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Feeling very tearful at the thought of ordinary people in Kyiv being given guns

163 replies

Flamingo49 · 25/02/2022 15:51

I find it heartbreaking and so sad to think of ordinary families in Kyiv being told to make Molotov cocktails and defend themselves with guns. Can't imagine how terrified I would feel if BoJo was handing out machine guns telling us to protect our nation. Anyone else?

OP posts:
showmethegin · 25/02/2022 23:11

@RobertaFirmino

Of course the whole situation is upsetting. But how the hell do you think Ukranians are feeling? I suspect they're a tad upset themselves. This is about them, not us. I'm glad they've got guns. I'd flaming well want one too.
That's exactly what the OP is trying to comprehend. She is trying to empathise with how they may be feeling.
AlexaShutUp · 25/02/2022 23:18

I think it's just a terrifying reminder of how fragile our lives really are. One day people were living their lives as normal. The next day they were being given guns and instructed by their governments on how to make petrol bombs. It's mind boggling. Almost impossible to comprehend.

It's natural for people to reflect on what's happening and on how quicklyeverythinghas changed for the Ukrainian people, and to bexome more aware of just how much in our own lives we take for granted...as most Ukrainians probably did until very recently. It isn't making the story about us at all, it's very obviously about the awful situation that the Ukrainian people are facing right now. It's human to empathise.

MsTSwift · 25/02/2022 23:20

We have been cushioned for the last few decades. The easy life we have can turn on a sixpence. Take nothing for granted. Honestly read your history books - humans fight fight fight. Currently reading about the Anglo Saxons - constant invasion by murderous vikings and bubonic plague. Churchill told our grand parents to prepare to “fight them on the beaches”

MissTrip82 · 25/02/2022 23:24

I’ve never heard the term ‘virtue signalling’ used by anyone who wasn’t a bona fide arsehole. Not once.

Interested in learning what the term is for those who leap in and announce ‘you’re not doing anything practical’ or berate people because other difficult situations are occurring in the world and only this one has been mentioned, then leave. If only these types would just list a few of the practical steps they’ve taken on this or any other major crisis of the day - not all of them, that would presumably take all day - but perhaps the top five. It would be really helpful.

Bobbybobbins · 25/02/2022 23:29

I think the Ukrainian govt will fall - I am in awe of the bravery of the people on the streets. Was watching the president saying he was on the 'kill list' and wondering if he will survive the night. Awful.

Justanotherlurker · 25/02/2022 23:31

It's a weird situation where I am, I have male colleagues saying they have been handed a gun while the women are just getting out of the country.

It's a shit show at the minute

Seemslikeagoodidea · 25/02/2022 23:56

I've also felt tearful at times, watching the awful scenes. However, I was impressed that they offered citizens lessons in shooting a few days ago, and I thought it was a good idea to supply the civilians with guns. Not everyone is able to leave, and if people are trapped and the enemy is moving in, at least they have the chance to defend themselves and their homes, which seems like a good thing. I would be terrified to be in Ukraine, but I would rather go down fighting than beg for the mercy of the invading forces. For anyone who doubts the brutality of the Russian regime, read the Gulag Archipelago, by the famous Russian dissident, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, then you might agree that being a prisioner of the Russians is a life not worth living.

I admire the Ukranians very much, and think they will be victorious eventually, despite being the underdogs, because their love for their country is so great they will never back down. Meanwhile, I think the Russians have been sent on a mission that many of them don't agree with. Putin's reign is in its final days. Long Live Ukraine.

lemmein · 26/02/2022 00:02

@Kumbaya12

LOL at all the sudden tearful and emotional people. This has been building for months, nobody's really surprised. Also having an actor as president... who ran after playing a president on TV.. and won!

Have all of you JUST only noticed? Incredible

No, you're the only person to have noticed - well done! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
ANameChangeAgain · 26/02/2022 00:05

A practical way to help
donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal

MonStylo · 26/02/2022 00:13

It’s the prepping threads that do my head in, fuck off making it all about you

HereticFanjo · 26/02/2022 00:14

@lemmein

Pure cunty answers to the OP. For every perceived 'virtue signalling' post there's a barrage of posters fighting over themselves to castigate the 'virtue signaller' for not having the same emotions (presumably) they do for other victims of war - therefore, becoming virtue signallers themselves 🤣

Got no chance of global peace when people can't reply to a simple post without being a cunt!

Agreed.
AlexaShutUp · 26/02/2022 00:24

I have been very moved by the bravery and spirit of the Ukrainian people.

And indeed by the courage of some of the Russian protestors.

Doublevodka · 26/02/2022 00:53

WTF is wrong with all the posters giving the OP a hard time? This is a chat forum, can we not discuss how we feel anymore without getting a sarcastic response or being accused of virtue signalling? There is something wrong with people who want to be unpleasant cunts when someone on here just wants to talk.

liliainterfrutices · 26/02/2022 01:01

@lemmein

Pure cunty answers to the OP. For every perceived 'virtue signalling' post there's a barrage of posters fighting over themselves to castigate the 'virtue signaller' for not having the same emotions (presumably) they do for other victims of war - therefore, becoming virtue signallers themselves 🤣

Got no chance of global peace when people can't reply to a simple post without being a cunt!

