To ask if most of us have forgotten about Ukraine

[BeaBachinasec]

The invasion was terrifying and dramatic. We admired the plucky Ukrainians defending their homeland against the mighty Russian bear.

And now? I'm not quite sure what's going on anymore and wonder if most of us have lost interest as the war has rumbled on relentlessly.

There's a whole topic on the conflict in the Middle East, nothing like that for Ukraine.

I spoke to a Ukranian lady a few weeks ago - if it had slipped down my thoughts a little then hearing her story soon made it all the more real again. Folk still care. Many folk also care about other major events too though.

I haven't forgotten. But it's out of my control so what can I do about it.

None of that makes a blind bit of difference to the Ukrainian front line or the ever increasing overnight missile strikes from the Russians.

Ukraine and Russia need to both realise neither side can win, the US's 62billion will help but wont drive Russia back, Russia equally has huge resources and our sanctions haven't had the desired effects.

Yes it rewards Russian aggression but whats the alternative? unless we give UA NATO jets, air defence systems and long range missiles, in numbers sufficient to really damage Russia, Ukraine cannot win and if we did all of that, what would be Russia's reaction???

Plus, have we even got this stuff to give.....

The longer this goes on, the more likely it will escalate, not too mention the death and destruction.

@Alexandra2001 There can be no peace while Russia continues to occupy any part of Ukraine. They will cynically use any ceasefire or peace deal as an opportunity to rearm, rebuild their armed forces, and come back for more.

The way to end the war faster is to send more equipment and ammunition to Ukraine, not less. More air defence to protect Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, and more artillery systems and ammunition to repel Russian frontline attacks.

Russia does not actually have huge resources. What it did have was a huge legacy of Soviet era equipment (i.e. manufactured pre-1991, 33+ years ago). Much of this is now smouldering scrap metal in Ukraine, to the point where Russia is sending men into battle on Chinese-made golf buggies instead of armoured vehicles.

Just look at the Russian 'Victory Day' parade yesterday. They had ONE tank... a WW2 era T34. Not exactly a showcase of military might. If Russia were a military superpower, it wouldn't be using human wave assaults of convicts and ethnic minorities as its primary method of attack (actually it probably would, because it's Russia and that's what they do).

It would also help if the West enforced sanctions properly, instead of allowing exports of critical components to Kazakhstan etc that just get re-exported to Russia.

Russia keeps talking up the nuclear threat because it's all they've got. The reality is that they aren't going to use nukes over the war in Ukraine, and we shouldn't allow ourselves to be intimidated by their empty rhetoric.

I certainly haven't forgotten. But I am powerless to do anything about it. And frankly I'm exhausted by the relentless onslaught of terrible news stories from all across the globe on an hourly basis. You have to exercise some detachment in order not to go mad.

Oh do grow up

Im afraid that this is absolutely typical of the propaganda the Russians put out.

Zelensky appears (and it's been monitored) to be honest. That yacht has nothing to do with him.

He has flaws - an inclination to change aides too often for one, there are others - but this isn't one of them.

it's a line the Russians have used to push the anti-Zelensky line though, so you might want to look at bit more closely at where your information is coming from.

@Alexandra2001 you and I have locked horns before. I’m not interested in doing it again.

Because the arms were given slowly, arrived in dribs and drabs and in about 50% of cases from some countries needed overall or were unable to function at all. They were 'given' to look good but the old and non-working stuff was given.

Russia was given too long and it dug in deep and hard, felling forests to line trenches and laying enormous minefields - Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world.

But that's in the past.

But the war is very real I'm afraid - Putin wants more than Ukraine - he's said so - and he is actively attacking the West via social media, which is intensely powerful.

Yes.

You -have- to look after your own mental health first and keep some detachment.

If you do get the chance to write to your PM or to donate a bit though, that's great =)

Life gets in the way. Caring for a relative with dementia, dog been sick on the carpet , kids doing uni finals next week, I have heart disease and osteo arthritis, arranging structural work on the house...

I have no head space... none.

And many people are like me, bumbling day to day through their own crises, we've not forgotten, there is just too much other , higher priority (to us) stuff going on.

And nobody is asking you to change, overlook or move away from any of that - but what’s happening in Ukraine impacts all of us and it’s dangerous to think otherwise.

I mean, yeah 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's a war I can have no impact on the outcome of, I've no relatives there, no skin in the game at all. So I don't think about it from one week to the next. Same as Gaza. Same as most world events tbh. Life is just too busy.

I agree. Some of the naïveté on this thread, along with the “not my problem” mentality is staggering.

