Reading this, it really brings home how often Russia has drawn the ire of other nations. Has there been a decade since the Second World War when the Soviet Union or Russia weren’t subjected to sanctions?!
(Soviet invasions of Hungary in '56 and Czechoslovakia in '68 are also mentioned)
I wonder if there’s a league table of countries subjected to sanctions over the last 70 years?
Top ten contenders would probably be
North Korea
Cuba
USSR/Russia
South Africa
Palestine
Syria
Libya
Iran
Iraq
Afghanistan
Oh, and Balkan states too, no doubt.
I would be interested to see how Russian state media are spinning this.
Yeah fair enough. 
it is sort of surreal.
https://english.pravda.ru/?fbclid=IwAR0tLXhMyYfwvTurQYpY_E7hE5xtqH4VNVdOYxoI-58L9NN8w0lH7IPvUwQ
VPN service provider to provided free service for folks in Ukraine and Russia. Please share these with those you personally know who are affected.
Maybe it’s because he’s terrified of Putin.
On a slightly lighter note, first world advertising problems;
Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968), and Poland (early 80s?) should be considered as invasion too.
Sovereign, but significantly different in that in all three cases, there was a client state in place. The most significant was the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, because it overthrew Dubcek as head of state. Note that Soviet troops never actually went into Poland, although some were already deployed there.
Strong words from Von der Leyen here.
Ursula von der Leyen warned the EU will never accept the view that Ukraine has no right to exist and condemned President Putin’s “naked aggression” against the country.
She said if Moscow was seeking to divide the international community, it had achieved “the exact opposite” citing the bloc’s co-ordination with allies.
The EU reacted “at the speed of light” to deliver the largest sanctions package in the history of the union which would take a heavy toll on the Russian economy, she added.
Von der Leyen also had strong words for Russian oligarchs: “Make no mistake we will freeze their other assets as well, be it yachts, or fancy cars.”
She also made a distinction between the Kremlin and the Russian people.
“There is another Russia, besides Putin’s tanks, and we extend our hand of friendship to this other Russia”, she said.
I like the last, highlighted line very much.
Who’s the naughty boy in the classroom, being made to stand? It sounds like he’s on the end of a right telling off from teacher.
If Abramovich manages to get Putin to give up, this guy may end up getting the nobel peace prize…
Bit of a side story and sorry English speakers, but @Livvy and others - I find this fascinating:
What am I missing? Was this in answer to something up thread?
If he does, I’ll personally present him with it and wear a Chelsea shirt for a week. What am I saying?