[OFFICIAL] Ukraine Thread

[AtW]

I am the NLAtW!

Great strapline but I am not sure about the NL bit...

[GJABS]

I just can't see them not having to freeze hard currency deposits - even in normal times a run on a bank would feck things up but right now they got no cash to pay out, plus cash is the only thing they've got (gold is illiquid, nobody will buy it and I am sure it was moved out of country anyway, so nothing actually in reserves).

Maybe Russia will have to switch to Bitcoin instead?

[NotAllThere]

Ammo depo, probably.

It was originally presented as the use of a thermobaric bomb, but it turned out to be fake.

[Paddy]

BoJo says let the Ukrainians come to the UK so they can pick fruit on the farms.

[NotAllThere]

BoJo says let the Ukrainians come to the UK so they can pick fruit on the farms.

Wrong on two counts.
1. It was Kevin Foster, not BoJo
2. Ukrainians living in the UK will be able to bring close family members into the country without facing visa restrictions, ministers announced last night as they faced mounting criticism for not acting swiftly enough.

Do try to keep up (and accurate).

[OwlHoot]

Talk about stoking the fire!

2022-02-27 Ursula von der Leyen wants Ukraine to join the EU

"We want them in. They belong to us"

[WTFH]

Talk about stoking the fire!

2022-02-27 Ursula von der Leyen wants Ukraine to join the EU

"We want them in. They belong to us"

Would you prefer that the EU said: "We hope Putin takes Ukraine without losing too many soldiers"?

I wonder is the reason the Wail are running this story, because the stories they were running about the EU doing nothing to support Ukraine turned out to be untrue, so they need to push a different direction to spread their message of hate?

[DealorNoDeal]

Talk about stoking the fire!

2022-02-27 Ursula von der Leyen wants Ukraine to join the EU

"We want them in. They belong to us"

And
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato...o-ukraine.html

Talk about poking the bear!

[GJABS]

Would you prefer that the EU said: "We hope Putin takes Ukraine without losing too many soldiers"?

Actually that would probably be a better outcome (in my opinion). The peace between east and west has been maintained over the past 70 years by having both sides strong and relatively equally matched. Sway things too much in one direction or the other and you introduce instability, leading to war, as one side thinks it can beat the other.

[Fraidycat]

The BBC is running scare stories about Putins nuclear options:

"Putin's in a tight spot," believes Moscow-based defence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer. "He doesn't have many options left, once the West freezes the assets of the Russian Central bank and Russia's financial system actually implodes. That will make the system unworkable.

"One option for him is to cut gas supplies to Europe, hoping that will make the Europeans climb down. Another option is to explode a nuclear weapon somewhere over the North Sea between Britain and Denmark and see what happens."

If Vladimir Putin did choose a nuclear option, would anyone in his close circle try to dissuade him? Or stop him?

"Russia's political elites are never with the people," says Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov. "They always take the side of the ruler."

And in Vladimir Putin's Russia the ruler is all-powerful. This is a country with few checks and balances; it's the Kremlin that calls the shots.

"No one is ready to stand up to Putin," says Pavel Felgenhauer. "We're in a dangerous spot.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60551140