Global Firepower - 2022 World Military Strength Rankings are going to have to reassess their ranking, Russia is currently the second strongest military in Ukraine, not the world.
Ukraine - Russia Conflict
- Thread starter randomradio
- Start date
Savages.
A Ukrainian woman recounts being raped by Russian soldiers who killed her husband: 'Shall we kill her or keep her alive?'
"They both raped me one after the other," the woman told The Times. "They didn't care that my son was in the boiler room crying."us.yahoo.com
They were inside the 20m minimum range, assuming it was an NLAW.
The Dark Reality of Russian Troops’ Alleged War-Crime Rapes
A young Ukrainian mother is speaking out about what may be the first rape case connected to the 2022 invasion to go before The Hague.
600 Russian ‘spies unmasked’ by Ukraine in embarrassing move for Putin
600 Russian ‘spies unmasked’ by Ukraine in embarrassing move for Putin
Ukraine has claimed to expose the identities of more than 600 alleged Russian spies in a move to embarrass Vladimir Putin, according to reports. A list of 620 agents believed to be working for Russia’s FSB security agency has been made public, Ukraine claimed. Among the list, one alleged FSB...
What's the punchline here Paddy ?Sometimestin's trolls can't even do decent propaganda. So many things are hilarious about this tweet.
For the record, that is the Belarussian dictator.
COBRA RETREEEEAT!600 Russian ‘spies unmasked’ by Ukraine in embarrassing move for Putin
600 Russian ‘spies unmasked’ by Ukraine in embarrassing move for Putin
Ukraine has claimed to expose the identities of more than 600 alleged Russian spies in a move to embarrass Vladimir Putin, according to reports. A list of 620 agents believed to be working for Russia’s FSB security agency has been made public, Ukraine claimed. Among the list, one alleged FSB...uk.sports.yahoo.com
Oy vey.
I guess both sweetie & Paddy are in for a yuuuuuuuge shock in the coming week .COBRA RETREEEEAT!
Oy vey.
The Great Debate Over India’s Neutrality in the Ukraine War
India’s neutral position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine has drawn a lot of criticism in the West, although it has found a group of defenders as well. This division can be summarized as occurring between realists and normativists – or, in others words, those who consider national interests as prime drivers of international relations and those who consider both national interests and values, such as democracy and human rights, to be the prime drivers.To be honest, I am probably unable to be completely impartial when describing these two lines of argument: I would put myself in the realist group, and I have already presented my opinion on India’s position here. And yet, in this text, I would like to attempt a bird’s eye view of the rift between these two groups, in hopes that a summary can do justice to both sides. I will try to do this by first summarizing the positions of each side – by sharing the views of two authors per each perspective – and only then moving to my commentary.
Among the texts which in my view represent well the normativist approach is Sumit Ganguly’s article for Foreign Policy. As the author says:
Among the realists, the voice of Jeff Smith, from the Heritage Foundation, is worth bringing to attention:
Another realist approach is that of James Crabtree, executive director of IISS-Asia in Singapore, in Nikkei Asia:
What I find notable is that while Ganguly and Grossman mention both interests and democratic credentials as crucial aspects, Smith and Crabtree in comparison talk only of various national interests. The latter authors suggest that the United States and the West should not push or preach to India, but the rationale for this is that there is another interest at stake: containing China.
In other words, both sides understand that there is a convergence of interests between New Delhi and the West on China (both see Beijing’s actions as a threat and want to contain it), and that there is no convergence between New Delhi and West on Russia (contrary to the West, India does not see Moscow’s actions as a threat to itself). Both sides also understand that the West should pursue cooperation with India whenever the two sides have common interests. Thus, I am not claiming that normativists do not understand interests, or that they are downplaying the China factor – it is clear they are not. The difference is that the normativists assume that despite this calculus of interests the West should still call India to condemn Russia for its invasion, as it the moral thing to do.
Conversely, the realist authors quoted above are not really apologetic about India’s stand on Russia and do not claim that New Delhi-Moscow ties are good for the West (they are not). Both Smith and Crabtree present these ties as a reality to be accepted by the Western governments, though as individuals they make it clear they personally would prefer these ties to be weaker (with Smith declaring that the U.S. should take a step back, and Crabtree suggesting West should work with New Delhi on deals that would weaken India-Russia relations in the long term). In other words, the realists declare that Western governments have to understand that it is currently in India’s national interest to deeply cooperate with Russia and these governments should not make a diplomatic storm out of it. The normativists in turn believe that it is New Delhi that must understand that it is not in India’s interest to work deeply with Russia and Western governments should diplomatically convince India of this.
Trying to represent the normativist approach, I should also probably assume that authors of this persuasion view the image of being a democratic state as a national interest in itself. This is probably where the biggest disagreement arises. India’s loss of reputation for not condemning Russia is something Ganguly and Grossman suggest, while Smith and Crabtree do not.
