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General Discussion => WHATEVER => Topic started by: IUTSM on February 23, 2022, 08:19:03 PM
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Hey Pals,
I'd like to try to keep this thread to answers from folks living on that side of the pond, kind of trying to leave out American politicized opinions...
What the fuck is going on with Russia possibly invading Ukraine? Are people really freaking out and leaving the country? All I'm able to really see are images on reddit and, on any side of the social-political spectrum, stories from Western funded writers/journalists, so I really don't know what's happening.
Please let us know.
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@reddit@twitter
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Shit is fucked. That is all.
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Most of Europe is on the western side of the iron curtain and terribly far from Ukraine so we kinda get the same polarised info (NATO etc).
I used to know a dude my age who fled Ukraine with no money in like ‘14 or something when it all started.
Around same time another guy I know moved from Donetsk to Lviv cos it was safer.
Edit: lol I realised most of what I wrote is irrelevant.
But yeah the sense is that you should ask a Russian / Ukrainian pal. That’s why that Place itw was good.
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I have a few Russian and Ukrainian friends in my football (soccer) team. We've been talking about the situation a bunch lately. They all strongly oppose Putin, to the point that he pushed some of them to emigration. Their take seems to be that in the West, there is a (mis)information war, but in Russia there is almost only disinformation left. People there either gobble up the Kremlin gospel or pay no more attention whatsoever. That said, my friends were all pretty blasé about the threat. That changed this morning, I imagine.
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Grandma and Uncle live in Rostov Oblast. No good new whatsoever.
Only distant hope is a revolution with blood of every single kretin from Duma decorating the streets.
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Russian pro-Putin trolls were working overtime in the last week, commenting our (Slovenia) national TV's news articles and accusing the USA with being the provocateur. As of today, their voices are drowned out completely, since it is obvious that Putin is the aggressor and that the alleged crimes against Russians in Ukraine are not base in reality.
I don't see this escalating into a full blown multi-nation conflict - I believe that Putin will be on the verge of taking over Ukraine and then be pushed back to a smaller part of the country, so that the NATO forces can proclaim a victory of sorts and Putin can gain some land (and it's resources) and population. Some treaties will then be signed, so that Putin can be seen as relevant for a few more years (and then die, hopefully).
My biggest fear is if the economic sanctions and overall trade fallout could trigger a recession.
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” For years I have been reluctant to compare any dictator to Hitler, or any war to the second world war. The comparison, to me, seemed exaggerated, even vulgar.
But what other analogy is there? With no reason, in an act of pure madness, an old-fashioned air assault has been inflicted on a neighbouring country.
I said that to my Russian colleague, and tried very hard not to show how my voice was trembling. She asked for forgiveness again.
There is a famous phrase ‘4am Kyiv is bombed’. Every Ukrainian and Russian kid knows it. That’s how the announcement of the German bombardment of Kyiv in 1941 sounded.
And here we are: 24 February 5am Kyiv is bombed by Russia.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/24/kyiv-putin-bombs-invasion-airstrikes-ukraine-russia
Shit is fucked.
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i can't even fucking believe what i'm reading and seeing across the news and media spectrum today. fuck, not to say my own country isn't lousy with much of the same, but nevertheless, Putin is a fucking detestable, rabid fucking animal that needs to be put down...
cheers @IusedToSkateMore, i was thinking the same for a thread
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” For years I have been reluctant to compare any dictator to Hitler, or any war to the second world war. The comparison, to me, seemed exaggerated, even vulgar.
But what other analogy is there? With no reason, in an act of pure madness, an old-fashioned air assault has been inflicted on a neighbouring country.
I said that to my Russian colleague, and tried very hard not to show how my voice was trembling. She asked for forgiveness again.
There is a famous phrase ‘4am Kyiv is bombed’. Every Ukrainian and Russian kid knows it. That’s how the announcement of the German bombardment of Kyiv in 1941 sounded.
And here we are: 24 February 5am Kyiv is bombed by Russia.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/24/kyiv-putin-bombs-invasion-airstrikes-ukraine-russia
Shit is fucked.
So one of my other weird little obsessions alongside skateboarding, pro wrestling, marijuana etc is military history. It's probably 75% of what I watch on YouTube (binge watching drachinifel stuff atm) and I've been super into aviation history since the first time I saw the blackbird at Lackland when I graduated basic training.
