There's no need to propagate this theory at this point. The evidence remains that as yet he has not attacked a NATO member.
Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
- Thread starter Wednesday at Stoke
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lads there wont be a world war 3 without nuclear arms so if it does kick off we are all done for
Lesya Vasylenko though...
As suspected, Russia likely tried it as 'sanitized' as possible but things might get uglier.
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It won't be a World War unless China and India join in. At the moment, it's just confined to Ukraine and potentially a couple of other spots in north/eastern Europe. I can't see it spreading much beyond that.
That includes Poland, probably most of all as we have the largest amount of US soldiers here. feck.
Marco Rubio is tweeting constantly about the war. Hard not to be cynical, maybe he sees this as an opportunity to boost his profile. Or maybe he just cares about it.
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If they use tos-1 on civilians they just autocreate propaganda for decades to come. Broadcasting the look of the bodies after around the world may actually force nato countries do something, think they are throwing babies in Kuwait moment.
It would be funny if it wasnt so sad - the best leaders are the ones who arent career politicians.
Great news. The Ukraine insurgency will hopefully be a thing of legend, emblazoned in many Sabaton songs.
Good news on the AA stuff going to Ukraine from NATO too - air superiority feels like the biggest problem for Ukraine right now. Russia has complete operational freedom as long as they control the skies. They can choose to invade Kyiv, starve them out, or just level the entire city. If Ukraine can force it into a ground, urban-combat style slog, then they could hold out for a long time. Long enough to really give Putin a bloody nose and make his cronies question his strength (and probably, his sanity).
I would say the next ~48 hours are absolutely critical. If Ukraine and Kyiv can hold out for this long, and get these weapons and aid into key positions, they can drag this thing out and make the Russians bleed for it.
If this happens, NATO will intervene, guaranteed.
I thought 1997 meant the smaller Balkan states and the Baltics but this actually includes Poland and Czechia. Yeah, this is not happening.
Now that is the kind of red line that would not keep anyone silent if Putin crosses it anyhow. God save us all.
This is going south, very quickly.
A war between NATO and Russia would most certainly be a world war. That's not going to happen, though. It'll be a cold war, which is bad enough.
Sadly, no they won't.
I fecking hope we have got our air defences at the utmost readiness. Get the RAF defence ready now.
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There was a lot of talk about weather and the ground becoming too soft for tanks by mid-March. Surely that would make Putin even more desperate for a quick win.
But if he uses those weapons on civilians, there's no coming back. Shame people in Russia won't see the photos unless they go out of their way.
But if he uses those weapons on civilians, there's no coming back. Shame people in Russia won't see the photos unless they go out of their way.
Considering the disdain he shows for American people I find it hard to believe he cares about the Ukrianians. He’s just your typical neo-con hawk. Doesn’t make him wrong about Putin.
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They are always ready
Theres always a rapid reaction force Air Land and Sea
Always, it’s nothing new
All this stuff about “now is the time for NATO to step up, stop being wimps” is doing my head in.
As a guy enrolled in the army in a NATO country (through mandatory duty until the age of 44), I’m not so sure I’m ready to die just yet.
I simply can’t see any upside at all to start flexing muscle until it’s the actual last resort.
I’m literally scared shitless for the (inevitable?) phone call about “start preparing - war might be coming”, and even more scared if shit actually hits the fan across the entire continent.
I’m not ready to become cannon fodder because of a megalomaniac.
Call me a pussy, it’s fine.
But I imagine a lot of you guys on here are actually in real danger of being called to combat if things escalate properly. And if you answer truly, are you really ready for that? Are you really ready to die? I know I’m not. And that’s a very real and very possible consequence of escalating things.
As a guy enrolled in the army in a NATO country (through mandatory duty until the age of 44), I’m not so sure I’m ready to die just yet.
I simply can’t see any upside at all to start flexing muscle until it’s the actual last resort.
I’m literally scared shitless for the (inevitable?) phone call about “start preparing - war might be coming”, and even more scared if shit actually hits the fan across the entire continent.
I’m not ready to become cannon fodder because of a megalomaniac.
Call me a pussy, it’s fine.
But I imagine a lot of you guys on here are actually in real danger of being called to combat if things escalate properly. And if you answer truly, are you really ready for that? Are you really ready to die? I know I’m not. And that’s a very real and very possible consequence of escalating things.
Rifles against tanks....
Putin is all in on this, I have a bad feeling he’s willing to take this further than many people think.
A war between NATO and Russia would be a war between NATO and Russia. The rest of the world would stay on the sidelines. Unlike WW1 and WW2, there won't be global empires dragged into the fighting. And there won't be any Asian, African or South American thatres to speak of.
With civilians being armed the best case is a ceasefire. Worst case we are looking at a repeat of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
I'm instantly reminded of Putin's very clear threat:
"Whoever tries to hinder us should know that Russia's response will be immediate. And it will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history."
If people throw their toys out at the first suggestion of trying to understand what he is thinking when hes doing this, they will never understand it.
The UK and our air defences are at a state of incredibly high alert right now. My nephew has been recalled to be ready to ship out.
Didn’t Putin talk about sending “Russian peacekeeping forces” 
I hate to break it, but apart from the Eurofighters, the UK has very little/no air defence. Type 45 destroyer is literally the best air defence we have.
I never quite knew if one should take such remarks seriously. Could be standard rhetoric to intimidate, rather than actually meaning it.
But I also didn't think Putin would actually go ahead with a full-scale invasion. So I think it's clear we better take those remarks seriously.
They couldn't get air superiority over the UK. Not a chance. A combination of range issues and the RAF's technological superiority.
Forgive me for quoting myself, here is something I said about this subject several pages ago. The TLDR is that Russia could not conquer the UK conventionally.
When you think about it, what else can he do ? He can't go back after this naked aggression and grovel to be reaccepted into the international fold. He is literally a Salmon swimming upstream to spawn and then die. The invasion of Ukraine is his attempt at spawning.
That is so.
The RAF Typhoon is an excellent air superiority fighter.
But we don't have that many, especially the latest version. Just about 100 I believe. That may sound a lot. But taking account of those in maintenance and repair, or lacking spares and the RAF are down to the minimum necessary.
And the same for the new F35B.
This discussion is the utmost of semantics, but it would absolutely be a world war. A world war doesn't have to involve everyone, or everywhere. It would involve the majority of military strength in the world, and encompass three continents (technically more, but I doubt French Guyana would see much fighting). It'd be more of a world war than World War 1, for example.
I also wouldn't be so sure the rest of the world would stay on the sidelines. If it's nuclear, all bets are off.
I can totally understand your reasoning, it’s a terrible predicament to be faced with and I’ve thought about it many times. I wouldn’t want to die for a cause that’s not personal to me, but then there’s the saying “Evil only prevails, when good men do nothing”.
Where do you live btw? Wouldn’t want to be facing it either.
Please explain to me his viewpoint and what we're missing. Please also include why you think you are qualified to offer this opinion.
Only from a Euro-centric point of view.
You can't start an argument about semantics and then decry that it's an argument about semantics.