Occupied Mariupol is already getting the Kremlin treatment

“I don’t attempt to change anyone’s mind. I’ve lost my patience with all pro-Russia traitors.

Pro-Russian traitors?  Traitors to what? Are you saying I am pro-Russian because I ask questions?

“Support for Russia means support for the annihilation of Europe”

Well if that is the case then they are in line behind most of Europe’s governments (EU countries) because they seem pretty hell bent on doing it themselves.  I am not sure why you think Russia even has the capability to take over Europe when just Ukraine seems to have bogged them down.  I am not a military expert but I have seen zero evidence that Russia has the military might or economic circumstances to come anywhere near some prolonged war with a portion of the world.  Now if you want to assert the Chinese would join then that becomes possible but at that point the aggressors are really the Chinese.

If I was a European country minding my own business and I did not wish to be interfered with.  I would probably fear the EU, the USA and the Chinese long before I considered the Russians.   Yes Russia is warring in Ukraine.  But the other governments I just listed are already up in Europe’s business.

I wish to make it clear when I refer to a country I mean that countries government. Most people I assume just want to make it through their day and to the next day.  I do not blame a government’s action on an entire people in any circumstance.

EDIT – That is a gorgeous picture.  If you took that good job that is very pretty.

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by Vknid.

“Russia doesn’t need pure military power to destroy an opponent. Hybrid warfare is what they’re best at. They know that most political leaders in Europe are weak.”

Then why have they been warring in Ukraine for 2 years spending a lot of military resources?  Would they not need that to conquer the rest of Europe?

I would say the root cause in your description aligns with what I mentioned is a more pressing issue for Europe than Russia.  And that is their own governments.

“The Baltic States in particular joined the EU and NATO as quickly as they could”

I am not an expert but from what I gather NATO encroaching on Russia’s borders is what caused much of this tension to begin with.  And the west did much bear poking in Ukraine for monetary gain for some time. Now none of that forced Putin to invade.  But instead of placing all blame on Russia as some of great evil it displays how a number of countries have been involved.

My point here is not to absolve Russia of blame.  It is to highlight that many of the western countries governments are more a threat to their people then Russia is at this time.

“The free flow of information in western countries alone is enough for Russia to influence public opinion in their favour.”

Free flow?  Have you seen how much censoring there is?  In the US right now, anyone openly and effectively dissenting against the establishment gets attacked or cancelled.  From what I understand many European countries are worse.

I am not going to even attempt to explain every instance you assume I think a certain way that is entirely incorrect because it would be several pages.

The reality is that there is a lot of evil going on and much of it coming from very high places pulling the strings from afar and while on the ground it seems like chaos but if you zoom out a little you can see the puppets and the puppet masters.

I do not “dump” on my own country.  I love my country and I hope most have that same feeling regardless of where they live.  What I do indeed complain about is the federal government.  Because it is harming this country and has for some time and at this point it is entirely intentional.  And this is going on in much of the west.  I do not complain about the government because I hate my country, I complain about the government because I love it and wish to preserve it.  For me, sitting here, not 1 bit of that has to do with Russia.  Post Soviet times to my understanding Russia is a shell of itself.   And at this point regardless how evil it might be it’s weak and wounded.  I personally worry about my own federal government and China long before I consider Russia a threat.  That’s me here in the US.  I am sure Europe would have a different point of view as Taiwan would of China.

Yes, Russia invaded and no one forced them to do that but NATO HAS been encroaching (maybe surrounding is a better word) quickly towards Russia.  Since 2004 13 countries were added.  Other countries are free to do as they wish, I don’t blame anyone for that,  but the reality is it does inflame things.  I suspect the political tinkering by western powers (much of it was the US) was more a fire starter in Ukraine than anything. I am not absolving anyone of guilt here, I am just pointing the finger in more than 1 direction.

You can rant about Russia and call people names and assume how they think. None of that emotional vomit will inform or convince anyone.  If you want to inform and or help people to understand your point you need to discuss and not attack.  That just makes folks run away and if your goal is not to inform or cause understanding then that’s simply just ranting.

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by Vknid.

