AIBU? Russia threaten UK

[mumlearningtorun]

Am I being overdramatic about the new breaking news I’ve just seen about Russia threatening UK after use of drones. I’m super scared and have anxiety, can someone somewhat reassure me? Has these headlines happened before??

We're not being dragged into a war.

Do you think the west should just let Putin's Russia take Ukraine? To just stand aside and ignore it?

How do you think the west should handle Putin and his expansionist agenda.

None
Putin just desperately needs the world to give up on Ukraine so they run out of ammunition and have to surrender to Russian occupation

British made drones have been used by Ukraine and can hit strategic targets bringing the war back to Russia
He has directed the use of Russian weapons in the UK, he is already at war with the UK and the western world

Like most dictators, Putin is extremely paranoid. He ideally wants a "buffer zone" of Russian-controlled satellite states between Russia and the EU border. (He also wants ports which don't freeze over in winter, such as Sevastapol in Crimea, plus control of the Arctic).

One problem with ruling by fear is that people are afraid to tell you the truth. So they lie to you and you end up making military and other decisions based on over-optimistic info. The other problem is that lots of your people secretly hate you and wish you were dead. So you don't know who to trust. In the end, you're likely to appoint your inner circle of cabinet ministers based on loyalty, regardless of whether they have the right skills for the job. Hitler made both of these key mistakes and I bet Putin is making them too. What else can he do?

Well, the world cannot let him have what is not his. Too bad that he wants a buffer zone. He needs to make do with having Belarus.

Some days I really miss the laugh reaction button on here.

Ukraine has been using British made ordnance or part-British made ordnance from day one of Putin's Special Military Operation 🙄

E.g.

MLAW - anti-tank missile, so defensive, lots donated under the Johnson administration.

And

Storm Shadow - medium range stand off weapon - definitely offensive but not long range.

Those are two obvious examples there are more.

There's nothing really new going on here other than the newer systems have longer range and have the potential to hit Putin where it hurts - at home.

Hence his latest rant.

We’re already in a war - we have been since 2022. Currently it’s (mostly) a proxy war but a war none the less.

I remember people being scared of this in 2022. Nothing will happen. They will not attack a member of NATO.

His desire for a buffer zone resulted in increasing his border with the hated NATO by 1300km by forcing Finland to join so that worked out well.

There are also UK troops on the ground in UA. Not many and mostly there for training purposes, but they are definitely there.

I read serious opinion pieces by BBC commentators as well as other reputable news outlets shortly after the invasion that suggested various outcomes for Ukraine - they all differed only in amount of territory Ukraine will have to give up/ timescale (from weeks to months) of how long it will take for Russia to overpower Ukrainian army. No one, literally no one believed Ukraine could fight off Russian advances for years, never mind winning. As a Ukrainina I used to be driven to tears by all this "prognosis" - I remember the feeling. It was awful.

I know Russia uses propaganda etc etc but in the West there is still a misplaced adoration and respect for Russia, for it perceived power and ability. Which is, as we can see, is misplaced as it's a fucking Potemkin Village of a country.

Edited for fat fingers.

Actually the British Army have been deployed on Op Cabrit in Estonia & Poland since 2017 as part of NATOs commitment to Eastern European members, formed in 2016 at the Warsaw summit as a response to the 2014 invasion

…: and despite claims by Putin, NATO had been more focused away from Eastern Europe, his aggression against Ukraine brought back NATOs attention

Putin also likes to erase from history that he once asked to join NATO, Russia has participated in NATOs “partnership for peace programme” and Russian troops deployed with NATO operations in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo

It was in Kosovo that James Blunt tells of his refusal of a US order to capture Pristina airport from the Russians who had arrived there first (actually General Mike Jackson who formally refused the order)
Once upon a time I was a budget clerk working far below General Jackson

To be honest having watched this over decades, Russia repeatedly warned the West about its actions. Washington kept pushing NATO towards Russian borders. Russia said enough. Washington placed a missile defence system that could be engineered to fire an ICBM to reach Moscow in four minutes. Russia said enough. Washington was behind the civil unrest that resulted in them putting a puppet in charge of Ukraine and Russian people in the East of Ukraine under sustained attack. Russia essentially had enough and reacted or it would have no buffer between the Western nations and itself so it invaded. And lets be honest, Russia are not the ones with the history of attacking countries with military might. Of course Russian establishment are not all good and great, but the provocation stretches way back and is rooted in Washington.

I didnt actually worry too much about this until
now. Russia is not in a good way domestically and its losing ground in its war. Now when you start to add that the only reason Ukraine didnt collapse by now was because it was being supported militarily and logistically and financially by the West, thats going to get Russias back up. Yet what has changed is Ukraine attacking Russia deep within its territory.

This changes things significantly.

Russias civil defence program was once amazing to be honest, but I have no idea the state of it now but what I do know is Russia has a doctrine regarding defence that includes the use of tactical nuclear weapons when attacked. Its now being attacked.