I've been saying for weeks that Putin is essentially reading the script from the 1939 Poland invasion by the Nazis. Move everything to the border, withdraw from diplomacy, stage a bunch of false flags, claim you're acting in self defense, invade. I actually think what Biden is doing so far is the right thing - he's basically calling out Putin's moves before he makes them and showing the world how much of a liar and fascist he is.
What really concerns me is he seems to be trying to push for all out war. I genuinely wonder if behind the scenes he isn't dying and sees this as his last chance to rebuild the iron curtain or something. Let's not forget he's a KGB kook to the core and the writing was on the wall as soon as he got Navalny out of the way and no one did anything about it.
From a pure milnerd perspective its going to be interesting to see how Russian fighters cope with western AA systems. I suspect they'll just try to overcome it with numbers if they're unable to avoid being tracked and engaged.
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you dudes are sautéed if you’re earnestly comparing lebensraum to this
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you dudes are sautéed if you’re earnestly comparing lebensraum to this
Please, enlighten us then professor.
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i have to enlighten you as to why a russian encroachment into previously held territory isn’t the same as the axis conquest of europe? especially after crimea and the georgian war and chechnya (x2)?!
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I love y'all but I really kinda created this thread to hear what folks on the other side of the pond are seeing/hearing/experiencing. I can read American opinions on reddit.
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This is terrible.
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i have to enlighten you as to why a russian encroachment into previously held territory isn’t the same as the axis conquest of europe? especially after crimea and the georgian war and chechnya (x2)?!
Where did anyone say it was the same thing? We're saying this is exactly how that started. And it is. If you want to be pedantic, Russia, in its modern form has never held Ukrainian, in its modern form's territory unopposed, so they aren't recapturing anything and even if they were why would that be different than Hitler invading Poland? They've given almost identical justification for their actions.
Also you may, may want to look up what Hitler was up to before Poland. The anschluss and cz are actually pretty easy to compare to what Putin did with Georgia/Crimea.
Not trying to throw this off topic but if you don't see the parallels you're either misinformed about history or ignoring the obvious. And I'm really sick of this hand-waving "it won't actually happen" shit. A nuclear armed dictator just invaded and declared war on a sovereign nation. He's not just going to stop.
Also I'm invoking my honorary German status. Frank can vouch for me. I spent 2 of the most important years of my life there, not all that far from where this is happening.
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” For years I have been reluctant to compare any dictator to Hitler, or any war to the second world war. The comparison, to me, seemed exaggerated, even vulgar.
But what other analogy is there? With no reason, in an act of pure madness, an old-fashioned air assault has been inflicted on a neighbouring country.
I said that to my Russian colleague, and tried very hard not to show how my voice was trembling. She asked for forgiveness again.
There is a famous phrase ‘4am Kyiv is bombed’. Every Ukrainian and Russian kid knows it. That’s how the announcement of the German bombardment of Kyiv in 1941 sounded.
And here we are: 24 February 5am Kyiv is bombed by Russia.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/24/kyiv-putin-bombs-invasion-airstrikes-ukraine-russia
Shit is fucked.
yes, shit is fucked. Putin definitely is a powermad authoritarian leader. I don't like the comparison to Hitler, though. One, this has been done so many times that it doesn't really mean much anymore. two, all those comparisons do is make the history of the third reich and the holocaust less meaningful at the same time.
Putin is its own terrble phenomenon. Make the effort to understand his singular evil place in the present and in history.
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I love y'all but I really kinda created this thread to hear what folks on the other side of the pond are seeing/hearing/experiencing. I can read American opinions on reddit.
Sentiments towards American presence in Europe are always pretty ambivalent, I feel. Many of our own armies have been downsized to a sometimes laughable extent. A few years ago the Dutch had to turn down a request for tank deployment, for example, because they only had a dozen or so left, and they were all broken. Germany leased them a few. Europe clearly depends on the US for defense, but then that worries people.
Putin unhinged keeps defying pundits' predictions, who still seem certain that Russia won't push it further than Ukraine since that would mean confronting NATO. For now that leaves Ukraine caught in the middle and left to its limited devices. Kiev citizens facing a full-scale invasion of their city were urged to prepare Molotov cocktails.
