Ukraine related: Was Ukraine Government Is Handing Out Guns To Citizens, What Happened to Gun Control?

very interesting .. beginning days local resistance with small arms did well .. much like US revolutionary war .. local militia with small arms providing resistance .. armed militia, the topic which started this thread


Why Are the Russians So Bad? War Stories from Ukraine with Neil Vermillion
Forgotten Weapons

 
mat200 said:
That is not an accurate assessment complete Bull .. look at the results .. NATO now has a 2x border with Russia .. Finland(*) and Sweden would not have joined NATO had the invasion not happened .. Putin's invasion of Ukraine changed that 100% ..

STG series had John Mearsheimer present that theory : "Blame ourselves for Russia invading" ( ask yourself, was 9/11 the fault of the USA .. i.e. Blame ourselves .. or was it not ? Ask yourself, is it the fault of the USA that Islamic fundamentalists hate USA ?? .. ah, the group of people who always want to Blame ourselves .. like blaming Whites for the riots .. Blame ourselves .. seriously .. )

STG did a good follow up on that presentation:
Why Mearsheimer is wrong about Russia and the war in Ukraine. Five arguments from Alexander Stubb.


Fundamentally, the mentality that we Blame ourselves for Putin's actions is wrong, just like Blaming ourselves that Hitler invaded all sorts of countries ..

(*) - The Finnish Defence Forces' reserve comprises approximately 900,000 Finnish citizens .. thus you now have a 900,000 NATO reserve force on the border of Russia
Click to expand...



His exact quoted words, not mine

During a speech at the E.U. Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg clearly and repeatedly acknowledged that Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine because of fears of NATO expansionism.

His comments, initially flagged by journalist Thomas Fazi, read as follows:

"The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn’t sign that.
The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that.
So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders."

LIVE: Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the EU Parliament
 
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Blinken OKs Attacks On Russia With US Missiles
Blinken OKs Attacks On Russia With US Missiles | ZeroHedge

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the start of this week that it was up to Ukraine whether or not to target Russian territory with US-provided weapons, a policy that brings the US and Russia closer to a direct clash.

Blinken made the comments after ABC News reported that it’s likely the Biden administration will soon arm Ukraine with Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which have a range of up to 190 miles.



While appearing on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ Blinken was asked if he was OK with Ukraine using ATACMS to hit targets deep inside Russian territory.

Here was the Secretary of State's response:

"In terms of their targeting decisions, it’s their decision, not ours," Blinken replied.
Click to expand...
When asked about the increasing Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia, Blinken claimed the US does not "encourage" or "enable" the operations. However, The Economist recently reported that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia frequently use intelligence gathered by Kyiv’s Western backers.

ABC reviewed: "With a range of up to 190 miles, depending on the version, deploying ATACMS could allow Ukraine to reach targets nearly four times further away than with the currently-provided rockets for its U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and M270 multiple-launch rocket systems."

As the war has dragged on, the Biden administration has been less and less concerned about the risk of Ukrainian attacks inside Russia escalating the war. The administration previously feared that Russia could respond to such attacks by targeting a NATO country.

https://x.com/MaxAbrahms/status/1701129406775697741?s=20
 
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bigredfish said:
His exact quoted words, not mine

During a speech at the E.U. Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg clearly and repeatedly acknowledged that Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine because of fears of NATO expansionism.

His comments, initially flagged by journalist Thomas Fazi, read as follows:

"The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn’t sign that.
The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that.
So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders."

LIVE: Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the EU Parliament
Click to expand...

Putin may have stated HE WANTED that .. yet that does not mean that is the reason why he went to war ..

remember also .. Putin has stated that Ukraine and Ukrainians are really Russians .. and they belong under Russian Leader ( Putin ) .. so claiming it was only about NATO is not the entire claim .. as this claim from Putin states they are Russians .. and like Hitler who wanted all Germans to be under Hitler, Putin wants all "Russians" to be under Putin ..

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has made several dubious historical arguments, most notably in his 5,000-word essay “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” published on the Kremlin’s website in July 2021. In it, he elaborates on his assertion that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people” as a precursor to and defense of Ukraine’s invasion. For instance, Putin claims that Ukraine didn’t exist as a separate state and had never been a nation. Instead, he argues, Ukrainian nationality was always an integral part of a triune nationality: Russian, Belorussian, and Ukrainian. "

I guess this is like King George wanting all of the American Colonies to be under the British King ..

The entire NATO is the reason why Putin went to war would then mean :
That Poland, the Baltics, Ukraine, and all eastern European nations which were forced into the Soviet bloc have no agency ..



ref:
www.rochester.edu

Fact-checking Putin’s claims that Ukraine and Russia are ‘one people’

Rochester historian explains how Ukraine history is complicated and intertwined with many other nations, empires, ethnicities and religions.
www.rochester.edu
 
DISASTER for the Black Seas Fleet! Russia loses at least two ships. Ukraine War Sitrep.
Military & History

 
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Elon Musk clarification on the starlink / Crimea story .. ( skip to the part in the video where you see Elon on screen .. from an ALL IN conference / presentation session )

 
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Excellent discussion ..




