Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Simbo

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I hope this is bullshit.

As much as I'm on Ukraine's side, any NATO intervention would surely risk a global catastrophe.
dunno if somone else answered, but yes it was bullshit, someone on fb was spreading it but admitted having no source...
 

Danny1982

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Putin is very likely to go all the way to Kyiv to replace the government. It does look like dark times are ahead for Ukraine. What matters from now on is sanctions. Disconnecting the aggresor from swift, using the money from oligarchs accounts in Europe to provide arms to the Ukranian government will hopefully make the war too costly for Putin to continue. Unfortunately, these sanctions won't happen and Putin is very likely to get away with this.
I don't know why people think any sanctions would be spared against Russia. Clearly maximum sanctions will be implemented against Russia, the real question is how much it will actually hurt them. Russia has been learning from the sanctions in 2014 and preparing for further sanctions ever since, and they have taken many measures to diminish their effect, a few examples mentioned in the article below. Additionally, Russia sold almost all of their stockpile in the US treasury bonds in the last few years (which was around $150 billion in 2013) to avoid having them frozen or taken by the US at any point (like they did with Afghanistan). And on top of all that, alienating China in the last couple of years will definitely weaken these sanctions considerably.


Russia's plan to fight back against Western sanctions



Russia has spent years preparing for this moment.
In 2014, when Russian troops moved into Crimea, annexing part of Ukraine, it provoked a first round of international sanctions. And that taught Moscow an important lesson.
Since then it's been setting up defences, moving away from relying on the dollar, and trying to sanction-proof the Russian economy.
President Putin may be betting that he can withstand sanctions for longer than the West assumes.

International reserves
By January this year, the government's international reserves, in foreign exchange and gold, were at record levels - worth more than $630bn (£464bn).
That is the fourth highest amount of such reserves in the world - and it could be used to help prop up Russia's currency, the rouble, for some considerable time.
Notably only about 16% of Russia's foreign exchange is now actually held in dollars, down from 40% five years ago. About 13% is now held in Chinese renminbi.
All of this is designed to protect Russia as much as possible from American-led sanctions.

'Fortress Russia'
There have also been other changes in the structure of the Russian economy.
Over time it has reduced its reliance on foreign loans and investments, and has been actively seeking new trade opportunities away from Western markets.
China is a big part of that strategy.
The government in Moscow has also taken initial steps to create its own system of international payments, in case it gets cut off from Swift - a global financial messaging service which is overseen by the major Western central banks.
And it has been cutting the size of its budget - prioritising stability over growth.
That has meant the Russian economy has grown at an average of less than 1% a year over the past decade. But it may have become more self-reliant in the process.
"What Russia is doing - in effect - is building almost an alternative financial system so that it can withstand some of the shocks of sanctions that the West might impose," says Dr Rebecca Harding, chief executive of Coriolis Technologies.
"But there will be some short-term pain in all of this, and the vulnerabilities in the Russian system are that they have a web spread very thinly across the globe."

...
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60480904
 

the hea

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I dont see Ukranian defence lasting too long. Russia's force seem overwhelming.
I think Ukraine has something like 200,000 active personal and close to half a million in the reserv with a lot of them having battle experice from the last 8 years of occupation.

Russia might have far better equipment but I don't think the Ukraine armed forces will be defeated in just a few days
 

Raoul

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The Russians have been placing malware in Ukrainian networks for months/years apparently. All of it was in preparation for this day.

I think we can safely put to bed that this is about Ukraine joining NATO. Putin literally doesn't think Ukraine is a country and has always belonged to Russia.
 

Tarrou

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just been chatting to a Ukranian friend online (he's in UK), his mum is in lviv and ready to flee to Poland if needed

this all feels a bit surreal
 

Rajma

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Let’s see if west are prepared to just watch Putin slaughter potentially a million of people in Europe (if Ukraine to show strong resistance) because the cost of heating may go up a bit. This might define our civilization in the 21st century.
 

Water Melon

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I don't know why people think any sanctions would be spared against Russia. Clearly maximum sanctions will be implemented against Russia, the real question is how much it will actually hurt them. Russia has been learning from the sanctions in 2014 and preparing for further sanctions ever since, and they have taken many measures to diminish their effect, a few examples mentioned in the article below. Additionally, Russia sold almost all of their stockpile in the US treasury bonds in the last few years (which was around $150 billion in 2013) to avoid having them frozen or taken by the US at any point (like they did with Afghanistan). And on top of all that, alienating China in the last couple of years will definitely weaken these sanctions considerably.


Russia's plan to fight back against Western sanctions





https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60480904
Will try to be short. Selling their US treasury bonds had a huge negative impact. They tried to keep the money in rubles which has been losing value really fast. Their military industry has suffered a lot under sanctions. Their economy is in much weaker state now compared to in the year 2014. Hit them hard with sanctions and they will crumble. China will not donate money to them. If anything PRC will try get further advantage by getting resources for lesser prices from Russia.
 