On the purely normative level, Ganguly and Grossman are right, but in diplomatic practice their insistence on reputation causes a reverse effect: New Delhi will be more likely to rhetorically push back against Western criticism than to condemn Russia. This is for few reasons. First, the normativist authors conflate Western opinion with global opinion. What they declare to be India’s loss of reputation will only be a loss in the West, not necessarily everywhere. Second, what the normativists do not talk about is how such opinions are received in India (and elsewhere). They are usually read as sermons. Third, India will rightly consider this criticism as selective and hypocritical. Democratic governments also have a long track record of not condemning others when it suits them. This insistence of condemning Russia will likely be viewed by Indians the same way as the fact that Europe continues to buy Russian oil and gas while criticizing India for purchasing Russian oil.
I think it may be quantitatively and qualitatively proven that India is being called out for not condemning Russia more than other Asian countries (other than West-allied ones, like Japan, which naturally did condemn Russia). And I do think this is precisely because India is a democracy. India is in fact, a rather exceptional case of an Asian state retaining a democratic structure throughout most of its independent existence ever since the fall of colonialism (save for the Emergency period). But in a paradoxical way, this otherwise positive fact is now working against India in the context of Ukraine’s invasion by Russia – because India is viewed as a democratic country, the bar of expectations is being lifted higher for New Delhi.
Finally, I would like to clearly state that I do believe that the democratic system and human rights are important. In fact I believe that human rights are among humankind’s greatest achievements. While over centuries states rose and fell, together with their national interests, the steady progress of human rights led to a decrease of some the worse practices, such as torture or slavery. This is a much greater development than the history of one particular country or the another. But while as an individual I view these aspects as important, I am just as aware that for governments engaging in international relations, it is not always politically prudent to uphold these values – I would prefer this to be different, but that is the reality. The U.S. government, one of the greatest orators when it comes to these values, is also the most relentless pursuer of its national interests whenever it needs to. Preaching about values to others while not upholding them ourselves was never a good way to promote them. The better way is to introduce the standards whenever we can, in our own territory, show that we are really committed to them, and hope they will spread.
The closest parallel about the right way to deal with the interests-values conundrum is how governments should ideally treat big international companies. We generally understand that firms chase after profits and in this pursuit often undertake unfair practices, for example in the way they treat their employees. However, the way to deal with it is not to tell others to condemn these firms, but for governments to impose legal limitations on these companies within their authority (this may include limitations in our territory for how these firms behave elsewhere), and to be ready to face the consequences in terms of national interests, such as rising prices. Once these legal reforms are implemented and the governments are seen as standing firmly by them, and once the benefits of such rules are recognized by the public opinion and the media, we may hope for such standards to spread to other countries.
The Great Debate Over India’s Neutrality in the Ukraine War
Commentators are split into critics, who stress both interests and values, and defenders, who focus only on interests.
thediplomat.com
Ukrainian troops take back control of eastern town
Ukrainian forces appear to have retaken the town of Trostyanets in the country's east from the Russians. Associated Press reporters on Monday saw Ukrainian soldiers atop tanks, being greeted by the local residents.
CBS News crew visits "liberated" Ukrainian town
A CBS News crew on its way to Makariv was told to take cover as alleged Russian drones flew overhead.
That page is full of propaganda. Chinese and Muslim trolls lecturing on morality.
Oh yeah, the whole 'Russia's selling oil in Rubles' thing. That's simple, it's a breach of contract, and you know all those Russia assets we froze/seized, this is where we sell them to pay for the cost of replacing undelivered Russian oil plus the cost incurred by the inconvenience of having to do so. And after they're gone, it'll be on to cancelling Russian-held $ and Euro debt for the same purpose. Additionally, the oil situation was the only thing stopping a full Swift ban on Russia, so that will be upgraded on April Fool/
tin's day too.....And we haven't even got on to war reparations yet either. They'll need to be paid before sanctions are lifted even after the idiot realises he's an idiot.
It's being credited to a Tochka-U again. This Ukrainian Tochka-U seem to be like the DF-21D of Ukraine.
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'Ukrainian missile' destroys suspected arms depot in western Russia
The blast, which took place a mere 12 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border just outside the city of Belgorod, triggered a series of firework-like explosions
That's precisely why a lot of non western goverments including your close allies like KSA , UAE etc are uncomfortable leave aside nations like China India etc . They see what's happening to Russian assets in the west , they diversify their capital investments including their dollar holdings . Which is good in the long term .
Ever since the USD is no longer pegged to the gold , they've been printing dollars like toilet paper secure in the knowledge that the dollar is the reserve currency of the world & prime mover in the bond markets.
The party's coming to an end , Paddy. Enjoy it as long as it lasts which as of now is 50 yrs + & counting .
If you don't pay up in roubles , there'd be no gas or oil or coal to burn . While it may not make a difference to you , it'd certainly do so to a lot of nations in the EU . I don't think they're laughing . And if they are , Come winter they certainly won't .And after they're gone, it'll be on to cancelling Russian-held $ and Euro debt for the same purpose. Additionally, the oil situation was the only thing stopping a full Swift ban on Russia, so that will be upgraded on April Fool/
You can ask for all the war reparations you like . Who's going to collect it ? BoJo or Senile Joe ? Or better still the comedian ?
I'm under the impression you still think you've Russia by the balls & they've absolutely nothing on you . A penny for your thoughts Paddy. Good luck .