James Sherr - Russia’s Sovereignty is not Directly Threatened so Why is Putin Embracing Total War?
Silicon Curtain

SPEAKER:
James Sherr OBE has been a senior fellow of the International Centre for Defence & Security in Tallinn since 2019. He also is an associate fellow and former head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House (2008–11). He was a member of the Social Studies Faculty of Oxford University from 1993 to 2012; a fellow of the Conflict Studies Research Centre of the UK Ministry of Defence from 1995 to 2008; and director of studies of the Royal United Services Institute (1983–85). He has published extensively on Soviet and Russian military, security, and foreign policy, as well as energy security, the Black Sea region, and Ukraine’s efforts to deal with Russia, the West, and its own domestic problems. He was awarded an OBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List for his services to British interests overseas.
----------

BOOKS:
Soviet Power: The Continuing Challenge (RUSI Defence Studies) by James Sherr

SUMMARY:
Moscow’s war of reconquest against Ukraine has confirmed in the most brutal terms how Russia rejects the values underpinning European security – the same values agreed between Moscow and the West at the end of the Cold War. As a revisionist power, Russia has made itself the primary obstacle to peace and security in Europe and beyond. For stability to be restored and protected, it is essential that the outcome of the war in Ukraine leads to a situation in which – in addition to the expulsion of occupying forces – the exercise of Russian power is contained rather than encouraged. Over time, Russia’s leadership must also be persuaded to renounce its expansionist ambitions.

It’s now or never for Ukraine. A protracted or frozen conflict benefits Russia and hurts Ukraine, as does a ceasefire or negotiated settlement on Russia’s terms. If Ukraine is to avoid these outcomes and turn tenacious defence and incremental battlefield gains into outright victory, it needs far more ambitious international military assistance than it has received to date. This report presents the case for an immediate and decisive increase in such support, seeks to dispel overhyped concerns about provoking Russia, and counsels against accommodating Moscow’s demands.
----------





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interesting ..

 
Interesting ..


This Fringe Group Wants to Bring Back the Russian Empire
Preston Stewart

 
NATO Fractures: In U-Turn, Poland Announces It Will No Longer Arm Ukraine
NATO Fractures: In U-Turn, Poland Announces It Will No Longer Arm Ukraine | ZeroHedge

Also in this article, new updates on Zelensky's fund raising tour

According to the fresh Wednesday report:
Delivering any new aid to help defend against Russia, even later this year, is looking tougher than ever.
The obstacles are piling up: House Republicans are skeptical of any new money at all. What’s more, their dysfunction threatens to push the government into a shutdown — a move that certainly gets Zelenskyy no closer to getting the billions requested by the Biden administration. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are divided over whether to continue providing humanitarian aid, arguing the rest of Europe needs to step up.

As if fully aware that the tap at the expense of the US taxpayer may run dry, Zelensky has been meeting in New York with a who's who of leading banks, hedge funds, and private investors. Fox Business, which broke the story, says the ongoing meetings are part of broader efforts to secure investment for rebuilding Ukraine and fixing destroyed infrastructure:

The meeting was put together by JPMorgan, the big bank serving as Zelenskyy’s financial adviser to attract private capital for a new investment fund to rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure destroyed in its war with Russia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Earlier in the afternoon, Zelenskyy met privately with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, the sources say. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager and has also been advising Zelenskyy on how to attract U.S. private sector money for the rebuilding effort.
The list of invitees, according to sources, includes William Ackman, the head of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital; Ken Griffin of the Citadel investment empire; Jonathan Gray, president and chief operating officer of private equity powerhouse Blackstone; Philipp Hildebrand, a vice chairman at BlackRock; Michael Bloomberg, former New York City mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP; and Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and now head of the Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic organization.
 
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This bothers me. We are really not much different now then the Russian's....whoring out our main military equipment. M1 Abram's SAYS USA all over it!

1695653575061.png
 
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US To Keep Paying Salaries For Tens Of Thousands Of Ukrainians During Government Shutdown
US To Keep Paying Salaries For Tens Of Thousands Of Ukrainians During Government Shutdown | ZeroHedge

A newly aired "60 Minutes" segment entitled The unexpected way American tax dollars are being used in Ukraine has uncovered that the US government is paying the salaries of some 57,000 Ukrainian civic services personnel.

The report details the various ways non-military aid is being spent at a moment GOP Congressional leaders are intensely debating whether to move forward with a proposed defense budget that includes Biden's push for $24 billion more in military assistance for Kiev. Watch:
 
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IDGAF if it is about NATO or not. Bottom line is that Putin is a freak'n communist that caused a lot of needless pain, suffering and death because he wants to expand and has dreams of the old Commie Motherland.

F**k Putin. And no, I don't trust Ukraine either, but they weren't the ones that invaded another country.
 
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A Russian Speaking Ukrainian from Crimea counters the talking points of Vivek Ramaswamy, ..

basically noting : "Russian Speaking" does not make me a subject of Putin ( Russian Language does not belong to Russia .. )
( similar to English speaking does not make American's subject of the English King .. )

Looks like Vivek completely screws up with regards to the Christian topic .. Moscow controlled Russian Othodox Church, sort of like the Church of England .. English King controls that, don't really want that in the US in 1776 .. Ukraine has their own Othodox Church ..

Update from Ukraine | Big fight on the south | Z-Clown runs for President in USA
Denys Davydov


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lowend15 said:
Europe needs to step up.

Just like how the middle east needs to take the refugees from the Gaza war.
Click to expand...

Much of Europe has stepped up ..

many more are giving a higher % of their GDP than the USA .. and are getting hit hard economically on oil / energy and other products as the US Dollar is mighty and strong ..

housing refugee costs also ..

Have to really look closer and away from US centric politics to see this ..



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