Maybe the Italian Prime Minister should consider the fact that Spetznas are in Kiev trying to find and apprehend/kill Zelensky:
Gotterdammerung. They now arm ministers. Many of these are on Russia’s black list…
Volksturm…
Ukrainian army withdrawing into urban areas 
https://twitter.com/nekto__/status/1497152850228621312
Lol…
Completely agree with this regarding general economic sanctions. Iran have been under heavy economic sanctions since fourty years. The result of all this? Still the same regime in place, while people heavily suffer from the sanctions.
However, if the Putin clique could be directly targeted and made to suffer, it could make a difference.
This whole thing feels like the fall of the West. Russia’s buddy China must be licking it’s lips thinking about having a go at Taiwan
The CL-final has moved from St Petersburg to Paris.
As weak as Germany’s, US, UK’s etc. response is - any opinions on the Swiss position in all of this? Your country would be in a wonderful position to help when it comes to cracking down on these people. So far pretty much nothing from what I’ve heard.
Alot of valid concerns about a possible nuclear exchange but I can’t help but feel that a military intervention now would save much more time and effort later. Seeing how the Russian military kill those troops on that island, the heroic defence and fight being put up despite overwhelming odds and amidst an almost complete lack of air support… fuck sakes, how do we live with ourselves watching it play out knowing at this very moment some poor grunt without a chance in hell of changing the outcome is still out there regardless.
The line in the sand should have been drawn. When he has Ukraine what next? Poor little Moldova with its own problems? And after that? China rubbing their hands over Taiwan and expansions in the South China sea and beyond? Another Axis?
We’re not in the end game yet, this is but part of a longer term strategy that has been years, possibly decades in the making; the weakening of the West by interfering in their electoral processes, the flooding of these money greedy countries with their oligarchs and money and projects thus so now intertwined that its hard to see any official or entity of any magnitude who isn’t up to their ears in some Russian or Chinese investment scheme, the weakening of the leadership of the US and UK in particular in Trump and Johnson (I mean come on guys, what the actual fuck) and the divisions those leaders have sown and the ineptitude on display…
The West has been turned on its ear by a masterclass from the East who have ruthless and fucking intelligent leadership while we faff around with petty notions, divisions, strife, freedom convoys, our next iPhone or smart TV and runaway capitalism. I say this about the West and I consider my country to be part of it, the very same malaise is here as well. We’ve lived the peace for so long that we’ve forgotten how it was won and that it sometimes needs to be defended as well. Ukraine is being sacrificed in the hope that this will be the end of it but who really believes that? It’s Chamberlain waving around his piece of paper all over again.
Yeah, but personally I’d still like to avoid nuclear war for as long as possible.
It’s assumed that any confrontation with Russia would automatically become a nuclear one. Why? They stand just as much to lose as everyone else and with the West’s lead in anti missile technology they probably stand to lose more. Russia is taking complete advantage of that assumption.
They are absolutely taking advantage of that. But no one wants to call the bluff here, because no one is sure if he’s really just bluffing.
It’s actually a bit of a misconception that the oligarchs hold much sway with Putin. These crooks were allowed to grow rich on the understanding that they stayed out of politics. They are only useful to Putin when he needs big projects financed quick.
The people in the picture comprise his security council (heads of defence and intelligence chiefs) , and anyone who witnessed that particular performance will be acutely aware that their opinion matters not a jot too when it conflicts with his.
For what it’s worth , I think they should all be declared war criminals and given travel bans. Let’s see how much they really love Mother Russia when they are stuck there permanantly and not swanning around European capitals and resorts flaunting their wealth.
An argument against the foreign policy realists.
I disagree, these are ruthless men who are basically gangsters. If their incomes start to take a nose dive they will up the pressure on Putin. When have they ever really been threatened? They won’t want billions of assets and cash vanish overnight.
Even if they did ( a very big if considering they know full well what happens to people who cross him ) , he would ignore them. He owns this now and he knows that if it fails , he’s probably going down with it. Apparently he became pretty obsessed with what became of Gadafi and would do just about anything (at which he’s already hinted) to avoid a similar fate.
‘Working’ is a fairly generous characterization of what must be happening. With 18,000 students in a war zone and the story they are trying to ‘arrange flights’ in no-flight zone, the few staffers left must be struggling to even be in contact with most of them.
I child screaming in fear gets me every time. I’m just glad Magnus hasn’t linked any video of the children screaming from something worse than fear…
It would appear there is a second round of discussions about the extent of sanctions, in particular focusing on the SWIFT system. With China doing nothing, expelling Russia from SWIFT may be the only way to exert pressure on Russia’s trade ties with China. I am not sure what the EU doves like Germany and Italy see as the end game here when they suggest they need to leave that measure on the table. The reluctance to use sanctions to their fullest measure must be scaring the hell of out of Georgia and the Baltics.
If I did, I would certainly post a very visible warning and hide it.
Ukrainian column destroyed. 18 + content.
Title is: Destroyed Ukrainian Border Guards column near [#Melitopol]. Hit by Russian Airforce.
With all due respect, has Switzerland had a position on anything in its history?