To feel distressed and heartbroken re Ukraine’s increasingly desperate pleas for help?

[UltraLightfly]

You can hear the desperation in their president’s (and former presidents) voices now. They are BEGGING for physical help. Begging for a no-fly zone to be implemented.

I KNOW we can’t do anything as it’ll cause WW3, but tonight, listening to a former presidents and the current presidents desperate pleas is actually quite distressing. Heartbreaking. Those poor people being left to their fate with the Russians

stop what? contributing my opinion to a thread? not a chance, not a chance!

You call that contributing? Shameless scaremongering is why it is. Wind it in.

I'd endure power cuts to have this ended definitely

@TellMeMoreHellebore I completely agree. I’m watching the coverage extensively, both official sources and diy coverage on twitter and TikTok, all the soldiers seem to appear very young and the equipment used old compared to the equipment the Ukrainians are using, I’ve been pondering on it for days wondering if he’s sent the young inexperienced ones out in old equipment to gauge the level of resistance before sending in the big stuff and the more experienced soldiers. Or perhaps to give the Ukrainians a false sense of security/being able to hold them back. It’s very odd.

Everyone feels helpless but the situation needs to be handled extremely carefully given how volatile he is and how untouchable he is(Salisbury). The best that can be done for now to to supply Ukraine with the tools it needs and provide aid assistance, we absolutely shouldn’t get more involved.

@Copenhagenoffice me too. No question.

[quote RoseRedRoseBlue]@Pyewhacket that is guaranteed to make a terrible situation worse.[/quote]
Agreed. It will be regarded as retaliation. It will regarded as engaging in the war. Not a good idea.

@Copenhagenoffice

Did I read correctly that it's costing him $15 billion per day? That sounds absurd but...I dunno?

I've heard similar figures but we can only guess.

The rockets and ammunition used are very expensive. Missiles can be hundreds of thousands a pop. And it has been observed that Russia seems to be rationing rockets, there is surprise in some quarters that they haven't gone in harder. They're not cheap.

Then think of the equipment lost, the helicopters downed, the tanks and lorries and cars breaking down and being abandoned. The wages for all of the soldiers. Their daily food. Fuel, logistical support, replacement parts.

And remember this is being replicated over many, many fronts in Ukraine. I can believe it's costing billions a day.

@Clarabe1

I am two minds over this. On one hand I think we are at war already whether we like it or not because Putin will not stop at Ukraine. He is going to carry on unless he is stopped. On the other hand I hear all these experts saying a no fly zone will make it worse but is this delaying the inevitable and at some point we will be forced to get involved? Or do we wait until he breaches a NATO land? I have no idea…

Yes, I think we have to wait. He's almost 70, he might have health problems and have to retire in the next few years.

[quote youhadmeatjello]@TellMeMoreHellebore that’s interesting about your military family - I have a lot of military family and they don’t think world war 3 is already happening or inevitable yet. I’m genuinely not trying to provoke, just highlighting that even if you’re military it’s still
open to your own interpretation even if it based on your own experience. I’d obviously prefer for my lot to be right but At this point nobody knows.
I do have a family member who works in communications for a government dept that has a lot of knowledge and is involved in planning for this kind of eventuality and she isn’t worried at all. I’ve not been privy to any details from her job of course but my motto is always when she gets worried I’ll get worried.

Although I have been very anxious about this, I’m not going to lie![/quote]
@youhadmeatjello I think you’ve articulated my current experiences better than me! I just feel that it’s important to take a balanced view.

@UltraLightfly please take on board what others have said, pregnancy is a stressful enough time without all of this going on too, so lay your worries down with us for a bit and try not to focus too much on what’s going on (easier said than done I know!)

It's awful but I just hope that there are things going on behind the scenes. He needs to be overthrown from within Russia or persuaded to back down by his friends. Macron and Bennet, the Israeli PM, have been in contact with him. Hopefully someone will get through.

It's so pointless how many people around the world are dying due to male egos.

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

stop what? contributing my opinion to a thread? not a chance, not a chance!

You call that contributing? Shameless scaremongering is why it is. Wind it in.

no

We can't impose a no fly zone. We just can't. It would be a disaster.

I know it's frustrating, frightening and depressing that we're at this pass but take some heart from the fact that the rest of the world response has been much more united and decisive than I for one could have ever imagined it would be.

Just for once, we seem to be seeing things clearly and pulling together. Putin will know this and if he is beyond caring, the people around him won't be.

It's horrific.

I've just seen a photo taken by A New York Times journalist of a family, two parents, two children, murdered by a Russian shell as they fled their hometown.

