The Russian president said [peace] talks with Ukraine had derailed because the Ukrainian side had made “fake claims” about war crimes and extra demands for security guarantees.
Come on guys. Get military assets in the area. Don’t impose a no fly zone, Ukraine jets need to bomb Russian hardware after all, just take out any Russian Air assets making incursions into Ukrainian airspace.
That would soon put an end to this catastrophe.
I visited Vyborg in Karelia when I was 16. I went to a boarding school for a year and we traveled to Vyborg with an aid shipment, through Finland. It was terribly run down. I remember that I gave 50 finish mark to a gypsy beggar with a child without shoes and then someone in our group gave the kid shoes. The day after she was begging with the child without shoes. I lost a bit of innocence there and learned a bit of cynicism.
Russian soldiers we met, and we met quite a few since they kept stopping our buss for bogus reasons to get cigarettes and clothes (we had to bribe them) before we could travel further towards Vyborg; were and looked very poor. They stopped us on 3 different spots on the border. One time, they took the buss to a station where they had a tank. An Irish trailer driver was there. He was carrying Jameson Whisky. He refused to bribe them and was up in arms because he had been at that station for almost 2 weeks. We gave him food. They threatened to cut the buss in half, went through it with dogs, (half the bus was a lorry, other part a bus, and they claimed this was new to them and that we could be carrying drugs; again bogus reasons). We bribed them some more, eventually got allowance to drive to Vyborg.
Visited an orphanage there it was sad as fuck. Run down, bleak landscape. Power lines were often down because people kept cutting them to steal the copper we were told. Also visited a prison. It had a lock system. Was dreadful within. Not the place where people are rehabilitated. Prisoners seemed like normal people though, I pitied them and hoped they would be set free sooner rather than later.
It was a very eye opening trip for a 16 year old from Norway.
Edit: We also visited a Jewish congregation in Vyborg with aid. They were afraid. Outside, a car stood waiting with 2 FSB guys in it. They were spying on the congregation and us when we were there. Just sad. This was in 1999-2000. It’s a bit better there now I hear. Or was anyway. It’s probably going to get shittier now soon with the gov clamp down and sanctions.
That’s because it was not the reason, just a cool fake motive that works in propaganda:
Graphic if you open it:
If the Russians captured that it would be the highest spec equipment in their arsenal.
Not wise of Zelensky imo. Too emotional a decision. I doubt shaming will work well:
@anon27364116
Have a look at this thread. Do you reckon the numbers are true ?