Ukraine

[River Don]

Vladimir Klitchko mayor of Kyiv warning of a very difficult night ahead.

Reports of locals building makeshift roadblocks and local radio telling people how to make Molotov cocktails. Dads Army stuff but by god they've got guts.

Apparently Molotov cocktails a very effective against tank when hitting near the air intake of the engine, kills the engine and the tank becomes a sitting duck

They found that with Tigers and Panzers.

Zelensky giving a similar address to the nation, says the sunrise will come.

A very courageous man, never stopped urging them on despite having a price on his head.

[tyke1962]

I feel so massively frustrated that we aren't helping these people in a direct fashion .

I feel so massively helpless , it's boiling my blood that the Ukrainians are going through this hell whilst we are doing relatively nothing directly .

I hold certain culturally right wing views but let me say every Ukrainian who flees their country is welcome in my country , My town , My village , My street and my workplace .

It's all I have to offer .

[Filo]

China abstains at the UN security council, that is a massive kick in the teeth for Putin

[SydneyRover]

A lot more could be done

''More than £100bn of UK property is secretly owned (2 year old prices)

Analysis by Global Witness shows 87,000 properties – 40% of them in London – are anonymously owned by firms registered in tax havens''

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/100-billion-of-uk-propert-secretly-owned-anonymous-firms-tax-havens

[tyke1962]

A lot more could be done

''More than £100bn of UK property is secretly owned (2 year old prices)

Analysis by Global Witness shows 87,000 properties – 40% of them in London – are anonymously owned by firms registered in tax havens''

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/100-billion-of-uk-propert-secretly-owned-anonymous-firms-tax-havens

They haven't even sleep walked in to this catastrophe Sydney because they knew full well the money was dirty and earned autocractically .

It boils my pyss that all of a sudden we've discovered a morality card , well kind of if you want to call it that .

[SydneyRover]

''It boils my pyss that all of a sudden we've discovered a morality card , well kind of if you want to call it that''

Not true tyke, this has been known and written about for years.

[tyke1962]

China abstains at the UN security council, that is a massive kick in the teeth for Putin

Aye to clean up under another autocratic system .

China ain't my allie .

Time those feckers were also put in their box too .

Cheap yes they are but the humanitarian price is another story .

We need to have a good look at ourselves in my opinion .

A pair of jeans is a fiver for a reason .

Wake up folks .

[tyke1962]

''It boils my pyss that all of a sudden we've discovered a morality card , well kind of if you want to call it that''

Not true tyke, this has been known and written about for years.

I'm not talking about you and me I'm talking about our government who are swimming in Russian money and yet ............???

All of a sudden reality hits home .

The Royal family and Nazi Germany spring to mind .

[SydneyRover]

''It boils my pyss that all of a sudden we've discovered a morality card , well kind of if you want to call it that''

Not true tyke, this has been known and written about for years.

I'm not talking about you and me I'm talking about our government who are swimming in Russian money and yet ............???

All of a sudden reality hits home .

The Royal family and Nazi Germany spring to mind .

Who knows what you're talking about as you don't say

[tyke1962]

''It boils my pyss that all of a sudden we've discovered a morality card , well kind of if you want to call it that''

Not true tyke, this has been known and written about for years.

I'm not talking about you and me I'm talking about our government who are swimming in Russian money and yet ............???

All of a sudden reality hits home .

The Royal family and Nazi Germany spring to mind .

Who knows what you're talking about as you don't say

To be honest Sydney you'd fall out with yourself in a phone box .

Then again your thousands of miles away from this current European situation so you probably don't feel what we do .

[River Don]

And so to bed, tonight I will be thinking of those brave souls in Ukraine.

[BillyStubbsTears]

And so to bed, tonight I will be thinking of those brave souls in Ukraine.

Amen to that. They are going to go through hell tonight.

And as someone has said tonight, if they give the Russians a bloody nose, Putin, bas**rd that he is, has previous on unconstrained flattening of cities.

[tyke1962]

And so to bed, tonight I will be thinking of those brave souls in Ukraine.

From what I read from sources close to the action so to speak the Russians are absorbing huge loses in their advancement .

Ever inch they progress comes at a huge cost .

Those Russian soldiers are somebody's husband , father , brother and son .

If Putin succeeds then so what with the lives that its cost .

He's made a monumental error here , he's fecked it .

God be with the Ukrainians .

I have no words that can even reconcile with with the sacrifice they are willing to endure .

[SydneyRover]

this is quite something

''Kazakhstan, one of Russia's closest allies and a southern neighbor, is denying a request for its troops to join the offensive in Ukraine, officials said Friday.

Additionally, the former Soviet republic said it is not recognizing the Russia-created breakaway republics upheld by Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, as a pretext for its aggression in Ukraine.

Despite ceasefire accords covering the disputed land, Putin on Monday declared Russia's recognition of Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) as independent states.

The surprising development from a traditional ally of Russia has the support of the United States.

“We welcome Kazakhstan’s announcement that they will not recognize the LPR and DPR," the National Security Council said in a statement. "We also welcome Kazakhstan’s refusal to send its forces to join Putin’s war in Ukraine."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/russia-ukraine-live-updates-n1289976/ncrd1289985#liveBlogCards

[bpoolrover]

A lot more could be done

''More than £100bn of UK property is secretly owned (2 year old prices)

Analysis by Global Witness shows 87,000 properties – 40% of them in London – are anonymously owned by firms registered in tax havens''

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/100-billion-of-uk-propert-secretly-owned-anonymous-firms-tax-havens

what would that do to help the Ukrainians right now? Nothing more can be done to help them unless the are boots on the ground and I doubt that would stop putin

[phllvslc]

When a Ukrainian Soldier is prepared to sacrifice his own life to blow a bridge up and so stop Russian forces in that sector you know you are dealing with highly motivated people who are prepared to die for their country rather than be governed by one of Putin's choosing .