If you did not see the threads where I go back and forth with comicsgate then that just means you don’t read all the threads.  He and I disagreed on his thoughts on Ukraine and the comparison of that to Israel in at least 1 very long thread if not 2 or 3.

I am not sure why you would consider me logically talking about my thoughts and attempting to back them up with some information as lecturing.  That’s seems like an odd way to take that.  Inviting you to leave your rants to have a logical discussion is no more than a humble suggestion.

You do you bro.  If you want to just rant and spout your seething Russian hatred go ahead.  But all you are doing is yelling into the void and wasting your energy and affecting nothing.  But you could use some of that energy and initiate discussion and maybe inform others or allow people to see or understand what they don’t understand now.  Up to you entirely.

Seems like a well written article.  None of that shocks me. Russia is an occupying power and I have no misgivings that they are some humanitarian organization. I recall many turns of the tide in the Middle East.  Whenever a new power takes over they attempt to destroy what was and force their own ideology.  This is fairly historically supported from what I recall.  I am not at all saying it’s good or OK, I just mean I am not shocked at that.  It’s a well known phrase actually.  The more things change the more they stay the same.  I have always thought that if anything makes the Lord upset with us, it’s how often we are horrific to each other as humans.  Obviously this is one of those cases.

“the ”official” reasoning provided by Kremlin that Russia just defends itself from Nato is just propaganda as usual”

It might be, I did not see what they officially said.  I did not care really I knew it would be BS.  But you are conflating “a” reason for with “the” reason for.  I am not saying that’s why Russia invaded.  I am saying that is a thing that inflamed that situation in general and added fuel to the fire.

“Russia is a authoritarian dictatorship and Putin has insane dreams about restoring the Russian Empire, he just heavily overestimated Russia’s capability and what was supposed to be a swift occupation of Kiev and installing a puppet regime which was supposed to take weeks has drawn out to a stalemate.”

Russia is authoritarian.  No one disputes that.  Does Putin have “insane dreams” maybe.  I have insane dreams but just because I fantasize about dating Selma Hayek does not mean I am capable of making that happen.   I have no real measure of how evil Putin is.  But I do have some general reference of what he and his military  seems capable of.  I think he has more or less taken Ukraine but it took him 2 or more years and at the expense of many military resources and while his economy wasn’t awesome before now it’s been really harmed.  I am sure the Russian government is a threat to others but I am not certain they are even in the top 3 of concern for most.

If your own government is allowing hordes of people in from all over and taking loans and or influence from China I think that’s probably a more pressing concern. I am certain people who live near the Russian border run that calculation differently however.

Puppet regime is an interesting topic.  I believe Russia wanted that and one of the things adding to this mess is the fact the west had one there instead.  Is it more wrong for Russia to have a puppet regime there than a US or western one?  No, both are horrible and no one should meddle in Ukraine’s business that isn’t from Ukraine.

“About the EU, they sure have their problems. ”

Some of them are in dire straights from the same policies that are happening all over the west.

” But just take a look of former Russian/Soviet occupied countries, and their progress since cutting ties to Russia and leaning towards the west and joining the EU.”

Well it’s not like I am stating The Soviet Union was an engine of prosperity. Clearly it was not. I am glad they are doing well but I believe that has little to do with the EU itself.  I mean maybe that provides you easy trade agreements but then you become governed  by people you did not elect. I will footnote that some of the old soviet countries are not faring well.  I have seen some of them state they wish the Soviet Union were back because they were not rich then but they were not destitute.  I am not saying the USSR was better for them.  Just pointing that out as an interesting factoid.  I am sure there are many factors there and a lot of people rather the devil they know than the one they don’t.

“And it’s a shame, because Russia has a lot of natural resources and they could do so much good and become an actual modern democratic powerhouse, but they choose to stay as a dictatorship and destroying themselves with just endless war”

I think there is nothing wrong with Russian people.  The government is another story. Their culture seems fantastic from afar.  And yes I agree if their was freedom and a free market they could do very well they have lots of resources, far more than most. Endless war is a horrible decaying thing and so is involving yourself in the business of other countries.  I know Russia is guilty of that.  So is the US and others. Let’s call evil as evil regardless of where you might hail from.