The news coming out of there is just heart-breaking no matter where you are watching from. This round-the-clock coverage, with specially composed Ukraine Crisis news jingles, talk of sanctions that 'will really hurt the Russian people', and accepting refugees 'within the reasonable parameters of our existing laws', is a nauseating mess that people soon can't help but look away from. (Though maybe that's just me - excuse the rant.)
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It's a crazy situation cos even if the EU declares war to Russia, well that means Europe is done.
If the USA do the same, Russia will probably attack NATO bases and the respective countries.
If China is backing Russia, well good luck.
Putin does not give a fuck, that's where the comparison to Hitler made sense to me, their mentality. Also Blitzkrieg.
Currently Russia took over Chernobyl nuclear plant, if they destroy the shell we're fucked.
They're also bombing left and right.
I got a hold of the dude who's currently in Lviv via his mother, he's stuck in the city.
She told me Russians executed 13 people aged 18/20 who were trying to defend a small island.
I believe that's just the very tip of the iceberg cos his mother told me the situation is like 10x more insane than what we know.
Communication is hard but I will report back what I hear from him/her.
The stuff I saw on Telegram is fucked too. Like tanks turning on the street to run over Ukrainian cars. Jets flying 20m above buildings and unloading missiles. Dark times.
Update: from what I understood he’s hiding in a basement or some shit. Poland is very close but he can’t flee cos they’re bombing and killing civilians.
Also there’s a chance Ukraine will call him to fight.
Fucking nightmare.
The young people who were executed were just patrolling some kind of border.
Filo-Russian Ukrainian from the Eastern regions ‘betrayed’ the country in a way cos they put down a red carpet for Russian invasion.
That’s what she said but I’d rather listen to her than the media.
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edit: keeping american politicized opinions out of it per request. google GAZPROM and how much of europe is dependent on it. then ask yourself how far this is going to go. be serious with yourself.
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My heart goes out to all civilians whose life is in danger and whose existence is threatened. I hope the European countries show generous hospitality to those fleeing the war.
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Hey Pals,
I'd like to try to keep this thread to answers from folks living on that side of the pond, kind of trying to leave out American politicized opinions...
What the fuck is going on with Russia possibly invading Ukraine? Are people really freaking out and leaving the country? All I'm able to really see are images on reddit and, on any side of the social-political spectrum, stories from Western funded writers/journalists, so I really don't know what's happening.
Please let us know.
Not from here but currently living in Poland. Can only speak about what is kinda happening in Poland, but people (at least the ones around me) are getting pretty tense/nervous about the whole situation. We've been hearing that a lot of people are trying to get into Poland from Ukraine, crazy highway jams and train tickets are all sold out. The Warsaw expat groups have constant posts of people trying to find rides for their family and friends to get into Poland. I heard that there's a lot of military (Polish) build up going on along the Polish eastern border (Podkarpackie, lubelskie).
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I live in Slovakia. Ukraine is our neighbour. I also work in media, so all the information available is pretty much instantly on my feed at work. Let me tell You, waking up these days, first thing that comes to my mind is to turn on the news, pick up my phone and just fucking pray that Russian tanks are still in Ukraine, and not in Slovakia (However fucked that sounds). My heart goes to all the people in Ukraine, and also Russians that are protesting against Putin and his regime.
Russia started locking up their own people who protest on the streets. Russian tanks go over civil cars in Kyjev, with people in them.
Fuck everyone who is in charge of this, Putin, or any of his people.
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Protests and such in Berlin, people showing support. I'd imagine less tension here than in countries closer to Ukraine. Chief of the German army went on a public rant about how the German military is worthless it's options to support it's allies are extremely limited.
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Does anyone have any strong connections to the skate scene in Ukraine?
I spoke with a friend and we are down to put the work into trying to start some sort of fund to support the dudes stuck there or the dudes who escaped, but I don't know anyone in the scene down there to help distribute funds and really help understand what is needed by those in the skate community and their families (money for food? money for general supplies? money for food outside of Ukraine?)
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I'm Irish living in France. My opinion is this. Fuck yourself Putin.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/feb/25/go-fuck-yourself-ukrainian-soldiers-snake-island-russian-ship-before-being-killed-audio
RIP. Nothing but respect.
