Ukraine and Russia: Answering common questions and issues

[WhatsGoingOn2022]

Hi, I am starting this thread due to the amount of misinformation and speculation I have seen on the boards around what is happening with Russia's war on Ukraine.

While I am by no means a leading specialist, I have a master's degree focusing on the defence and economics aspect of international relations, I work today in politics and have a lot of links in the area. Anything I can't answer I can at least point you to the people who can-- I naturally follow this incredibly closely.

I thought it might be helpful if myself and others with specific knowledge in this area could help to answer any questions you have, on anything from the war, to sanctions, to Russia's actions, to the fallout.

@stairway

Hi OP, my husband is from a none western country and believes there is a lot of hypocrisy from the west regarding Russia, many outside the west feel this is no different to the Cuban missile crisis and Russia have genuine concerns regarding NATO and the USA. Particularly given US history of invading and destroying countries on a whim. Do you feel there is a media bias in this country too or do you agree with how things are reported in this country. There doesn’t seem to be any attempt to understand the Russian position at all. Why are Europeans valued above people from the Middle East/Africa?

Ive only just seen this thread (this forum is very busy!) and this was my exact understanding, that his beef if you like is with NATO and their reneging on previous agreements.

I will read the rest of the thread to see what your position on that is OP

I'm more concerned as to where their subs are... one was looking at our Atlantic pipe line.

Bellac and stair way

Let's say this is the dictator gangsters " beef" worried about aggression... does that mean he's justified in lashing out and killings, slaughtering innocent people ?

Do other people really feel this is justified??

@WhatsGoingOn2022

The reality is that there are neo Nazi nut job groups in many countries across the world from the United States, to the UK to Poland and even in tiny Luxembourg.

So yes the Dmitry Utkin of the Wagner group is indeed a neo Nazi but that doesn't mean that Putin or the Russian attack is somehow being driven by some secret neo Nazi plot. In the same way that the far right neo Nazi Azov Regiment of Ukraine does not mean that the Ukrainian Government is some how being influenced by a neo Nazi plot or that neo Nazi groups in the US are influencing President Biden or that Trudeau's deputy holding a Nazi scarf means that somehow there is a Nazi constplot in Canada.

So yes you are throwing around loosely the neo Nazi conspiracy plot theory and yes you are putting 2 and 2 together in order to support your narrative.

@Tigersonvaseline where's the evidence that a Russian sub was recently trying to interfere with our Atlantic pipes and what could be the implication of that?

I thought it was the encroaching of Nato i.e the US close to Russian borders that ruffled Putin's feathers.

Pot kettle black considering the US's reaction during the Cuban Missile Crisis

For the record, Putin is a monster. This is a humantarian crisis and invasion is never the answer. But, I always think the US with its history of meddling in the world, is being insidious and they're using Ukraine as pawns which is vile. I thought the US wants Russia to self implode

@WhatsGoingOn2022

On the Neo Nazi topic, I've just seen that the Wagner Group (the Russian specialist militia led by an actual Neo Nazi) have set up a base in a Russian city (Rostov-on-Don) to recruit further mercenaries to attack Ukraine

On the neo Nazi topic I have just seen that the far-right neo-Nazi Ukrainian group, the Azov Regiment has expanded to become part of Ukraine’s armed forces, a street militia and a political party.

www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/3/1/who-are-the-azov-regiment

I don't know how to link.

Google.... russian subs interfere with our cables

[quote 1dayatatime]@WhatsGoingOn2022

The reality is that there are neo Nazi nut job groups in many countries across the world from the United States, to the UK to Poland and even in tiny Luxembourg.

So yes the Dmitry Utkin of the Wagner group is indeed a neo Nazi but that doesn't mean that Putin or the Russian attack is somehow being driven by some secret neo Nazi plot. In the same way that the far right neo Nazi Azov Regiment of Ukraine does not mean that the Ukrainian Government is some how being influenced by a neo Nazi plot or that neo Nazi groups in the US are influencing President Biden or that Trudeau's deputy holding a Nazi scarf means that somehow there is a Nazi constplot in Canada.

So yes you are throwing around loosely the neo Nazi conspiracy plot theory and yes you are putting 2 and 2 together in order to support your narrative.

[/quote]
Fair enough, Nazi point may have been overplayed in Russia--there are multiple different strands of issue there, including imperialist, fascist and Stalinist groupings.

BTW for anyone who wants to read more about the specific internal issues Ukraine has with nazism, have linked to some articles below. Estimates are that this grouping is some 2% of the Ukrainian electorate, and specifically focused within a certain region of Ukraine.

eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/03/05/russia-invasion-ukraine-attention-extremist-regiment-nazi/9368016002/

So are neo Nazis fighting each other??

@Tigersonvaseline

I don't know how to link.

Google.... russian subs interfere with our cables

There's an Atlantic Council article on the topic that could be good?

www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/cord-cutting-russian-style-could-the-kremlin-sever-global-internet-cables/

Thanks op... following with interest

Thank you for taking the time to do this , feel a lot more informed now!

@Tigersonvaseline

So are neo Nazis fighting each other??

