Ukraine Invasion: Part 32

[MagicFox]

Gosh, that last one filled up quick! Welcome to 32, all 🇺🇦

I think we should be careful not to hope for too much from this. As with most states, China has been known to tailor what it says for its audience

Oh thank you so much. I am trying hard not to get too excited about this.

I've read that Xi felt deeply humiliated after Putin invaded Ukaine three weeks or after their summit meeting when they proclaimed that their "friendship had no limits". China did nothing to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine, suggesting they were not fully briefed about what would happen.

The whole business was a foreign policy disaster for China.

Bonnie Glaser is repeating it and she's 👌 on China

Isn’t that who the original poster (sorry MN wont let me scroll back to find out who it was) linked to?

More mass graves have been found, this time in Lyman. Jesus fucking wept when will this end. I’m honestly dreading what they’ll find in the bigger cities 😭😭

We have to accept that what lies ahead in the cities, once they are freed, is going to be the stuff of years of nightmares if you think about it too closely.

Best not to. Best to do what we can to help, as a lot of people on this thread do, and to keep our feet on the ground. A lot of help will be flowing into these cities to help the survivors, and that's what will matter.

First get them freed ... it really isn't realistic but I'm praying that Mariupol can be freed before winter.

The recent southern successes have led me to start hoping about Mariupol too, Ijsbear.

It was very, good and unexpected news about those Azovstal defenders, alive and free, we saw meeting their families yesterday. Whoever helped with that was a miracle worker. That is one good thing Putin did too, I suppose it has to be said.

Has anyone seem the joke posts on Twitter about the Czech republic annexing Kaliningrad.

I just want to say I'm fed up to the back teeth of all the nuclear headlines. Fed up. Not because I'm scared but because I know it (understandably) scares others. It is SO irresponsible. There should be a public health law/order or something to make them take their responsibility more seriously.

@Hillsmakeyoustrong who is at it now? Or Is this a general observation?

Is this to do with the North Korea ballistic missile breaking news?

I agree the media has become more and more sensationalist over recent years - it hit peak sensationalist fear mongering with Covid but seems to have continued in the same vein.

Apologies that sounds worse than it actually is - there are headlines about NK firing another ballistic missile towards Japan conducting more tests I believe

This is an excellent long ish read on potential ending for the war by Timothy Snyder snyder.substack.com/p/how-does-the-russo-ukrainian-war?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=auto_share

@Greenshake so many! Sky News has had three nuclear headlines in the last day or two. There were more yesterday than today but if you look over say a period of a week it's terrifying at a first glance!

@Hillsmakeyoustrong its incredibly irresponsible isn’t it? I keep reminding myself that this is about revenue rather than informative journalism.

So irresponsible. And it's just a rehash of what's been said before, it's hardly brand new information and honestly it's just boring. Irresponsible and boring.

Unconfirmed rumours that a power struggle is surfacing between the head of Wagner, Prigozhin, and Shoigu. Kadyrov and Prigozhin have been very critcal of the military lately.

It wouldn't be surprising. Prigozhin's a horrible piece of work and ambitious. But if it's got to this stage then firstly Putin's unable to control him anmore and secondly, perhaps he's after Putin's seat.

I did but I also saw the less amusing large protests and marches in response to rising energy bills in Czech. I don't seem to see it reported here so much but maybe I just miss it. The far right is rising and political instability in Europe?

www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/tens-of-thousands-protest-czech-nato-and-eu-membership/

foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/04/europe-energy-crisis-putin-czech-republic-slovakia/

The one thing that irritates me is when commentators talk condescendingly about "playing on people's fears" in that article. It isn't a fear it's a reality.
I am sitting here with no heating and the red light flashing so likely no hot water soon. The oil tank fill would have been £1100 yesterday but with Opec's announcement who knows what it will be tomorrow. Out of my reach whilst still recovering from the financial hit of Covid which I took so not to be a "granny killer"
My petrol light is on and work told me 2 days ago some of us will be made redundant before Christmas. Not been long in this job.
An acquaintance, made redundant as the direct result of sanctions v Russia, is having to sell their family home three generations out on their ears. People all over Mumsnet can't afford heating or their mortgages. So not a fear - reality all over Europe.
Before anyone says think of the Ukrainians. it doesn't work like that.

