Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Water Melon

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Huge amount of propaganda in this war.

Obviously, the Ukrainians are the good guys so we forgive them more easily. But we should still be taking everything coming out of the country with a pinch of salt.
It has got nothing to do with Ukraine. There was a video showing the Ukranian soldiers telling the Russian war ship to f..ck off. Of course there was a chance that these guys were alive. However, how do you know if they are or not, as you can not communicate with them and it is an island that you do not have any access to of whatsoever.
 

IWat

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Absolutely horrific stuff on Twitter showing the Kharkiv bombings. Dozens of civilians killed. I think that shows where these peace talks are heading unfortunately.
It's indiscriminate bombing of civilian population centres. Starting to wonder how anything can be negotiated at this point without Putin going at the least. Ideally, he should be escorted to The Hague in handcuffs to stand trial for war crimes, but then so should many in recent years who have not.
 

groovyalbert

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Even if Putin views NATO expansion as a threat (and I actually sympathise with him on this one, but not much), this is a totally diplomatic issue and in no way allows him an excuse to invade a country. Twice.

The man has gone mad. That is the problem.
Whilst I do get his concern, the semantics are off. It's hardly NATO expansionism if a country applies to become a part of the organization. It's not like NATO are trying to twist Ukraine's arm to join them. All actors involved are acting off their own interests and desires.

I think this is an issue with much of the perceived sympathy for Putin here. For Russia to have a sphere of influence in Europe, it means actively making countries to act against the will of their people/through dodgy governments. NATO/EU organizations simply don't "expand" in that way.

Putin might have an issue with it, but it's an irrelevance given that his worldview/interpretation is so off from the reality of the situation. You have to stand up to this.
 

Water Melon

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Absolutely horrific stuff on Twitter showing the Kharkiv bombings. Dozens of civilians killed. I think that shows where these peace talks are heading unfortunately.
The butcher is doing what he always wanted to do. Either strip the Ukranians off their nationalidentity or just kill them en masse until they accept the cnut's ruling over them.
 

Ananke

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Totally never said that, but go off. I don't at all agree with the invasion. All i'm saying is that Putin has a legitimate reason to be aggrieved (I understand better the complexity around the issue now) not that he is justified in his disproportionate escalation and nuclear threats. The west was never going roll back the expansion to pre 1997 levels but maybe some truce could have been made on Ukraine if negotiations could have been allowed to continue before he decided to go full madman Putler mode.
Apologies if I took your words out of context. My annoyance was that you stated initially that he had a genuine security concern and that anyone dismissing it was disingenuous. And that you could understand his perspective, which for me was a little bit of straddling the line of "he's got a good reason for what he's doing". So I got that wrong.

But for me even after watching that video (I saw it live at the time), pairing it with all the other reasons that are being put forward in Russian Media + by Putin/his staff, I don't understand his perspective. I don't sympathize with it or find any logic in it (not saying you do). I find it rather baffling that anyone does as it doesn't add up to a 'understandable' perspective for me.
 

Mickeza

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It's indiscriminate bombing of civilian population centres. Starting to wonder how anything can be negotiated at this point without Putin going at the least. Ideally, he should be escorted to The Hague in handcuffs to stand trial for war crimes, but then so should many in recent years who have not.
He’s all in unfortunately. Only way this ends quickly is if he’s overthrown internally.
 

Dante

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It has got nothing to do with Ukraine. There was a video showing the Ukranian soldiers telling the Russian war ship to f..ck off. Of course there was a chance that these guys were alive. However, how do you know if they are or not, as you can not communicate with them and it is an island that you do not have any access to of whatsoever.
Zelenskyy himself talked about it. According to Wikipedia, he's the President of Ukraine.

"All the border guard guards died heroically defending our Snake Island. They didn't give in," he said on Thursday evening, Ukrainian outlet Pravda reported. "Each of them will be be awarded the Hero of Ukraine medal posthumously."

https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-snake-island-soldiers-russia-confronttion-killed-audio-1682562
 

Water Melon

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He’s all in unfortunately. Only way this ends quickly is if he’s overthrown internally.
When civilians start dying en masse powerful armies will intervene. Noone is going to let a country be erased. This time around an overwhelming majority of states are on one side.
 

led_scholes

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It has got nothing to do with Ukraine. There was a video showing the Ukranian soldiers telling the Russian war ship to f..ck off. Of course there was a chance that these guys were alive. However, how do you know if they are or not, as you can not communicate with them and it is an island that you do not have any access to of whatsoever.
They were reports that they were alive already, but Ukraine rushed to proclaim them dead and make them martyrs. It happens all the time during war, but lets not kid ourselves, they just wanted to find heroes.
 

