Ukraine mega thread

[CRedskinsRule]

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

Putin's plan | European Council on Foreign Relations

very well written and probably dead on as to what Putin is trying to accomplish, and what he is willing to do to get there.

that is a good summary of the big picture.

i read an article on the russia-china pipe line (maybe it was from this thread) that russia really doesnt want to got that route bc china has been demanding that russia pay the construction cost and that would make the deal unprofitable for russia for the first 20 years or so and at this point china holds all the negotiation cards.

i read an article (maybe here) that the major oil companies are falling over themselves to tell russia that they will do business with them no matter what and somethign aobut tapping into shale north of russia.

[NC_Skins]

To buoy shaky Ukrainian government, U.S. pledging aid and sending troops to E. Europe - The Washington Post


Guess they don't trust Putin too much after all.

[CRedskinsRule]

[CRedskinsRule]

[CRedskinsRule]

Romania watches and wonders:

[CRedskinsRule]

Is there a series of irreverent political cartoons summing up the crisis? - Everything you need to know about the Ukraine crisis - Vox

a few more of the above

[CRedskinsRule]

In all seriousness


Person is driving past a Russian flagged military column for 2 minutes, and at the 10 second mark he turns the camera to his right, and another column of armored vehicles is waiting to join in. I don't know what roadway, or where this is located, but assume that it's on the border like the tweet says.



Ana
‏@AnaM0978
Russian armored vehicles on the border with #Ukraine. #Sloviansk #DonetskRepublic #Russia

[over the mountain]

yeah its on like donkey kong.

sad that it seems inevitable at this point that so many ukraines are going to die for a feeble but principled stand against russia.

real surprised by the 70-80% support rate putin is receiving in russia. even knowing the polls are kremlin sponsored and rigged.

i cant help but think thermal global nuclear war is definitely going to happen in my or my daughters life time.

what will i do leading up to it? working 50 hours a week, sitting in rush hour traffic 2 hours a day, spending time conversing with automated phone systems, yelling at a printer, getting bitched at by a woman who hates me and driving a car in the summertime with no ac. i wish i had the gumption to cut the cord and go live life instead of running out the clock.

[RedskinRat]

OTM, fight the power!

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[CRedskinsRule]

Kent State anyone? I know it's not the same, but the video just reminded me of it.

[CRedskinsRule]

Good Reuters article:U.S. sanctions more Russians over Ukraine | Reuters

The slideshow as well shows that it looks pretty full blown at this point.

Tania Mysak ‏@martantomkat 1h
Life under Russia "@bopanc: Pensioner in #Donetsk says was beaten by separatists who attacked pro-#Ukraine rally

[NC_Skins]

Fuck Putin. If Ukraine had any oil, we'd have a carrier parked off the coast and troops on the ground by the thousands. They should kill their economy. Fuck em.

[CRedskinsRule]

An interesting thing, as we levy these various sanctions. Russia has pegged (or is about to in May) the ruble back to a gold standard, and is on the verge of only selling their oil for gold or rubles.

I will admit, this is an interesting tactic, and if they get enough buy in, maybe it blows up the underbelly of the US banking system. Certainly there are a lot of fearmongers out there that have been warning of it from China for a long time.

I still have this bad feeling that Putin is just playing the western leaders like a fiddle. But maybe he's just a maniac.

[CRedskinsRule]

I guess the Kiev govt has just accepted that the East is lost. Doesn't seem like they have made much of an attempt to take back or stop the pro Russian movement.

From Breaking News:
Acting Ukrainian President Turchynov says most police in east Ukraine incapable of fulfilling duties, demands dismissal of Luhansk, Donetsk commanders - @Reuters

So it makes me wonder if it really is a case where the Western powers ought to accept that Ukraine should be divided. Hard to defend the Kiev government when a lot of the frontline troops in the East won't.