The Ukrainians will ultimately lose this part of the conflict .

However they won't be going away either and this will become guerrilla warfare .

I'd suggest there will be plenty of body bags getting used and flown back to Russia .

Your reference to guerilla warfare and the body bags being flown back to Russia reminded me of this song. It's called  'Just don't tell mum I'm in Chechnya' and references the 'black tulips' (the aircraft used to fly the bodies home). There is a previous version that deals with Russia in Afghanistan. I wonder if down the line there'll be one to do with Ukraine.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DHCzaiJEoEY

[SydneyRover]

A lot more could be done

''More than £100bn of UK property is secretly owned (2 year old prices)

Analysis by Global Witness shows 87,000 properties – 40% of them in London – are anonymously owned by firms registered in tax havens''

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/100-billion-of-uk-propert-secretly-owned-anonymous-firms-tax-havens

what would that do to help the Ukrainians right now? Nothing more can be done to help them unless the are boots on the ground and I doubt that would stop putin

It reinforces and unites the west in support of Ukrainians, it stops rich russian criminals getting access to their money. Are you in support of russian criminals investing their money in the UK bp?

[SydneyRover]

A local Kyiv man just interviewed live confirmed reports from a day ago that said there are a lot of very young russian troops, he they hadn't enough food and fuel and were trying to make their way back to russia.

[BobG]

Personally I doubt the Russian army is that ill disciplined. Especially not after only 2 days, and that of forward movement.

Understanding motivations become paramount in time of war. Truth is irrelevant.

BobG

[River Don]

The Khazak statement is quite a thing, especially considering they sought Russian military aid recently.

...I wonder... Is what is left of Putin's beloved Soviet Union finally crumbling?

[River Don]

Apparently the Americans offered Zelensky evacuation.

He told them I need ammo not a ride.

I am lost in admiration. That man is a hero.

[Filo]

Apparently the Americans offered Zelensky evacuation.

He told them I need ammo not a ride.

I am lost in admiration. That man is a hero.

As is every Ukrainian that has answer the call to take up arms, including millionaires like the Klitshko Brothers, and various other high profile Ukrainian sports stars

[drfchound]

A local Kyiv man just interviewed live confirmed reports from a day ago that said there are a lot of very young russian troops, he they hadn't enough food and fuel and were trying to make their way back to russia.

There will obviously be lots of propaganda from both sides.
You can’t put too much store into comments like the one above.

[SydneyRover]

A local Kyiv man just interviewed live confirmed reports from a day ago that said there are a lot of very young russian troops, he they hadn't enough food and fuel and were trying to make their way back to russia.

There will obviously be lots of propaganda from both sides.
You can’t put too much store into comments like the one above.

I'll try and get his number and tell him

[SydneyRover]

twitter max seddon

This is potentially a bigger deal than even Germany signing on – Cyprus is one of Russia's biggest foreign investors (it's Russians with Cypriot offshore companies investing back in Russia) and the second biggest bank in Cyprus is Russian
Dmytro Kuleba
@DmytroKuleba
We did it. Cyprus confirmed it will not block the decision to ban Russia from SWIFT. Ukrainian diplomacy keeps working 24/7 to achieve important decisions and protect Ukraine from Russian invaders.

[Filo]

Turkey bans Russian warships from using the Bosphorus, now that is a NATO Country getting involved, over to you Putin

Thats the Black Sea fleet effectively marooned

[BillyStubbsTears]

Orban in Hungary has agreed to block Russian access to SWIFT. That's the entire EU signed up.

If Orban is turning against Putin, that's a massive sign of which way the wind is blowing.

I fear for what this means. Ukraine clearly isn't going to roll over. There's going to be horrific street fighting. Putin's previous suggests this will be bestial. No holds barred.

But now this isn't against people who can be dismissed as subhuman Islamic Jihadists, whose extermination can be ignored. It's white, blonde haired Christians, 90 mins flight from the centre of Europe who are going to be put through the meat grinder.

And the rats who have supported him  are now deserting him in droves, from Beijing to Astana to Budapest, before they get tarred with his disgusting brush. 

[Filo]

Seeing things on twitter, I know not always accurate, but because Putin thought it would be easy the Russian tanks are running out of fuel and the army running out of food to feed them. The are suffering huge losses, Ukraine are fighting valiantly 

[River Don]

Turkey bans Russian warships from using the Bosphorus, now that is a NATO Country getting involved, over to you Putin

Thats the Black Sea fleet effectively marooned

Turkey hasn't officially confirmed this.

I'd be very surprised if they do this, I can't see the Turks confronting the Russian navy.

[River Don]

Interesting report from the Mail. Not sure how accurate any of this is.

Estonia’s former defence chief Riho Terras has now claimed that Putin’s war is not going to plan because Russia is fast running out of money and weapons, and will have to enter negotiations with Volodymyr Zelensky’s government if Kyiv holds off the Russians for 10 days.

Russia’s tyrant has allegedly convened a meeting with the oligarchs in a bunker in the Ural Mountains, at which it is claimed that he furiously vented that he thought the war would be ‘easy’ and ‘everything would be done in one to four days’.

Citing Ukrainian intelligence sources, Terras claimed that the war is costing Russia around £15billion-per-day, and that they have rockets for three to four days at most, which they are using sparingly.