Sarni

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My God, Kharkiv now. My friend's father is there. Praying.
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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That would not serve his purpose. He needed to do this clean. If he wanted to shell everything to oblivion, he may as well pull out the thermobaric bombs on Day 1.
Totally agree but this was never gonna be over in 3 days, I think the constant 24hr news makes it feel like this war has been going on for ever.
 

the_cliff

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Zelensky himself talked about it:

"All the border guard guards died heroically defending our Snake Island. They didn't give in," he said on Thursday evening, Ukrainian outlet Pravda reported. "Each of them will be be awarded the Hero of Ukraine medal posthumously."

https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-snake-island-soldiers-russia-confronttion-killed-audio-1682562
Yes, it was all over Western media and twitter how they all died heroically. In fact Russia claimed they were still alive and had been taken as prisoners and were laughed at as being 'Russian Propoganda'.

The amount of misinformation in the media and twitter is insane.
 

Sarni

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Any reports how the Ukrainian soldiers and defenders are holding up?
They haven't really been able to reach him on a consistent basis for the last 3 days. They just know he's alive and cannot leave. Also super scared.
 

TMDaines

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Any reports how the Ukrainian soldiers and defenders are holding up?
Reporters were reporting from the streets this morning. Ukraine still seems to have control of the ground, but the city is now coming under increasing artillery fire.

Kyiv seems pretty clam meanwhile with people restocking essentials.
 

IWat

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Whilst “peace talks” take place

I'm not sure if they already have or when the delegations are planning to meet. But it would not surprise me at all if the Ukrainian delegation is simply arrested under some pretense that what Ukraine is doing is illegal etc.
 

Dante

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Yes, it was all over Western media and twitter how they all died heroically. In fact Russia claimed they were still alive and had been taken as prisoners and were laughed at as being 'Russian Propoganda'.

The amount of misinformation in the media and twitter is insane.
I would guess the proportion of disinformation is about level on both sides.

But the volume of it coming from pro-Russian sources is going to be much bigger because of their greater resources. And, of course, more cnuty because they're the clear and obvious aggressors.

Either way, we should take everything with a pinch of salt. Even if we want it to be true.

Unless it's a story coming a verified source, I'm going to assume it's an exaggeration of some kind. And even then, it's probably worth waiting a couple of days for corroboration.
 

Rightnr

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Sure he is.
Became rich in a very shady way. No one cared.
Financed illegal jewish settlings in the West Bank. No one cared.
Now when he finally seems to be on the right side is when people start calling him out? That's ridiculous.
Don't be naive. Roman got his money by backing Putler early on as the successor of Boris Yeltsin.

And also, even if Ukraine asked for him to be there, it would be exactly because he's got pull in Putin's Russia, even if they don't wash each other's backs.

The opportunity for great PR is also not to be underestimated, even if it's unlikely to result in anything tangible.
 

BlueHaze

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History repeats itself over and over and no one ever learns the lesson. When someone sits in power as long as Putin has they eventually wreak havoc. He was always a ticking bomb.
 

Mickeza

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I'm not sure if they already have or when the delegations are planning to meet. But it would not surprise me at all if the Ukrainian delegation is simply arrested under some pretense that what Ukraine is doing is illegal etc.
Been meeting for the last hour. They won’t arrest them - they’ll just keep them dragging on for days/weeks hoping the government will fall at some point/or Ukraine will leave.
 

Ananke

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I would guess the proportion of disinformation is about level on both sides.

But the volume of it coming from pro-Russian sources is going to be much bigger because of their greater resources. And, of course, more cnuty because they're the clear and obvious aggressors.