@Hillsmakeyoustrong it’s so irresponsible, definitely seen an uptick in my anxiety since putin’s speech and the onslaught of headlines debating what will happen if he “goes nuclear”. My own fault in part for over consuming (even though every article basically says “we don’t know if he will go nuclear and we don’t know what the response would be if he did”) but it feels impossible to escape. Even though it’s out of our control and there’s nothing we can do to change what unfolds it still puts the fear of god in me and for the poor civilians going through hell on the ground.

I understand the speech, the mobilisation and “referendums” are significant but apart from the sabre rattling in his speech am I being stupid to think from a nuclear risk perspective we are similar to feb? Saying that the current buzz on Twitter is that the us govt are planning to purchase drugs in case of a nuclear emergency but I will take with a pinch of salt as I couldn’t see a reliable link to that news. I now don’t know whether to be elated that Ukraine seem to be doing a stellar job at pushing back or terrified at the consequences and everything else!

Welcome to Mumsnet Yellowbrickroads.
I don't think you'll get much traction on this particular thread.

@YorkshireLondonMiss Everyone should be doing what they can to talk down any kind of nuclear option. Unfortunately, social media and newspapers have a lot to answer for. Cavalier chat and oh the modern ones aren't so bad or it's just a quick death.
The last time I was on this thread there was way too much of that.
I have always believed there will be no nuclear risk however watching the way this whole thing has been escalated and framed in some quarters as the 3rd World War which can't be stopped until Russia is completely destroyed - not so sure. Some powerful people (supposedly intelligent) treat it like a script from The Incredibles.

Let me guess you think I am a Russian bot . You are a bit late to the party - that's been and done. In fact MN did tell me next time I feel that coming again to report it :-)
So I take it you don't think that the situation in Czech or Slovakia or the rest of Europe eg Finland + Germany + nationalising Uniper is anything worthy of discussion? or the effect it may have for support of Ukraine?

Yellowbrickroads· Today 00:35

^minsmum · Yesterday 22:37
Has anyone seem the joke posts on Twitter about the Czech republic annexingKaliningrad.

I did but I also saw the less amusing large protests and marches in response to rising energy bills in Czech. I don't seem to see it reported here so much but maybe I just miss it. The far right is rising and political instability in Europe?

www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/tens-of-thousands-protest-czech-nato-and-eu-membership/

foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/04/europe-energy-crisis-putin-czech-republic-slovakia/

The one thing that irritates me is when commentators talk condescendingly about "playing on people's fears" in that article. It isn't a fear it's a reality.

I am sitting here with no heating and the red light flashing so likely no hot water soon. The oil tank fill would have been £1100 yesterday but with Opec's announcement who knows what it will be tomorrow. Out of my reach whilst still recovering from the financial hit of Covid which I took so not to be a "granny killer"

My petrol light is on and work told me 2 days ago some of us will be made redundant before Christmas. Not been long in this job.

An acquaintance, made redundant as the direct result of sanctions v Russia, is having to sell their family home three generations out on their ears. People all over Mumsnet can't afford heating or their mortgages. So not a fear - reality all over Europe.

Before anyone says think of the Ukrainians. it doesn't work like that

I am sorry you are in financial trouble left over covid and hope eventually you will recover.

I am looking more and more like the Michelin tyre man as I add more clothes to keep heating off in the increasingly cold weather.

In my house we are hoping to build up some credit with a monthly payment so as to have a bit of heat at Christmas. Luckily my energy company was warning about price hikes to come over a year ago, before Russia invaded Ukraine, so that has helped me build some up ready.

There are very poor people where I live. I hope everyone who can will support food banks as much as possible.

We need alternative kinds of energy fast.

And less inflation, which also started well before the invasion of Ukraine. I thought it was due to Brexit and businesses catching up after the lock-downs.

I am still thinking about Ukrainians but understand others are less fortunate than me especially if they live in a colder country like Czechoslovakian.

However, I remember as though it were yesterday the sick, dark feeling of watching the news on the television of the Russian tanks rolling into Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the bleak end of their Prague Spring. Maybe in spite of the cold some of the Czechs sympathise with Ukraine today.

Governments could do so much more to help people with the heating and cost of living crisis but they know if they raise taxes to fund this help then five minutes later everyone will moan about the taxes, they'd be securing their own downfall.
What's worrying about the Czech protests is that the far right agitators are taking people's genuine concerns and shifting the blame for them to where the blame shouldn't be e.g. on Ukraine instead of on Putin and their own governments.