Edit:
https://youtu.be/L17Bi7zBJHI
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(https://i.ibb.co/x6N1Qdy/o7oi9-NHAgz.webp) (https://ibb.co/L13xfHM)
anyway, this thread is filled with garbage. First and foremost the fact there's a war is terrible, what a miserable affair, but I can't help but mock the people urging the US to send troops and "fix" things when the US created this goddamn conflict in the first place. Putin was literally approved as Yeltsin's successor by fucking Bill Clinton himself in secret talks, they sponsored a far right coup of the Ukrainian government in 2014, they funded and armed neo nazi militias and they forced Ukraine to withdraw from the negotiating table and egged on Putin with threats of Nato (an obsolete organization founded and run in part by nazi officials jfc) encircling Russia. So the US toyed with Ukraine, made it into a buffer to contain Russia and then when Ukraine genuinely needs help, they flee. Anyone reading this needs to understand that Putin is also a maniac, who thinks that the Soviet Union failed because they cared too much about their people's wellfare, he only cares about power and authority, the invasion does not surprise me one bit.
I mean this conflict is really the result of one giant diplomatic fuckup and shitty cold war era miscalculations, it sucks, and the poor, the working class, the average man and woman are dying and suffering, caught between two shitty forces arm wrestling over territory. To be very clear, I absolutely detest Putin, he's a grifter, a reactionary traitor, and a fascist who believes in violence, but so are US politicians who provoqued this war when the writing was on the wall for the past 15 years. And once again, everyday people suffer the consequences of shitty decision making.
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Ah, fuck... Got super worse.. Ukrainians are bombing Rostov side now... I don't blame them, but fuck..
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Putin unhinged keeps defying pundits' predictions, who still seem certain that Russia won't push it further than Ukraine since that would mean confronting NATO.
Finland and Sweden have entered the chat:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595853-russia-threatens-military-and-political-consequences-if-finland
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Putin unhinged keeps defying pundits' predictions, who still seem certain that Russia won't push it further than Ukraine since that would mean confronting NATO.
Finland and Sweden have entered the chat:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595853-russia-threatens-military-and-political-consequences-if-finland
Scary. Seems like this was the plan all along. Basically WW2.(Finland joins Germany not because they are Nazis but because Russia is fucking wild) Russia's still pissed about it.
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As a person living in Finland, i've kinda come to realization that we all gonna die at some point because of few lunatics having some power fantasies
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As a person living in Finland, i've kinda come to realization that we all gonna die at some point because of few lunatics having some power fantasies
Too bad the raging americans on this forum will mock you relentlessly whenever you blame their shitty country for causing what could be the start to ww3. Yet another proof this forum isn’t the shining beacon of progressive thought in skateboarding so many make it out to be
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Putin unhinged keeps defying pundits' predictions, who still seem certain that Russia won't push it further than Ukraine since that would mean confronting NATO.
Finland and Sweden have entered the chat:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595853-russia-threatens-military-and-political-consequences-if-finland
Finland was very much on the Nazi’s side mate, wtf?
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Putin unhinged keeps defying pundits' predictions, who still seem certain that Russia won't push it further than Ukraine since that would mean confronting NATO.
Finland and Sweden have entered the chat:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595853-russia-threatens-military-and-political-consequences-if-finland
Finland was very much on the Nazi’s side mate, wtf?
Yeah I said that? My point was they didn't join the Nazis because they hated Jews etc they did it to fight the Soviets and Russia is still pissed about it
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As a person living in Finland, i've kinda come to realization that we all gonna die at some point because of few lunatics having some power fantasies
I'm in Sweden. We're probably spending summer in woods with rifles, bro.
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Putin unhinged keeps defying pundits' predictions, who still seem certain that Russia won't push it further than Ukraine since that would mean confronting NATO.
Finland and Sweden have entered the chat:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595853-russia-threatens-military-and-political-consequences-if-finland
Finland was very much on the Nazi’s side mate, wtf?
Huh, I didn’t know the russian government still had that grudge against finland. I don’t think Putin will do anything against Sweden or Finland, unlike Ukraine the US cares about these two and will raise hell if anything happens
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As a person living in Finland, i've kinda come to realization that we all gonna die at some point because of few lunatics having some power fantasies
I'm in Sweden. We're probably spending summer in woods with rifles, bro.
Bro looking forward to it
Remember to bring some snus, nothing like being in woods with some Ettan los
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Abolish Nato
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Russian pro-Putin trolls were working overtime in the last week, commenting our (Slovenia) national TV's news articles and accusing the USA with being the provocateur. As of today, their voices are drowned out completely, since it is obvious that Putin is the aggressor and that the alleged crimes against Russians in Ukraine are not base in reality.