Either way, we should take everything with a pinch of salt. Even if we want it to be true.
I guess when Ukrainians heard that news (the heroes of snake island), it will have filled them all with a sense of patriotism. Which let's face it, you've got mass Russian Forces coming your way and looking death in the face...you need fuel like that for these circumstances.
 

IWat

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Don't be naive. Roman got his money by backing Putler early on as the successor of Boris Yeltsin.

And also, even if Ukraine asked for him to be there, it would be exactly because he's got pull in Putin's Russia, even if they don't wash each other's backs.

The opportunity for great PR is also not to be underestimated, even if it's unlikely to result in anything tangible.
It's what needs to be promoted though - These people turning around and questioning WTF Russia is doing. I don't think Abramovich is a saint or would be doing it for 100% selfless reasons, but I don't really care. Anyone with any kind of sway with the inner circle needs to be encouraged to speak out and step in.
 

DickDastardly

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Zelenskyy himself talked about it. According to Wikipedia, he's the President of Ukraine.

"All the border guard guards died heroically defending our Snake Island. They didn't give in," he said on Thursday evening, Ukrainian outlet Pravda reported. "Each of them will be be awarded the Hero of Ukraine medal posthumously."

https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-snake-island-soldiers-russia-confronttion-killed-audio-1682562
Hope they haven't printed the medals yet.


The amount of misinformation is staggering.

The BBC filming russian troops like its a videogame, the inability to recognize if it's russian or ukranian tanks running over cars, now this....

Hope this ends soon.
 

stefan92

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It's what needs to be promoted though - These people turning around and questioning WTF Russia is doing. I don't think Abramovich is a saint or would be doing it for 100% selfless reasons, but I don't really care. Anyone with any kind of sway with the inner circle needs to be encouraged to speak out and step in.
Abramovich has family in Ukraine.
 

IWat

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Hope they haven't printed the medals yet.


The amount of misinformation is staggering.

The BBC filming russian troops like its a videogame, the inability to recognize if it's russian or ukranian tanks running over cars, now this....

Hope this ends soon.
In fairness, part of this is disinformation. Part has always been the case - militaries invest billions into technologies to get information quicker and understand the battlefield faster. When there is potentially no phones or internet getting reliable and up to date information from areas can be challenging, it's been the case throughout the history of warfare from the times you risked the guy on the horse with the message getting shot.
 

TheReligion

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Abramovich has family in Ukraine.
He’s apparently got zero political influence though…

Funny he’s now brokering a deal with governments a day after trying to distance himself from Chelsea to prevent sanctions.

Whatever the intention it simply highlights he has been and clearly is an oligarch.
 

IWat

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Abramovich has family in Ukraine.
Who he has the funds to get out and buy them new lavish homes elsewhere. As I said, anyone willing to pop their head above the parapet should be applauded for it in my opinion. Otherwise, it just encourages anyone else thinking about getting involved or speaking out to simply sit on their hands.
 

tomaldinho1

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From what I remember he was very close to Ukraine and was a very good friend of Shevchenko (who was once involved in the government) iirc.

Edit:
Also:
https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2022/02/27/621baa52e2704e916d8b45cc.html
Yep and as the article the other poster referenced is very influential in the Jewish community. I don’t think anyone cares about his background when specifically discussing the theme of peace talks - if he can help in any way let him, no one is pretending he’s not an oligarch or doesn’t have a shady past.
 

spiriticon

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Even the UK MoD has been giving out a bit of misinformation themselves. I remember them saying Melitopol wasn't captured, but there were clear videos of the Russian flag being put on the police station and loads of Russian guards walking the streets.

That said, we have to bear in mind that both sides of the story might be true at that time:

1) Snake Island may have been shelled to shit by Russian warship but that doesn't mean the guards all died. We just assumed they were.

2) Capturing a police station =/= capturing the whole city
 

tomaldinho1

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Even the UK MoD has been giving out a bit of misinformation themselves. I remember them saying Melitopol wasn't captured, but there were clear videos of the Russian flag being put on the police station and loads of Russian guards walking the streets.

That said, we have to bear in mind that both sides of the story might be true at that time:

1) Snake Island may have been shelled to shit by Russian warship but that doesn't mean the guards all died. We just assumed they were.

2) Capturing a police station =/= capturing the whole city
Wasn’t the flag picture debunked as an old fake?