I agree with this. People have been really unnecessarily harsh.
CharSiu · 26/02/2022 01:19

An anonymous forum instead of Facebook, Instagram or whatever is a good place to voice concerns about anything. I have no idea who the op is where they live, work, study or what their ethnicity is or anything at all.

girlwiththetigertattoo · 26/02/2022 01:29

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I really don't understand some posters, if it makes your eyes roll, just move onto another thread instead of bashing the op who like many other people are thinking of the same thing and how heartbreaking it is. Can you imagine you are out and about your own business and someone comes and invades your country where they tell families that women and children should evacuate and men between 16-60 should stay put and arm themselves with weapons to defend.

This world makes me feel sick honestly. We haven't even finished with this damn plague yet and we have a war going on already. Humans will never fucking learn which takes the piss considering there is history out there where we can learn from not repeating the same mistakes. It pisses me off that considering the whole world population who is against wars in general, can't do anything about it not just for Ukraine for current conflicts taking place in other parts of the world. It pisses me off that we can't get rid of this madmen and not just for Russia, even our own government who sleeps in the same bed with countries that cause such misery to people just for the sake of selling items from Harrods and apartments from Knightsbridge or doing arm dealerships.

Nat6999 · 26/02/2022 01:55

Considering all Ukraine males have to do a year in the military I would think most of them can shoot. They are being given AK47 rifles which I have read are the simplest rifles to use. I applaud anyone who has stayed to fight & defend the homeland.

MrsTerryPratchett · 26/02/2022 02:08

@Nat6999

Considering all Ukraine males have to do a year in the military I would think most of them can shoot. They are being given AK47 rifles which I have read are the simplest rifles to use. I applaud anyone who has stayed to fight & defend the homeland.
AKs aren't the simplest. They are the best in wet, sandy, crappy, muddy, dirty places. They don't fail. They do kick a bit so you'll feel it in your shoulder and aren't the most accurate but you don't need that.

They are actually the weapon of mass destruction in most countries which have them and quarter of a million people a year die from wounds inflicted by one.

God help you if someone puts one in your hands and tells you to use it.

liveforsummer · 26/02/2022 05:42

Whilst it is indeed heartbreaking seeing these images it's worth remembering that Ukrainian men do national service so it isn't the same as handing a gun to your husband in the uk who's closest brush with a gun is playing nerf wars with the dc. They have had military training and know how to use the weapons.

mpsw · 26/02/2022 05:48

Also having an actor as president... who ran after playing a president on TV.. and won!

How's that different to Bedtime for Bonzo? Apart from being somewhat more aligned to political shenanigans?

LadyFyck · 26/02/2022 06:05

@TinaYouFatLard

Anyone else??? Of course EVERYONE finds the situation heartbreaking.

This is becoming a revolting opportunity to virtue signal on here. With animal shelter donation and playing Ukrainian music on Alexa in support. It’s grotesque.

This.

Also, nobody was looking, streaming Ukrainian music, posting sunflower pictures, gasping in horror at the shelling and the bullets and the bodies in the last 8 years of this war, when 15,000 people have already been killed! No, you all only paid attention when it took itself to the capital. The people of Ukraine have been living with this for 8 years. The Donbas region are scratching their heads and wondering why we're all wringing our hands at 136 deaths and turning our social media profiles blue and yellow.

It's been two days of gasping, virtue signalling, Go Fund Me, "Go fuck yourselves", scrambling to write long, heartfelt social media posts about a country that 95% of you thought was a tiny, insignificant place that wasn't even part of Europe last week. It's sickening.

mpsw · 26/02/2022 06:05

Nat6999
Considering all Ukraine males have to do a year in the military I would think most of them can shoot. They are being given AK47 rifles which I have read are the simplest rifles to use. I applaud anyone who has stayed to fight & defend the homeland

AKs aren't the simplest. They are the best in wet, sandy, crappy, muddy, dirty places. They don't fail. They do kick a bit so you'll feel it in your shoulder and aren't the most accurate but you don't need that

They are by far the most soldier-proof - easy to strip and clean, and less likely to jam, withstands all sorts of harsh conditions, big, obvious controls so pretty intuitive to use

They're no more simple or complex than any other assault rifle. But they're cheap,and widespread. If you're after accuracy, you'd do better with other assault rifles (such as the AR15), but if what you're after is to hit a man-sized target at say 300 yards, it'll do the job.

They're not WMD of course - they're individual weapons, but in the sense of the cumulative numbers of deaths people have used them for, it must be one of the highest. It's a sobering thought They are cheap, widely available, keep going for ages even with minimal maintenance, and are so straightforward to use that you don't need to be clever, to have any education, or even to be adult to use one well.

Inkanta · 26/02/2022 06:29

Seeing the tank deliberately run over the car brought me too tears, Thankfully the man survived but it was just such a deliberate act of cruelty

Yes it was nasty deliberate act of cruelty - awful to see I agree.

Polyanthus2 · 26/02/2022 07:05

Also it doesnt' feel as this is it! Putin wants Ukraine back and then he's happy. It looks like he will move on to Estonia or any other of these bordering countries. So sad.
What's worst imv is we need to save the environment and instead the world is focused on war.

I thought Putin looked a bit hamsterish with puffy face on tv yesterday - I wonder if he is on medication for something. My neighbour has parkinsons and looked a bit like that. Putin is 70.

VikingVolva · 26/02/2022 07:34

I thought Putin looked a bit hamsterish with puffy face on tv yesterday - I wonder if he is on medication for something. My neighbour has parkinsons and looked a bit like that. Putin is 70

Article from over 10 years ago about his plastic surgery. Its very possible he's had more since then

www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/26/putin-plastic-surgery

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