I don't see this escalating into a full blown multi-nation conflict - I believe that Putin will be on the verge of taking over Ukraine and then be pushed back to a smaller part of the country, so that the NATO forces can proclaim a victory of sorts and Putin can gain some land (and it's resources) and population. Some treaties will then be signed, so that Putin can be seen as relevant for a few more years (and then die, hopefully).
My biggest fear is if the economic sanctions and overall trade fallout could trigger a recession.
hellow fellow slovenian !
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pozdrav armine
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I'm not signing on to this abolish NATO or even worse CorneliusCardew's complete nonsense as a reaction to Putin's aggression.
I'm not backing the over-left version that takes legitimate critiques of US/NATO diplomatic and military mistakes and turns them into excuses for Putin's invasion of a sovereign nation and creating 100K+ refugees overnight. Nor am I taking this far-right Tucker Carlson "Putin never called me racist" or this Steve Bannon "Putin is cool cause he hates gays [and other people I hate]" bullshit either. Fuck Putin and fuck his far-right oil economy/war machine.
NATO has made mistakes, for example Bush Jr. (another man with Trump's "genius" IQ) made NATO offers that weren't smart and were quickly vetoed by Germany and France (here is the benefit of a coalition rather than a single nation making reckless decisions), but this and any other NATO mistakes do not create excuses for the tragedy of today brought upon by Putin who has argued Ukraine is not a real country (just a mistake of Lenin), made up some nonsense about neo-nazis (Azov got 2% of the popular vote in Ukraine... Golden Dawn in Greece easily received 7% and no one considers Greece a neo-nazi country, worrisome but not fucking neo-nazi), and other non-NATO related excuses for toppling a neighbor who had not built up troops on Russia's border.
Also, for those countries on the border (Latvia, Estonia, Poland, (or near-ish to the border like Czechia,) etc.), maybe they are right to fear Russia. Russia has some amazing people, some amazing cultural sites, and Moscow has my favorite skate scene, but let's not forget, it is a nation that has always relied on its military might for its power on the global stage, it regularly kills its own journalists, puts political opposition in prison or kills them on their territory and outside of their territory, clamps down on any protest/dissent intensely, and despite being extremely wealthy in terms of oil, gas, timber, etc. the people make very little, the new HIV cases is highest in Europe, the country DEcriminalized wife beating, has anti-gay laws, and so on. More than 60% of Polish people have wanted to join NATO since 1999 (more than 80% post Russia attacking Ukraine in 2014) and my friend's Latvian mom refused to ever speak Russian even though she was completely fluent, maybe there is a reason for this?
NATO isn't perfect and America has its own history of mistakes/atrocities but these aren't an excuse for Putin to invade a nation that was not threatening war against his nation, to create refugees, and significantly destabilize a world with more than enough problems. Putin didn't attack NATO/America (thankfully), he attacked a weak neighbor and created a crisis while China sat back and approved the whole thing (as long as Putin did it after the Olympics).
I've tried to stay out of this thread as I've only briefly lived in 2 different former-Soviet states (including Russia and I nearly went back for work a couple months ago) and currently live in Canada and the US, but the over-left non-nuanced exclamations of legit critiques (and even Putin's talking points) and the far-right's repeating of Putin's talking points and loving him and down playing this shit because he hates "woke" culture and is using the orthodox church to further his own power is not working for me.
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My 70 year old Ukrainian father in law was packing his bags in Italy for the front lines and the only thing that stopped him was a big blow out with my sister in law, in which she said if he goes, she goes.
Even my Russian mother-in-law law who thought Putin was a great man is now pro Ukraine just like all the other Russians I know out here in Singapore.
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I'm not signing on to this abolish NATO or even worse CorneliusCardew's complete nonsense as a reaction to Putin's aggression.
I'm not backing the over-left version that takes legitimate critiques of US/NATO diplomatic and military mistakes and turns them into excuses for Putin's invasion of a sovereign nation and creating 100K+ refugees overnight. Nor am I taking this far-right Tucker Carlson "Putin never called me racist" or this Steve Bannon "Putin is cool cause he hates gays [and other people I hate]" bullshit either. Fuck Putin and fuck his far-right oil economy/war machine.