Absolutely not! I don’t talk much with other people about this but I don’t talk with them about Israel/ Palestine conflict at all. It’s just the nature of my circle.
As a family we follow news about Ukraine closely and try to express our support wherever we can.

Sunak just announced an enormous increase in defence spending (which Labour will likely continue) predominantly due to the percieved Russian threat. Ukraine is still very much a hot topic in the news I read.
It very much is our problem - if for no other reason than the money spent on stockpiling ammunition will now not be spent on other (already struggling) public services.
I'm always baffled by people who claim they "aren't interested in politics". It's YOUR money they are spending!

Oh that's excellent news @TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum (great name)

@BeyondMyWits when you have that much on your plate, getting to the end of the day can be a major achievement! Dead serious. It takes so much out of you.

@Lucanus The West hasn't the means to arm Ukraine in such a way that Russia can be driven out, hasn't the man power either, should Trump win in Nov, will the US ? then what?

I think its extremely dangerous to say Russia's threats on using Nuclear are empty, we simply do not know, you don't know either how Russia would react if it left Ukraine with its tail between its legs.

Many experts, inc Sir Richard Dannatt said Russia wouldn't invade Ukraine... mmmmm

Western sanctions are little more than a fig leaf, Russia is making more in $ terms then ever before, our so called Ally, India is buying huge amounts, China too, also providing Russia with tech.

Russia will rearm regardless of the outcome in Ukraine & we must keep arming Ukraine too, its just that i don't believe they can defeat Russia, so we need a plan B.

An aim to increasing spending to 2.5 or even 3% without any idea of how this will be funded, is not a "enormous increase" at present, the previous defence spending round stands, so not a single penny extra.

They ve been running down UK defence for a decade plus, the cuts to headcount are still going ahead.

Its an utter disgrace, Russia has been a direct threat to Europe since at least 2014.

Russia is making more in $ terms then ever before,

It's empty money though. 30% of Russia's budget is going towards military spending. That's stuff that isn't actually growing anything, or investing. In terms of people, growth, technical skills Russia is falling further behind.

One hopeful aspect is that the EU is slowly increasing its military production and it will start showing real results in 2025. Some of that will go to Ukraine, since they are the point where Russia's focusing its attacks on the West at the moment.

Because weapons manufacturing is a huge industry and it is in their interest for wars to go on for a long time.

Putin wasn't motivated by the desire to keep the arms industry happy :P

@Alexandra2001 Don't be ridiculous. The military budget of the US alone absolutely dwarfs Russia's. Add that to contributions from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and other NATO countries... it's vastly in excess of what Russia can muster.

Political will is another matter entirely, but it's 100% not about capability.

Russia also has a severe problem with corruption. A lot of what is supposedly spent disappears along the way. As I said before, there is a reason why they're relying so heavily on poorly armed, minimally trained cannon fodder in human wave attacks.

In regards to military spending, Russia has been attempting to maintain an army, and an airforce, and a navy, and a nuclear deterrent, all on a population of <150 million and a GDP lower than that if France. If you think they've been keeping up maintenance spending on all their nuclear missiles, think again.

Just look how at how well their Black Sea fleet is doing against a country that barely has a navy. Multiple ship losses and they're having to retreat from their main base at Sevastapol.

Russia isn't fighting the USA.... so the USA's capability isn't the issue.

The aid to Ukraine was delayed by around 6 months, Europe inc the UK sent what it could but that was not enough, no where nr, Russia is firing back many times more artillery rounds than the UA is returning, same with missiles.

The amount of heavy armour Europe is giving is nothing like what is needed, Germany wont send Taurus missiles, the UK hasn't enough of its own, air defence is not sufficient.... there is also UA man power.

If Nato etc has such capability, why is Russia taking territory?

However, all of this pales into insignificance because there isn't the political will, neither in Europe or the USA (esp if Trump wins)
Bloody hell, look at how Europes farmers are moaning because of cheaper Ukraine produce coming into Europe and European response to that.

Yes the targeting of Russian ships in the Black Sea is brilliant.

Maybe you can give me a path to how you believe Ukraine can defeat Russia and what would happen/response in Russia, should this happen?

We won't forget - we hosted a refugee family of 5 for over a year. They now have a home of their own, but we still see them and our children are close.

The things they went through to get out of Mariupol were horrendous, they arrived in a car with bullet holes in - they'd been fired at by the Russians despite having a huge sign saying there were very young children in the car. Their home has been given away to a Russian family, their business is a pile of rubble. Their 8-year-old's best friend from school is dead. So is their neighbour's 18-month-old toddler.

The Russian invasion must be stopped, for the sake of far more than just Ukrainians - what about neighbouring countries? Who will be next? Putin is a madman, he must be stopped.