@Applesonthelawn

I wonder how much appetite there is in the west to cut off the gas supplies from Russia? If we meant it, we could agree to sell Germany some of ours, to share the available non-Russian gas resources for a while. I'd be willing to endure power cuts etc. if it means a quicker strangulation of the Russian war machine.

It's more complicated than that. It could push the price up even more which would mean it would make no difference to the funds he had available since he would still be making sales to other countries but at a higher price.

I suspect it is the direction of travel though.

I think we are in a long term war situation but one of the aims at the moment is to buy time in which other options will pop up, whether it's Russians deserting or someone getting to Putin or the war machine just running out of money. Ukraine are going to hold out as long as they can and with every day that goes by, I do think they are increasing their chances of a better outcome. That's why it's worth sending them munitions and intelligence whilst not directly intervening.

@colouringindoors

It's horrific.

I've just seen a photo taken by A New York Times journalist of a family, two parents, two children, murdered by a Russian shell as they fled their hometown.

I worry for the journalists, very brave.

I am unsure why they keep pumping them up with ammunition and then standing back

Among other reasons, because Russia using up its resources, military, financial and others, will wreck the country and weaken its power and influence worldwide.

Just for once, we seem to be seeing things clearly and pulling together. Putin will know this and if he is beyond caring, the people around him won't be.

That assumes he and they are rational.

It could push the price up even more which would mean it would make no difference to the funds he had available since he would still be making sales to other countries but at a higher price.

It would only push the price up if we were all competing for a smaller amount of gas. If we agree that each country will take less gas, using only the non-Russian available resource, and that we are prepared to endure power cuts because of the shortfall, then we are agreeing to reduce demand. Demand down = price down.
It would take an agreement across countries, very difficult to put in place.

@cornflakedreams

Just for once, we seem to be seeing things clearly and pulling together. Putin will know this and if he is beyond caring, the people around him won't be.

That assumes he and they are rational.

I think he very possibly is not, but there is no evidence senior Russian officials and military are the same. There won't be space in any bunkers for all their friends and family for a start. Yes, one man has put himself in the position of scaring the planet shitless, but he is exactly that, one man allowed too much power for too long. Not the first, but I very much hope he will be one of the last.

When Putin was doing some kind of press conference yesterday, surrounded by women, I just sensed he knows his days are numbered, that there are very few in his inner circle he can trust. Maybe I’m way off the mark here but just something I felt.

I feel awful to say this but I think Ukraine should give it up, buy us all some time, see what his next move is, give him no reason to keep attacking. Take him out later /arrest at the first opportunity.

Poland at apparently going to supply jets, I think this is a bad move and will also kick off world war three

It’s horrific but apart from what the uk is already doing I don’t want us to get any further involved.

It’s not part of nato and I hope Russia stays off any nato countries. I’d rather my kids weren’t brought up in a war zone!

Russia may take Ukraine but it will struggle to hold it - even more economic and military destruction for Russia, and by extension, it will weaken the power of another main player here, China.

I’m sorry if this thread entices people’s anxiety. Tonight for the first time I genuinely feel worried/ acted and stressed and I feel like I’m on another fucking planet to all of my friends who don’t seem aware of what’s going on in Ukraine (I know they are) there’s no actual talk of it on my FB or Insta feeds, yes people changing their FB pictures with the Ukrainian flag, sharing aid donations etc but no one is TALKING about this. So I broached it with my husband, as I wa starting to feel like I’m imagining it all, that ended badly as he said he wants us to do more and if that means getting nuked then so be it, he doesn’t want to live in a world where Putin can rule through fear alone. I get that, but I don’t want to die thanks. I’d like for us to actually meet our unborn child.

Just feel really fed up tonight, I feel like all of a sudden the U.K. has been plunged into war with Russia. We’ve known about the impending attack on Ukraine for a while, but at no point we’re citizens here warned that the U.K. would feel Putin’s fury. Perhaps I was naive, in fact no, I probably was. I just feel like even though are lives are totally normal right now, there’s huge potential for them not to be soon and I feel angry that we’ve had no warning.

Please don’t tear me to shreds, I know I’m not making a lot of sense right now. Tonight I’m just feeling really stressed, anxious and hormonal. My skin has come out in acne (I’ve never had acne in my life!) I feel so anxious.

I’m going to stop reading the news as of tomorrow and try and switch off from it.

Radio {UK} had some experienced Army boffin on who said it would be far better for Ukraine to back down early, as it was an ''Un~winnable'' situation for Ukraine and the end result would be Putin securing Ukraine eventually... but with far less bloodshed if the Ukrainian president stepped down.

It was last week sometime.
Wish I'd made a note of who it was, either Radio 4 in evening or LBC.

Even an old video on you tube from a few years back {2019} said it would be WW3 with Putin wanting Ukraine.