NATO has made mistakes, for example Bush Jr. (another man with Trump's "genius" IQ) made NATO offers that weren't smart and were quickly vetoed by Germany and France (here is the benefit of a coalition rather than a single nation making reckless decisions), but this and any other NATO mistakes do not create excuses for the tragedy of today brought upon by Putin who has argued Ukraine is not a real country (just a mistake of Lenin), made up some nonsense about neo-nazis (Azov got 2% of the popular vote in Ukraine... Golden Dawn in Greece easily received 7% and no one considers Greece a neo-nazi country, worrisome but not fucking neo-nazi), and other non-NATO related excuses for toppling a neighbor who had not built up troops on Russia's border.
Also, for those countries on the border (Latvia, Estonia, Poland, (or near-ish to the border like Czechia,) etc.), maybe they are right to fear Russia. Russia has some amazing people, some amazing cultural sites, and Moscow has my favorite skate scene, but let's not forget, it is a nation that has always relied on its military might for its power on the global stage, it regularly kills its own journalists, puts political opposition in prison or kills them on their territory and outside of their territory, clamps down on any protest/dissent intensely, and despite being extremely wealthy in terms of oil, gas, timber, etc. the people make very little, the new HIV cases is highest in Europe, the country DEcriminalized wife beating, has anti-gay laws, and so on. More than 60% of Polish people have wanted to join NATO since 1999 (more than 80% post Russia attacking Ukraine in 2014) and my friend's Latvian mom refused to ever speak Russian even though she was completely fluent, maybe there is a reason for this?
NATO isn't perfect and America has its own history of mistakes/atrocities but these aren't an excuse for Putin to invade a nation that was not threatening war against his nation, to create refugees, and significantly destabilize a world with more than enough problems. Putin didn't attack NATO/America (thankfully), he attacked a weak neighbor and created a crisis while China sat back and approved the whole thing (as long as Putin did it after the Olympics).
I've tried to stay out of this thread as I've only briefly lived in 2 different former-Soviet states (including Russia and I nearly went back for work a couple months ago) and currently live in Canada and the US, but the over-left non-nuanced exclamations of legit critiques (and even Putin's talking points) and the far-right's repeating of Putin's talking points and loving him and down playing this shit because he hates "woke" culture and is using the orthodox church to further his own power is not working for me.
You refer to my nonsense but this forum has deleted it can you quote it and bring it back somehow
I remember I recommended that people should check out a certain Twitter account but I don't recall advocating any nonsense perhaps you can refresh my memory
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I'm not signing on to this abolish NATO or even worse CorneliusCardew's complete nonsense as a reaction to Putin's aggression.
I'm not backing the over-left version that takes legitimate critiques of US/NATO diplomatic and military mistakes and turns them into excuses for Putin's invasion of a sovereign nation and creating 100K+ refugees overnight. Nor am I taking this far-right Tucker Carlson "Putin never called me racist" or this Steve Bannon "Putin is cool cause he hates gays [and other people I hate]" bullshit either. Fuck Putin and fuck his far-right oil economy/war machine.
NATO has made mistakes, for example Bush Jr. (another man with Trump's "genius" IQ) made NATO offers that weren't smart and were quickly vetoed by Germany and France (here is the benefit of a coalition rather than a single nation making reckless decisions), but this and any other NATO mistakes do not create excuses for the tragedy of today brought upon by Putin who has argued Ukraine is not a real country (just a mistake of Lenin), made up some nonsense about neo-nazis (Azov got 2% of the popular vote in Ukraine... Golden Dawn in Greece easily received 7% and no one considers Greece a neo-nazi country, worrisome but not fucking neo-nazi), and other non-NATO related excuses for toppling a neighbor who had not built up troops on Russia's border.
Also, for those countries on the border (Latvia, Estonia, Poland, (or near-ish to the border like Czechia,) etc.), maybe they are right to fear Russia. Russia has some amazing people, some amazing cultural sites, and Moscow has my favorite skate scene, but let's not forget, it is a nation that has always relied on its military might for its power on the global stage, it regularly kills its own journalists, puts political opposition in prison or kills them on their territory and outside of their territory, clamps down on any protest/dissent intensely, and despite being extremely wealthy in terms of oil, gas, timber, etc. the people make very little, the new HIV cases is highest in Europe, the country DEcriminalized wife beating, has anti-gay laws, and so on. More than 60% of Polish people have wanted to join NATO since 1999 (more than 80% post Russia attacking Ukraine in 2014) and my friend's Latvian mom refused to ever speak Russian even though she was completely fluent, maybe there is a reason for this?
