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Ukraine Invasion Part 12

999 replies

MagicFox · 11/03/2022 21:25

I see the other thread is filling up so starting the twelfth...

OP posts:
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14
EezyOozy · 11/03/2022 22:19

Thanks

BreadInCaptivity · 11/03/2022 22:19

Checking in.

Re: people not talking about it. I agree and it's been my experience also.

Talking about means acknowledging just how powerless we are to stop what's happing and thus how vulnerable.

As such many people are struggling or unwilling to show others how they feel and to add to that don't want to be accused of imposter syndrome when the reality is that the people of Ukraine are experiencing a level of hardship and suffering that makes the anxious mutters of those of us safe in the U.K. appear rather shallow and self absorbed by comparison.

However the fact is it's ok to say you're worried, upset and scared about what's happening in Europe right now.

It means you've probably got a semi-realistic grasp on how serious this situation is.

No-one can predict the outcome and to quote Lawrence Freedman on Question Time that's exactly why war is a bad idea. However well you plan, once you've unleashed your forces there are absolutely no guarantees as to how things will pan out.

Personally I do not believe we are facing a nuclear threat with ICBM's. Putin isn't sitting in his bunker next to a big red button. There are many people involved in the nuclear chain of command who are very aware of the heavy responsibility that brings. Also Putin is a survivor and a egoist. There's no point in winning if your spoils consist only of a bunker of 250/500 people whose families you've just murdered.

That said I wouldn't put it past him to stage a localised nuclear "accident" or use chemical weapons but I'm definitely not expecting to see a mushroom cloud in the sky over the U.K.

AuldAlliance · 11/03/2022 22:29

[quote supermoonrising]@Nikkiten
I’m very disappointed in the BBC reporting, normally they are calm and balanced but their headlines seem to be deliberately stoking fear

The BBC has never been calm and balanced in my lifetime at the very least, and I was born in the 1980s.[/quote]
I was born before that and IME the BBC has always been variable, depending on which bits of it you listen to/watch and your ability to use critiical thinking.

Some is calm and balanced. Some is not.

More than can be said for many media outlets, sadly.

BoreOfWhabylon · 11/03/2022 22:35

Thanks @MagicFox and everyone.

Interesting item in the Mail, don't know if other more informed sources have corroborated
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10603045/Putin-places-head-FSBs-foreign-intelligence-branch-house-arrest.html

BringBackCoffeeCreams · 11/03/2022 22:38

It's the only topic of conversation around my neck of the Swedish forest. But then we're being sent info about where our nearest shelter is and what emergency supplies we need to stock up on. So it's hard to pretend it's not happening.

Hillsmakeyoustrong · 11/03/2022 22:39

Noone talking about it in my sphere either in person or through messages. Very keep calm and carry on. Not at all like covid. I've been really surprised.

cakeorwine · 11/03/2022 22:40

I think the BBC are doing very well at the moment. Certainly people turn to the BBC for news during times like this. Their correspondants such as Lyce Doucet and Clive Myrie have been amazing.

shreddednips · 11/03/2022 22:40

[quote BoreOfWhabylon]Thanks @MagicFox and everyone.

Interesting item in the Mail, don't know if other more informed sources have corroborated
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10603045/Putin-places-head-FSBs-foreign-intelligence-branch-house-arrest.html[/quote]
It's been reported on the BBC news website too.

ItsDisneyBitch · 11/03/2022 22:43

No one seems to be speaking about it at my office, I’ve engaged a few discussions with my COO who spent a huge amount of time in Russia and in China.
He is of the mind that the only thing that is going to de-escalate the situation is another revolution in Russia.

DriedBeanKibble · 11/03/2022 22:47

All my colleagues, family and friends talk about this non-stop in England and Hungary. We talk about nothing else... Thanks, interesting that I don't experience this, maybe it's me! Maybe I find it difficult to talk about in RL because it's all just so horrendous so these conversations don't happen as I wouldn't know what to say. There is nothing we in the Uk can actually do apart from donate money and good quality products that charities and schools are gathering. We can just watch on helplessly. The most irritating thing is that it's so hard to predict the outcome of this conflict. It's all so senseless. It's probably ignorant but it feels like Ukraine is a pawn in some sort of strategic plan, I say feels as it's impossible to understand what's actually happening behind the scenes. That's why these threads are so helpful, the pieces things together.

