National Defence Guard. They are all highly skilled, experienced, trainers of military units that we might have called "Mercenaries" in the past and they have all volunteered their services free of any costs and joined the Ukranains to oppose the Russian invasion.

How long will it be before the US, UK, NATO and other countries allow / encourage their Special Forces to do the same thing?

Their sentiments, as illustrated by the statement above, provides the moral justification for such approval being granted. European cannot afford Putin / Russian military to take over Ukraine. If that happens it would lead to an inevitable 'domino effect' - Moldova, Lithuania, Poland, Romania - are some of the next potential targets, if one believes Putin's historical basis for the invasion of Ukraine.

Hopefully, the military defence by the Ukrainian National Guard will persuade the Russian inner circle to go to the Negotiation Table to secure the gains already achieved in the "independent enclaves" in the East & South of Ukraine. Any other outcome seems inconceivable, because it could mean a nuclear conclusion.

[Oldschool]

Nuclear conclusion!
The elephant in the room.
To tease that one out a bit.
There's going to be a lot of ifs.
Putin.
If I threaten to use NW no matter obliquely will the West be intimidated enough to let me continue the conquest of Ukraine.
If the West allow me the conquest of Ukraine what will they do if I invade ANOTHER (Moldova being the most likely candidate)
If the West allows the conquest then it's game on because the West is now conditioned to accept the restoration of USSR.

The West
By allowing the Russian Invasion of Ukraine we've shown weakness. We're on the back foot so how do we ensure that while we may have lost this battle that we don't lose the war.
In fact how do we prevent that war.
First issue. What constitutes "lost this battle".
Putin has already increased his territorial influence.
Does he have a bottom line - Anyone any ideas.
Is it merely political, is it gas reserves etc, call it economic.
Is it to impoverish Ukraine.
It's not immediately obvious what Putin wants.
Is it simply ego?