Simbo

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I dont see Ukranian defence lasting too long. Russia's force seem overwhelming.
If they fight out in the open they won't, which they won't. The majority of the fighting will be in built up areas, where they may be able to hold out a while using all the tactics of urban warfare.

Problem with that is the utter devastation it means for cities and civilians. The Russian land army is weighted considearbly toward mass artillary bombardment, with not much concern for accuracy.

To avoid Russian casualties they may just surround the main cities, cutting off all electricity, communication, supplies and starve them out.
 

General_Elegancia

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“Part of the reason that Ukraine has never had stable statehood is because of Russia,” says David Patrikarakos, an author of two books about foreign affairs and non-resident fellow at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He says that Putin deliberately ignored the long history of Ukrainian nationalism, including the country’s war of independence against the Soviets that began in 1917, and its resistance to Soviet rule after World War II. “There has been a strong impulse of Ukrainian nationalism for at least the last century, and [of] the Russians just slapping them down militarily,” Patrikarakos says. “And that’s continuing today.”

cr: CNN
 

General_Elegancia

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”What he’s saying is something far wider: Ukraine is not a legitimate state. Ukraine is Russia. It should never have existed as anything else,” Patrikarakos says. It could also be an ominous bellwether for future military action, he suggests. “If you do not accept the idea of Ukraine, then you clearly by implication do not accept the idea of Georgia, the Baltic States, Moldova and everything else.”

cr: CNN
 

Droid_Repairs

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Let’s see if west are prepared to just watch Putin slaughter potentially a million of people in Europe (if Ukraine to show strong resistance) because the cost of heating may go up a bit. This might define our civilization in the 21st century.
I've asked you this before (I think it was you?)

What else can we possibly do but sanction the feck out of Russia and provide arms to Ukraine?

The reason for not getting involved militarily is not to do with the cost of heating, it's to prevent a thermonuclear armageddon.
 

The Firestarter

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I've asked you this before (I think it was you?)

What else can we possibly do but sanction the feck out of Russia and provide arms to Ukraine?

The reason for not getting involved militarily is not to do with the cost of heating, it's to prevent a thermonuclear armageddon.
Problem is it seems we won't sanction the feck out of Russia.
 

Classical Mechanic

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I don't know why I thought other countries had only done it with diplomats or embassy staff or something.

So nevermind!
Macron was probably still deluding himself that he could save the day so didn’t want to issue the advice when everyone else did. He did try at least, in fairness to him.
 

Rajma

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I've asked you this before (I think it was you?)

What else can we possibly do but sanction the feck out of Russia and provide arms to Ukraine?

The reason for not getting involved militarily is not to do with the cost of heating, it's to prevent a thermonuclear armageddon.
Well west hasn’t really provided any arms to Ukraine that are worth any salt. If it was serious about defending Ukraine we would have seen the arm supplies with aerial capabilities which they badly lack. Germany sent them some helmets ffs…If you consider this as a real support then I don’t know what to say. We’re not giving them even a chance here with our inaction…
 

The Firestarter

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Well west hasn’t really provided any arms to Ukraine that are worth any salt. If it was serious about defending Ukraine we would have seen the arm supplies with aerial capabilities which they badly lack. Germany sent them some helmets ffs…If you consider this as a real support then I don’t know what to say.
The "support" by the Germans up to the pipeline freeze was nothing short of pathetic.
 

Danny1982

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Will try to be short. Selling their US treasury bonds had a huge negative impact. They tried to keep the money in rubles which has been losing value really fast. Their military industry has suffered a lot under sanctions. Their economy is in much weaker state now compared to in the year 2014. Hit them hard with sanctions and they will crumble. China will not donate money to them. If anything PRC will try get further advantage by getting resources for lesser prices from Russia.
Russia replaced the dollar mainly with Gold and Chinese Renminbis, not with Russian Rubles.

Their economy is now more resistant to sanctions than it was in 2014, and the slowed growth was actually in part done for that exact reason (the article I posted above explains how).

China won't need to donate any money to Russia, just sell them what they need and buy their gas, oil and agricultural products (even at a discount) will be enough for Russia to survive, especially considering the oil/gas prices will be higher anyway because of the sanctions.

Of course the sanctions will hurt, and there is still no way to predict for sure what effect they will have, but talking about Russia crumbling with certainty in the face of sanctions is not quite clear to me at the moment at least.
 

Water Melon

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Well west hasn’t really provided any arms to Ukraine that are worth any salt. If it was serious about defending Ukraine we would have seen the arm supplies with aerial capabilities which they badly lack. Germany sent them some helmets ffs…If you consider this as a real support then I don’t know what to say.
This is true. Germany sending them helmets and colouring the gates in Berlin in blue and yellow will not help Ukraine at all. The Ukraine has been sold and it is shame that it happened under their new democratic regime.