To be worried about war

[Ciaram55]

The stand off between Russia and the west over Ukraine. I can't see either side backing down. I'm just so worried now. I know that worrying doesn't help but it seems to be a very tense time right now.

@Blinkingbatshit

I’ll only be able to watch if it’s on terrestrial *@MrsTerryPratchett* - we haven’t managed to join the on demand revolution yet🤣🤣

We sent an arms lift to the Ukraine, flying around Germany. I don't know whether there will be a fight but it looks like we are definitely standing with Ukraine if there is

twitter.com/geoallison/status/1483899430378127365

@Witchymcwitch

Same here. Can’t understand why it’s not headline news?! Surely more significant than bloody partying toffs!

You’d have thought so, but so far the BBC have given much more attention to Boris’s parties. Presumably if war actually breaks out - which I think it will as Putin is a megalomaniac - then maybe they’ll cover it as a minor detail at the end of the news.

TBH I am scared. I was lucky enough to spend 5 years in Kyiv for work and I adored it. Putin has been trying to nudge back to USSR boundaries for ages and if the annex of crimea is anything to by by the west will just say 'naughty boy' and then back away at speed because they do not want war.

if we do respond- well Putin has a whole range of nasty weapons to hand, and no morals whatsoever.

Boris has been advised by a Russian mole since he came to power - he will never stand up to Putin! Russia will invade Ukraine, Ukraine will ask NATO for help and Britain will refuse to play, leading to the long term fracturing of NATO. Putin will sit in the Kremlin, and laugh and laugh at us.

@AuntMasha

I may turn out to be very wrong on this occasion, but Putin does like to do this from time to time to get the world’s attention and as a way of displaying Russian military power. Though Russia spends a fair bit more than the US on their military, the country is barely in a good economic position to fund a war and faces many economic challenges post Covid. I’m desperately hoping this latest sabre-rattling exercise by Russia is just that.

^this

I live near a military air base...there are fighter planes taking off regularly...it's vvv scary.

No idea why no press reports. Come to the military base near me and see the planes taking off!

I find it quite scary too and just how little coverage there is in our media. I wonder if it's that deliberate to show russia we aren't concerned about their threats?

ooh maybe I'll change my user ne to waranxiety

Boris has been advised by a Russian mole since he came to power - he will never stand up to Putin! Russia will invade Ukraine, Ukraine will ask NATO for help and Britain will refuse to play, leading to the long term fracturing of NATO.

Keep taking the pills

This whole fucking Russia / Ukraine shit only harms regular people... I am Russian, moved away 15 years ago. My parents' business collapsed when the whole Crimea thing happened, because of economic sanctions imposed on Russia as a result. And the worst part that I have plenty of friends from Ukraine, we were always very friendly nations to each other. But these insane politicians just do what they like, because they love the taste of power.

The vast majority refuse to open their eyes to a potential issue till it’s too late

Too late to do what? I'd rather just get on with my life than sit worrying about something I can't do anything about. Or should I be writing a strongly worded letter to Putin?

@londonrach

I live near a military air base...there are fighter planes taking off regularly...it's vvv scary.

Russians love to fly right near our airspace, so then we have to send up our fighter jets. Costing the uk millions each time. The Russians just like to play games

@MrsTerryPratchett

It's not war that's scary. Honestly, I've lived through about 5 WW3s.

What is scary is the whole world's reliance on Russia, the ME and China. Everything comes from there. Oil, gas, goods, money. It makes us beholden to, and answerable to them and giant corporations, far more than our own useless government. We should be focused on renewables and buying British to reduce our reliance on insane despots like Putin and Bezos. But we don't.

Absolutely. We have put ourselves in a very vulnerable position

They talk about it regularly on GB news, one of the presenters did a monologue on China the other day and I was a bit

@londonrach I was reading about that this morning, some are American fighter jets doing unscheduled exercises. You can see them on sky scanner sites/apps, but there aren't the usual notifications on the government website for nearby residents, so it's likely emergency drills being carried out in preparation.

The war itself won't come to the UK, but it is terrifying for those in Ukraine. Putin does seem to do this sort of thing from time to time, but it's best to take it seriously.

Russians love to fly right near our airspace, so then we have to send up our fighter jets.

This isn't that though. As a PP said, in the last few days the UK has been flying weapons out to 'aid' Ukraine. The Russian forces and weapons have been building up on the border with Ukraine for months, partly in response to NATO's years of stationing themselves on borders between various countries and Russia. Some European NATO countries don't appear to agree that we should be getting into this at the moment, which is why we had to fly less directly to Ukraine, avoiding Germany. People in the press who know their stuff far better than I ever will are concerned that this is the most incendiary situation we've faced, certainly since the Cold War ended and with shades of between-World Wars politics. Many lives in Ukraine will be devastated, and there does actually seem to be genuine danger of conflict spreading because of attitudes and approaches in various quarters. Some commentators are fearful that we might get kneejerk reactions from Johnson as he tries to re-big himself up for the benefit of the Great British Public. Putin's popularity at home has waned and he appears to want to go out on a high, with reactionary dictatorship Belarus tagging along and some complex, unresolved anti-EU issues within countries like Poland adding to the potential turmoil

Boris has been advised by a Russian mole since he came to power - he will never stand up to Putin! Russia will invade Ukraine, Ukraine will ask NATO for help and Britain will refuse to play, leading to the long term fracturing of NATO. Putin will sit in the Kremlin, and laugh and laugh at us

That's rubbish. NATO is an alliance. They have to defend any member that gets attacked. Ukraine is NOT in NATO and therefore cannot call on NATO for help. The clue is in the name: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION.

The whole point of this is that Putin is afraid Ukraine will join NATO as it is an aspiring member.

Better stock up on the old toilet rolls again. (Joking, no I didn’t stock up on them in the great toilet roll shortage, I was one of those desperately roaming around all the shops in search of a pack when they had all gone).

Russia aren't doing very well economically and are actually quite pathetic now, although Putin goes to great lengths to conceal it. It's just a load of willy waving because he knows he's not head of a superpower anymore.

Well, I agree that it is worrying. I feel more concerned about the impact of climate chaos though TBH. No point in worrying about something you can’t do anything about but at least we can all take action around climate chaos so the worry can be put to good use? I’m choosing to funnel any worry into taking action around climate chaos and hope that our wonderful government can use their wisdom and diplomacy to help avoid a war… oh. Bugger. We voted in a selfish, incompetent psychopath and his band of cronies. Well we are well and truly f#%^#%!

Let’s all make a pledge to really dig deep and research before we vote next time:

• don’t rely on media to tell you what the different leaders and political parties are like and what they plan to do.
• do go to the horses mouth - read the actual manifestos, listen directly to the leaders and speakers in the party.
• do check the voting history
• do fact check what comes up in your social media feed.

Russia and Ukraine have squared up to each other before and it has all been bluster. With all the weaponry developments since 1945, leaders would have to be a million times more insane than Hitler to want another war. Hopefully it will come to nothing.

I think it's willy-waving and has more to do with European energy politics than anything else

I am perplexed as to how it will end though. Surely at some point Putin will have to be seen to be back down and withdraw with his tail between his legs. Seems weird that he would put himself in that position knowing that he isn't actually going to start a war.

It is worrying but there is literally nothing we can do about it so might as well just crack on with our lives.