The invasion has begun

[Damnloginpopup]

Russia has begun it's invasion of Ukraine. Who knows where this will end.

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-moscow-kyiv-626a8c5ec22217bacb24ece60fac4fe1

Not for much longer tiger

I don't accept twitter links they can be fake, I would prefer links to quality confirmation. Otherwise it is fake news. Farage will be rightly outraged as much as anyone else

Farage? the Putin agent who fermented division in this country, a huge Trump fan (& another Russian supporter) who the BBC gave 24/7 coverage to on Brexit, which half of us swallowed?

Yes sure he is outraged ... not!

I read last week that Chernobyl provides a short cut corridor into central Ukraine, rather than go around the site. That makes sense and the radioactive dust there may just be a red herring.

@Tigersonvaseline

700 million dollars a day go into Russia for gas etc from EU And us

Yes. And that is the main issue that will affect our daily lives in the west. Not the war but the economic repercussions. The death of thousands abroad sadly takes a back seat to being cold and hungry at home. Bluntly cynical I'm afraid

I've just seen that the Russians are trying to take control of the Chernobyl site. This is a bloody nightmare.

Yes. And that is the main issue that will affect our daily lives in the west. Not the war but the economic repercussions. The death of thousands abroad sadly takes a back seat to being cold and hungry at home. Bluntly cynical I'm afraid

What would you want to happen next op?

As you life near an RAF base @Keepyourheadscrewedon I would have thought you would have a basic grasp of military aircraft.

Fighter jets fight other fighter jets. High up. They’re called ‘interceptors’ they intercept enemy aircraft coming in. Nothing is squawking over Ukraine, so nothing for fighters to fight. Bomber Jets fire heavy ordnance that doesn’t just blow bits of buildings away, it decimates who,e buildings/areas. These have not been deployed yet, and hopefully won’t be. The Russian Hip, Hind, Havoc and some other heli rocket launcher/gunships will be the current work horses, and they were used extensively as part of the Caucuses conflict. Military jets are best knocked out by another military jet, they’re too high and too fast to be ‘shot down’ by much on the ground.

17 hrs RAF, Language specialist.

@GallopingHighRoad

I read last week that Chernobyl provides a short cut corridor into central Ukraine, rather than go around the site. That makes sense and the radioactive dust there may just be a red herring.

AP reporting that Russian forces are trying to take it. It's a day for a proper news organisation (as per my op, no offence inferred to anyone elses links, I'm just relying on them as a long-standing and respected resource)

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-latest-updates-0224-303b0bfdc6148c8738d6ac0ca78142fd

@Tigersonvaseline

700 million dollars a day go into Russia for gas etc from EU And us

That's about two-thirds of its exports and one-sixth of its GDP according to the IMF. We are very much intertwined.

More updates say that the destruction of a nuclear waste facility at Chernobyl has not been confirmed so hopefully not the case.

I live near one of the main airforces bases in Sweden. It's pretty normal to hear them overhead during the day. But strangely enough, not a peep out of them today.

Why would they take Chernobyl? There's nothing there but abandoned villages and decomissioned nuclear power plants? What value would that have?

I am reading now that there has been a serious loss of life near Chernobyl on the Russian side (sky news as we speak)

@Damnloginpopup The Swedish media are also reporting that they're fighting to seize control of the Chernobyl zone.

Interesting (well interesting to me ) thread from Garry Kasparov about what he'd like to see happen from the US side next.

twitter.com/kasparov63/status/1496865471995523080?s=21

@MarshaBradyo

Yes. And that is the main issue that will affect our daily lives in the west. Not the war but the economic repercussions. The death of thousands abroad sadly takes a back seat to being cold and hungry at home. Bluntly cynical I'm afraid

What would you want to happen next op?

I don't know. I just don't know. There's no positive outcome for anyone. Not even Russia.

But now I'm going to sleep, on shift all night, normal daily life continues for me and mine... hopefully a return to that for everyone affected sooner rather than later

@jacketsatdawn

Putin has confirmed that he went into Ukraine to defend Russian people pursuant to Article 51 part 7 of the UN charter which reads:

“Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security"

Russia has said it wishes to stick with international law and so presumably the next stage is for the UN to talk to Russia with a view to it taking measure to maintain international peace and security with Russia's cooperation?!

Putin can say whatever he wants but his invasion is NOT legitimate under Article 51.

Ukraine did not perpetrate an armed attack against Russia.

Russia cannot claim self-defence on behalf of the people's republics as they are neither sovereign states nor UN members

Russia cannot claim self-defence of Russian citizens in Ukraine given their aggressive passportisation, i.e. there is no customary law that lets you give hundreds of thousands of passports to people in another country and then invade to defend them.

@DenholmElliot

Why would they take Chernobyl? There's nothing there but abandoned villages and decomissioned nuclear power plants? What value would that have?

Fear?

@DenholmElliot

Why would they take Chernobyl? There's nothing there but abandoned villages and decomissioned nuclear power plants? What value would that have?

I guess if they threatened to break open the sarcophagus that contains the reactor? It could potentially have devastating consequences.

@tara66

Some news on last night saying that Putin is actually not sane - more scary, but what other explanation?

I don't think Putin is any more mental than any other world leader - most of them (with a couple of notable exceptions) are power-crazed nutjobs only in it for their own ends and those of their billionaire friends.

Some reports say Putin is isolating himself from his closest advisors and the footage of a meeting a few days ago where he savaged them on camera for not answering questions 'quickly enough' made him seem a bit more nutty than usual - his usual style, of course, being that of a steely-eyed automaton, devoid of any genuine human warmth.

Denholm - it builds on fear doesn't it - our terror of anything nuclear and builds (in my mind anyway) on his threat to the West that if we interfere the consequences will be worse than we've ever experienced etc.

Chernobyl lies on a convenient pathway between Russian forces in Belarus and Ukraine's capital Kyiv

@Gingerwarthog

Denholm - it builds on fear doesn't it - our terror of anything nuclear and builds (in my mind anyway) on his threat to the West that if we interfere the consequences will be worse than we've ever experienced etc.

The west does need to stand up to this and make it clear that we are returning to the cold war and the iron curtain, complete with our own Nuclear deterrent.

If we don't then he will believe, rightly, he can take back other countries.

all this bollocks about Swift etc is tinkering around the edges.

Well Putin knows we are afraid of him now and won’t step in to try and stop him.

Question is will he stop at just Ukraine or will he want other countries too ? He doesn’t need Belarus they already defer to him.

But what about the rest of Europe ?

If we were going to try and stop him we would have done it by now. He’s going to take Kyiv - and likely very quickly.