NATO isn't perfect and America has its own history of mistakes/atrocities but these aren't an excuse for Putin to invade a nation that was not threatening war against his nation, to create refugees, and significantly destabilize a world with more than enough problems. Putin didn't attack NATO/America (thankfully), he attacked a weak neighbor and created a crisis while China sat back and approved the whole thing (as long as Putin did it after the Olympics).
I've tried to stay out of this thread as I've only briefly lived in 2 different former-Soviet states (including Russia and I nearly went back for work a couple months ago) and currently live in Canada and the US, but the over-left non-nuanced exclamations of legit critiques (and even Putin's talking points) and the far-right's repeating of Putin's talking points and loving him and down playing this shit because he hates "woke" culture and is using the orthodox church to further his own power is not working for me.
IMO relying on a skate forum to make up your mind about an actual war is honestly sad....but I feel this was an interesting and balanced take. btw if you have actually lived in 2 former soviet states, you are more qualified to have an opinion than 99% of people!
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Putin unhinged keeps defying pundits' predictions, who still seem certain that Russia won't push it further than Ukraine since that would mean confronting NATO.
Finland and Sweden have entered the chat:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/595853-russia-threatens-military-and-political-consequences-if-finland
Finland was very much on the Nazi’s side mate, wtf?
That's what he said.
Finland was essentially forced into allying with them because of Russia. The winter war nearly destroyed them and no one else was willing/able to help. It wasn't an ideological choice, it was purely military and realistically probably the only choice they had at the time if they wanted to remain independent. After the continuation war ceasefire they eagerly attacked the Nazis and expelled them from the country. They never signed the tripartite pact (as the Baltics/hungary/Romania did) and it's difficult to even classify them because their role in WW2 was almost entirely defensive. It's arguably more accurate to say they were co-belligerents against Russia than true allies.
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I'd love to hear from Ukranian and Russian skaters.
I know a few Russians but don't want to email them asking questions about anything political.
I wonder if Putin is more worried about his hold on power at home than we realize, and figured a good old fashioned war is usually a great way to unite a country. Seems like a real miscalculation.
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I'd love to hear from Ukranian and Russian skaters.
I know a few Russians but don't want to email them asking questions about anything political.
I wonder if Putin is more worried about his hold on power at home than we realize, and figured a good old fashioned war is usually a great way to unite a country. Seems like a real miscalculation.
that was kinda the reason I started this thread. hoping to get some insight
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As a North American living in the nordics, people here are pretty nervous. Russia seems to have been the bogeyman for Sweden for decades if not centuries. Russia just publicly threatend "serious military-political consequences" if Finland or Sweden join NATO, so it makes sense especially since Sweden have ±60k people in the military.
The days of the US providing real support (weapons, infantry, technology) are probably more or less over, no one has appetite for Cold War 2.0, less so WW3 and Rome is burning so to speak. However there is always money to be made from war and the 1% love to make money.
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I used to attribute all of seeming unnecessary wars to the power of the (US) war industry, but now as I get older, I do think these wars are being waged to economically weaken countries/regions and as a simple display/reminder of power. Peaceful times are a lot more profitable for everyone, war is a mechanism of financial pressure/destabilization.
It can be argued that Russia does not at all care about Ukraine's role as a Nato/Russia buffer zone, but it's huge potential to disrupt Russia's dominance as the Europe's energy monopoly.
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The twats in Russian department of "defence" are warning civilians for new "high precision" attacks. Fucking hell... This night a lot of people will die.
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The twats in Russian department of "defence" are warning civilians for new "high precision" attacks. Fucking hell... This night a lot of people will die.
What do they mean by high precision attacks?
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The twats in Russian department of "defence" are warning civilians for new "high precision" attacks. Fucking hell... This night a lot of people will die.