Its being attacked by British weapons possibly with support of British logistics and targeting systems. This puts a legitimate crosshair on us, as far as Russia is concerned.

So for the first time in my life yeah I would say its gone from 95% sure nothing will
happen, to 50/50. There are many ways it can attack but we are in poor shape to weather any attack and escalation can be rapid.

We have no business in Ukraine at all. Sanction by all means and trade suspension but the supplying of the level if military hardware that we have done to now attack Russia deep within territory that goes way beyond defensive measures. With Russia starting to be on the backfoot. This isnt looking good, especially when we look at the global picture economically, almost every country hates its government right now and things aren't strong. Global War would be horrific but a global war, resets and we are talking on all sides about absolute psychopaths, which are the ones that push that buttons. They see the rest of us as an expendable resource.

There isnt much we can do unfortunately, there is nowhere to go and unless you have a deep bunker thats self sufficient for several years and well out of sight and there is no knowledge to anyone else but you that it exists, there is zero ability to escape what could happen.

Im hoping, as we all are, nothing will happen - but yes this development is concerning to say the least. We cant do anything now. Just occupy yourselves and enjoy life and carry on and what will be, will be. I just find it hard to understand why anyone would be for our military involvement in this conflict, it has zero to do with us.

We've been involved for years.Son in law has done a couple of tours in Op Cabrit in Estonia and had a role in training Ukrainian troops in using missile systems on Salisbury plain.

@Crissy81

Washington placed a missile defence system that could be engineered to fire an ICBM to reach Moscow in four minutes

That statement as written doesn't make sense for several reasons...what system are you on about, where was it deployed and when?

@Crissy81

Washington kept pushing NATO towards Russian borders.

No they didn't. Stop believing Russian propaganda.

We have no business in Ukraine at all. Sanction by all means and trade suspension but the supplying of the level if military hardware that we have done to now attack Russia deep within territory that goes way beyond defensive measures

We have the moral imperative to help a country that has been invaded by it's neighbour.

If Russia doesn't want to be attacked, then all they need to do is retreat, and stop the war. It's all on that arsehole Putin.

He could stop the attacks, he chooses not to, as he's a warmongering bastard.

@Crissy81

Washington did not ‘push’ countries to join NATO. They asked to join as defence against Russia. Your statement about missile defence systems makes no sense, ABM systems are not ICBMs. There is no ‘puppet’ in UA - there is a democratically elected president. Ethnic Russians are not under attack in UA, this was a fabricated pretext for the initial invasion. As for a ‘buffer’ - do countries get any say in whether they want to be a buffer for Russia in your worldview? And it’s laughable to say that Russia has no history of attacking other countries: every ex-USSR state was effectively annexed by Russia and treated as a colony. Not to mention Afghanistan, Georgia etc.

There’s a reason so many ex-USSR states have joined NATO and the West: because they were treated appallingly by Russia and are, justifiably, scared of it.

Russia had a chance to do the right thing and join the civilised world in the 90s - they chose Putin instead. Fuck ‘em.

I do actually think Europe should be doing something to protect Ukraines children. I have no idea why Zelensky appears to be doing nothing about this.

This recent article is quite sobering.

Here's an extract:

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, removals of Ukrainian children became systematic Russian state practice, and significant legislative reforms have allowed the program to be both expanded and simplified. Some children have been separated from their parents during military operations or “filtration,” while others were removed from institutions or sent to camps. Under coercion, some parents consent to the transfer of their children; others can be charged with fabricated crimes and deemed “unfit,” so that Russia can gain custody of the children. Once transferred to Russia, children can be placed in Russian foster families and adoption programs. Russian adoptive parents have the right to legally change the children’s names, patronymics, and date of and place of birth, thus erasing the child’s Ukrainian legal identity and making recovery nearly impossible. Upon being placed into foster care, under guardianship, or adoption, children undergo re-education and Russification. In some cases, children are beaten, abused, confined, and threatened to be sent to psychiatric hospitals for disobedience.

That isn't the article I was trying to link to.

This is it:

https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/the-illegal-abduction-of-ukrainian-children

Odd framing.
Do you hold the Polish government responsible for the abduction of their children by Nazi Germany?

It started in 2014.
Russia are going to great lengths to abduct and hide those children. Some have been sent to Belarus and North Korea.

@Notonthestairs

Odd framing.

Yes indeed...I suspect the answer to what is Zelensky doing about this is he is trying to win the war.

Talk of treaties, international obligations and getting the lawyers in is meaningless when dealing with Russia ATM.

@mumlearningtorun
As your original post was about your anxiety I’d recommend leaving this thread

There is no credible threat to the UK of war with Russia from Putins sabre rattling and “hard man talk”

They are “up to things” and the rest of us have taken your thread in various directions

Putin is wanted for war crimes, not sure how you are thinking of getting him to The Hague @ticktickticktickBOOM

@ticktickticktickBOOM

What on earth do you mean? What do you expect Zelenskyy to do about child abduction and forced Russification in the occupied zone???