The Azov (Ukrainians) are focused in a specific area of east Ukraine, they're around 2% of the population. They're in the separatist regions--ie the places which Russia annexed before the latest incursion. They're fighting for Ukraine but not generally pro-Zelensky as massive antisemites.

Russian forces are varied, the group who failed to assailant Zelensky this week are Neo Nazis. Majority of Russian army in fighting in Ukraine is conscripts, military leaders, Chechynians and experienced military from Syrian war

@Tigersonvaseline

Bellac and stair way

Let's say this is the dictator gangsters " beef" worried about aggression... does that mean he's justified in lashing out and killings, slaughtering innocent people ?

Do other people really feel this is justified??

I know I didnt imply anywhere that the action is 'justified' in a legal or moral sense but that there is also a view that the Wests actions (or NATOs actions) are also contributory factors to how this has panned out. Ive seen OP's response to this and it makes sense. I would just like to understand more. I also believe that of course Ukraine makes for rich pickings for Russia so there is financial convenience as well as land grab opportunities to the invasion. I think people are naïve if they dont acknowledge that any news we in the West receive from our own sources is naturally going to be biased to our own understanding.

@piddocktrumperiness

I thought it was the encroaching of Nato i.e the US close to Russian borders that ruffled Putin's feathers.

Pot kettle black considering the US's reaction during the Cuban Missile Crisis

For the record, Putin is a monster. This is a humantarian crisis and invasion is never the answer. But, I always think the US with its history of meddling in the world, is being insidious and they're using Ukraine as pawns which is vile. I thought the US wants Russia to self implode

@piddocktrumperiness I would recommend one of the links posted earlier, will repost. If you follow what Putin himself was saying in recent years, as well as what NATO have been doing, it's actually the opposite. Putin considered NATO to be fatally weak and unwilling to intervene, that's why he attacked. He didn't think they were strong and getting too close, the opposite. Ukraine has been asking to join NATO because they feared Russian attack, NATO said no because they didn't want to ruffle feathers and or have to defend them

I wanted to add that IMO Russia and the US are two sides of the same coin. Both with disgusting meddling of world politics that have exacerbated problems. Only one really used nuclear weapons though.
Propaganda goes both ways too. Russian propaganda is evident but don't think that the Americans are guilt free of this. We only have one narrative here in the UK. They censored any other narrative. The US must have an agenda. They make up most of Nato Power. I just don't buy that it is clear cut like this. I don't trust either nation. My concerns are for the people fleeing and suffering.

@piddocktrumperiness

I thought it was the encroaching of Nato i.e the US close to Russian borders that ruffled Putin's feathers.

Pot kettle black considering the US's reaction during the Cuban Missile Crisis

For the record, Putin is a monster. This is a humantarian crisis and invasion is never the answer. But, I always think the US with its history of meddling in the world, is being insidious and they're using Ukraine as pawns which is vile. I thought the US wants Russia to self implode

Yes, you've said it better that I did about the border issue and NATO

Didn't Putin ask to join Nato at one point? as did Yeltsin?

Piddock.

Don't you want "Putin* to implode?
Everyone everywhere has been making the distinction between a mad dictator who has seized a country by sheer force and fear And the Russian people?

@bellac11the problem with any analysis that tries to square this on the US is that it is missing the fundamental point. Obama back down on Syria, Biden withdrew entirely from Afghanistan. Putin wasn't nervous that they were a threat, the opposite: he saw NATO as weak and useless, so there was now nothing to stop him intervening in other states as he saw fit.

Why would any legitimate peaceful democracy ever fear NATO?

@piddocktrumperiness

I wanted to add that IMO Russia and the US are two sides of the same coin. Both with disgusting meddling of world politics that have exacerbated problems. Only one really used nuclear weapons though. Propaganda goes both ways too. Russian propaganda is evident but don't think that the Americans are guilt free of this. We only have one narrative here in the UK. They censored any other narrative. The US must have an agenda. They make up most of Nato Power. I just don't buy that it is clear cut like this. I don't trust either nation. My concerns are for the people fleeing and suffering.

@piddocktrumperiness while I think the US is utterly vile in their actions in world politics, unfortunately if you are comparing them to Russia it just shows your ignorance of what is actually going on in Russia today and how that state treats its people. It's nice that we have the luxury to sit here and make those kind of comparisons but you really don't understand quite how bad things are in Russia and how horrible the government is.

I would recommend looking in detail at what the Russians did in Syria. It's also not the US that has taken the lead in much of this situation the last week--it has been Europe steeping up.

Didn't the US increase its military presence on the Eastern part of the Alliance? i.e on Putin's doorstep? since mid January?

[quote WhatsGoingOn2022]@bellac11the problem with any analysis that tries to square this on the US is that it is missing the fundamental point. Obama back down on Syria, Biden withdrew entirely from Afghanistan. Putin wasn't nervous that they were a threat, the opposite: he saw NATO as weak and useless, so there was now nothing to stop him intervening in other states as he saw fit.[/quote]
Its not about 'squaring' it on the US as such! Its about whether Russia felt it had grounds to go on the offensive in the light of its own view about NATO reneging on previous agreements about how close to its borders it got. (I dont get the full understanding of that)

On another matter I think under previous agreements Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal to Russia, is that right?