"The Russian Defense Ministry warned on Tuesday that it planned to conduct strikes against facilities belonging to Ukraine’s security service and a special operations unit in Kyiv, aiming “to prevent information attacks against Russia,” and urged people in the surrounding areas to leave." from nytimes if you don't think it's too biased
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if anybody has any good links to donate + resources let me know, especially if there is anyway to help black + brown people in ukraine who can't leave currently
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if anybody has any good links to donate + resources let me know, especially if there is anyway to help black + brown people in ukraine who can't leave currently
https://linktr.ee/ksvarnon
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if anybody has any good links to donate + resources let me know, especially if there is anyway to help black + brown people in ukraine who can't leave currently
https://linktr.ee/ksvarnon
appreciated
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All bad news.
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I used to attribute all of seeming unnecessary wars to the power of the (US) war industry, but now as I get older, I do think these wars are being waged to economically weaken countries/regions and as a simple display/reminder of power. Peaceful times are a lot more profitable for everyone, war is a mechanism of financial pressure/destabilization.
It can be argued that Russia does not at all care about Ukraine's role as a Nato/Russia buffer zone, but it's huge potential to disrupt Russia's dominance as the Europe's energy monopoly.
This is what dictators do. Putin is dying (he's old and I would not be at all surprised if he has terminal cancer or something) and its his last, baby dicked attempt to be seen as "strong". The dude has always, always been a KGB kook to the core and sees (actual) democracy as a threat to his legacy. The dipshit thinks he's going to be remembered like Ataturk when in reality he's going to be remembered more like Saddam.
I honestly hope this ends in full on Russian revolt Ala 1919. It's not crazy to suggest that he's just as out of touch with the average person as Nicky Romanov was. Hopefully they give him the Mussolini treatment if they get their hands on him.
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Hey - I’m Ukrainian and this is all pretty fucked. I live elsewhere but my family is all over the country, north, west. I have many friends in the east. I don’t really have anything to say and I’m not going to try to persuade anyone specifically, but it’s all just very horrific. A war where millions of ‘normal’ people are thrown into horror and disarray because of one guy’s hard-on for the Soviet Union. Fucking awful. Everyone I know is fighting hard, trying to do their best.
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What a fucking nightmare.
I bought an AirBnB in Ukraine for roughly 20 bucks. The dude was super appreciative, which bummed me out. He was super happy about getting such a small amount. :'(
A former teacher of mine is freaking out over her family who lives in Ukraine. (She was pro Putin... I don't think she is anymore.)
And, I am worried about all my friends in Moscow, St. Petes, and Rostov na Donu as well. This hasn't made life better for them. One of them has being going to protests. I'm worried that he's going to get arrested. Others are trying to get out. And, one did get out but she is super sad that she had to leave her family behind. Also, an acquaintance of mine is explicitly denouncing the war. It seems like he must have no intention of returning to Russia.
The NYTimes has had a few good podcasts about this whole nightmare. Russia had certainly prepared itself for sanctions (but maybe not sanctions this extreme). It makes sense that Putin thinks Russia will emerge stronger and can take his country to the brink... I'm not so sure it'll play out the way he wants, but I get his rationale.
I also feel bad that Zelenskyy keeps asking for a no-fly zone, but I'm also firmly against this as soon as NATO shoots down a Russian plane, everyone in the world is completely fucked.
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What a fucking nightmare.
I bought an AirBnB in Ukraine for roughly 20 bucks. The dude was super appreciative, which bummed me out. He was super happy about getting such a small amount. :'(
Kinda confused sorry. You are donating money through AirBnB?
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Yes.
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Yeah people here also are renting AirBnb's in Ukraine as away to help directly people there, it's an easy way
to send some cash.
That Revolutions on Granite Skate Documentary is well worth watching.
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Russia is melting hard.
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What a fucking nightmare.
I bought an AirBnB in Ukraine for roughly 20 bucks. The dude was super appreciative, which bummed me out. He was super happy about getting such a small amount. :'(
Kinda confused sorry. You are donating money through AirBnB?
Yea, AirBnB is a fucking garbage company overall BUT they dropped all their fees in Ukraine, which makes the service an easy way to get money directly into the hands of someone there.
I tried to pick someone who didn't have 50 listings and seemed like a normal person. I wanted to give the money to someone who needed it.
My former teacher's family is listing stuff on there hoping someone "rents" a room.
However, I do worry this creates chances for scammers to exploit the situation.
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I didn't see this shared on here (hopefully it was and I just missed it), but Solo posted this piece the other day: https://soloskatemag.com/interviews-with-the-skaters-of-ukraine