Ijsbear · 11/03/2022 22:52

@shreddednips could you give a link please? seem to be missing it

Papertyger · 11/03/2022 22:53

I think revolution is what the strategy is trying to push

Booklover3 · 11/03/2022 22:54

@Wingingthis

I found some more info about Belarus and its involvement in this war:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_involvement_in_the_2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

Apparently they have no Navy as they are landlocked. They have approx 48,000 soldiers although most of these are conscripted. Their army ranks 39th in the ranking of military might of Global Firepower. Most of their weapons are ex soviet it seems.

Not sure how useful any of that is to you but I found it interesting.

I also read a report where Ukraine state that Russia has been bombing the Belarus border and blaming Ukraine to get Belarus involved… not verified information but also interesting.

WeAreTheHeroes · 11/03/2022 22:55

I've found Radio 4 very good and the BBC News app. I have no idea how editors of rolling news manage everything. The fact that everything is all over social media means there's a huge amount of information and it's both very informative and exhausting in equal measure imo.

shreddednips · 11/03/2022 22:57

[quote Ijsbear]@shreddednips could you give a link please? seem to be missing it[/quote]
It's been added to the Ukraine live feed, the post was made at 20:18. The reports are unconfirmed though.

Ijsbear · 11/03/2022 22:58

ty

Gingerwarthog · 11/03/2022 22:58

Yes we're talking about it a lot at work - especially last Monday when we'd had the weekend to watch news and read papers etc.
Everyone's shocked but talking about it seems to help as does organising a collection of nappies, sanitary towels, shower gel, foil blankets and coats.

Copenhagenoffice · 11/03/2022 23:00

My groups are definitely split into two. Some want to talk about it incessantly and others bury their heads completely. I'm in the first group, have had to set up dedicated chat channels to not upset other friends. All a bit weird.

Thereisnolight · 11/03/2022 23:03

.

shreddednips · 11/03/2022 23:03

I'm taking the daily mail article with a bit of a pinch of salt, but if it's true that they were embezzling money intended to fund intelligence then it makes you wonder what else just hasn't been done/looked after properly if people are pocketing the money.

ParsleySageRosemary · 11/03/2022 23:05

I’m working with teens currently. The possibility of ww3 and conscription has been mentioned.
All we can do is hope for the best. There’s not much preparation possible for the worst.

CannaBelieve · 11/03/2022 23:06

I'm too scared to google anymore. The whole thing is horrific. I was reading about the evacuation of all the thousands of Ukrainian zoo animals.

Realistically, they can't get them all to safety.

BeyondPurpleTulips · 11/03/2022 23:08

@WhathaveIdoneagain

All my colleagues, family and friends talk about this non-stop in England and Hungary. We talk about nothing else...
Ah. This ruins my theory that my friends have "news burnout" on similar subjects from growing up in Hungary, and obviously seeing the Yugoslavia conflict up close, as well as having been born into a soviet state and witnessing that change (we are close and I've seen them at least once a day since the invasion, and they haven't mentioned it once)

Maybe they are just not political?

Rowgtfc72 · 11/03/2022 23:11

Only me and one other person talking about it at work. I work in a factory which is 80% Eastern block workforce. No Russians that I know of, mainly Poles, Romanians and Latvians. My Polish friend who speaks little English, after correcting my pronunciation of Putin told me he was a crazy Hitler.
Most of my foreign workmates are kids barely in their 20s though. Don't know if that makes a difference.

1dayatatime · 11/03/2022 23:11

Firstly thank you to @MagicFox for setting up Series 12 and secondly I just wanted to say how rational and civil all the posters are. It is possible to express opinions without being labelled a pro Kremlin troll from one side or countered with its all a conspiracy to take our money

Finally apologies for starting a tangent discussion on lithium on the last thread, it really was irrelevant. However the supply of battery grade nickel on the other hand ...🤔 😀

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