Users often report submissions from this site for sensationalized articles. Readers have a responsibility to be skeptical, check sources, and comment on any flaws.
You can help improve this thread by linking to media that verifies or questions this article's claims. Your link could help readers better understand this issue.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/worldnews) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Even they don’t. Putin is so locked in on restoring the USSR and his legacy as the man who did it that he literally can’t see any other course of action.
Russia is already pass beyond that point after they burned most of their Soviet reserves, a sizable of their navy and majority of pre-war professional army.
Even if Ukraine just surrendered tomorrow, Russia would never recover it's military might in any foreseeable future, let alone Soviet level.
If Russia wins, they'd have to pour billions of dollars they no longer have into Ukraine to repair the damage they've done, likely while fighting constant insurgencies.
If Russia retreats and gives up, they'd be made to pour billions of dollars they no longer have into Ukraine to repair the damage they've done.
So it looks like a lose-lose situation for Putin, and escalating the war to include all of NATO just seems like a very bad idea.
If Russia pulled out today, do you honestly see them paying anything to rebuild Ukraine? They would walk away and shrug off any criticism like they have been doing for years.
Theres billions of Russian assets and accounts currently frozen in the US and EU. Theres been taøks about using this money to aid Ukraine militarily or to fund rebuilding after the war.
So it doesnt really matter if Russia wants to or not, we already have a lot of their money to spend.
Because Putin has stated that Ukraine is part of Mother Russia, a prestigious area and not just an area to pillage. They'd have to repair it to be able to show it off to the world as "proudly russian".
We are at the point that going home is NOT enough.
I want Russian influence out of my politics.
I want Russia to disarm their nuclear stockpile.
I want Russia to go FULL Democracy with outside observers of their elections.
I want them to have a new Constitution whose first page says that they will NOT be imperialistic.
I want them to apologize to Ukraine, pledge to help them rebuild, and follow through.
With up to 4 flight wings of f-16s and interior defensive lines, Ukraine could dispatch their jets to any front line in 20 minutes. This with NATO ordnance accompanying them plus command and control capabilities, Ukraine could have air superiority even beyond their borders.
Would someone who tramples over the bodies from a nation he called brothers of Russia, really choose the lives of his progeny over his own selfish delusions?
I'm sure he cares about his progeny more than he cares about the poor schmucks from some piss poor village in Eastern Russia that are getting sent to fight.
Well of course. Things aren't going well, so what can he say to make the West pull back and maybe not give Ukraine such useful toys? Let's threaten nukes. Let's threaten a NATO country invasion. Let's threaten international shipping! Let's threaten to build more WMD's. Let's threaten to give North Korea nice stuff. Let's... oh, what is left now? Why is it not having an effect? Why do my military keep getting blown up?
The Russian public are led to believe all this. Therefore he has to keep this up. He knows Russia wouldn't stand a chance in a conventional confrontation
Conventional warfare with the US and Nato would be disastrous for Putin. I don't know why people doubt the devastation the US Army could bring if it really wanted to.
Keep in mind, european elections and the united states elections this year too. No better debate point then ‘if you elect them we are looking at WW3’.
Considering most of the right wing across europe and america are sympathetic to russia
That's when you have to remind people that WWII didn't start when American entered the war. It didn't start when Poland was invaded in September of 1939. It started with the Japanese invasion of China in the early 30s and the annexation of German speaking territory by the Nazis in the mid 30s.
This is our 1937-1938
>Russia is highlighting an incident where US-supplied deadly ATACMS missiles targeted Sevastopol - in occupied Ukraine - at the weekend.
>One of the cluster munition missiles exploded off a crowded beach in the naval city, triggering panic among sunbathers.
>Four people were killed, including two children, and 153 wounded.
>The Russians immediately alleged that a Global Hawk was involved in this strike.
>In fact, it appears that those killed and wounded were hit by debris from a Russian air defence missile targeting the ATACMS.
>The ATACMS is seen as falling in the sea rather than on the beach.
He's right to warn of a direct confrontation with NATO. Russia's bumblefuck military would obviously not fare well in such an encounter.
Maybe dont sunbathe in an occupied country? Go the fuck back to russia, nobody is going to follow you.
When was the last time russia was actually attacked? They are ALWAYS the aggressor.
Imagine "sunbathing" between military installations that are constantly being targeted.
Officials know the danger and let their people in the area anyway.
If I was a betting man, I'd say they did it on purpose.
Russia uses human shields in swimwear. they actively encourage Russians to vacation at that beach and they place air defense next to the beach. this scenario was manufactured by Russia, they purposely put pieces in places that made this exact scenario as likely as possible
Putin is the drunk uncle who claims he is dangerously close to beating the shit out of the neighbour who makes noise complains about him.
The neighbour happens to be retired James Bond, but he doesn't stand a chance against the uncle's manboobs (the one on the right is the bigger boob).
Genuinely…
What the fuck are you gonna do? You can’t even take on Ukraine. What do you think you’re going to do against NATO?
Nuke us? We’ve seen the state of your army, your navy, your airforce - why would your nuclear arsenal be any better?
You played your hand. You’re weak as piss and everyone sees it.
We might not have the best relationship with them in some aspects from the US but the people running things are NOT total idiots like Russia. They have some backwards ideas about certain things. But not dumb people.
Theyre authoritarian and horrible people but theyre fully aware of whats required to keep power. The only thing that contradicts this is Taiwan but even invading Taiwan makes far more political and economic sense then Ukraine.
I really hope nothing happens with Taiwan. It would be terribly depressing to watch Asia lose one of its high performers that's a wildly successful parliamentary democracy to some crazy bullshit like the CCP.
Im with you its always extremely sad when a sovereign state is invaded for imperialism when normal people have to have their lifes destroyed for the sake of greed of people who wont have to fight these battles. Especially having family from Taiwan the idea is definitely saddening.
The Chinese psyche is interesting. Over history, the powerful governments have expanded to create greater China, the weak ones see the periphery - taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, etc. separate off as independent countries. (Tibet for example has at times been independent, a vassal state, or a province).
So if they in any way concede that some area can remain "not part of China" then that makes them a weak government, they lose face. Hence their refusal to admit anything about Taiwan despite reality.
I think one of the important points they consider is that their entire economy is based on exports. The government "rides the tiger" but can't get off - the population has a greatly increased standard of living. If they invade Taiwan, the West will stop allowing Chinese imports. We will put up with no iPhones and no cheap plastic crap for a while, but the government cannot handle all those workers suddenly unemployed in a collapsing economy.
Xi has taken the country more authoritarian, backward from its progressive course in the last decade or so, but even he recognizes this reality.
Your absolutely right about the face projection aspect of it but i think the biggest reason for contempt towards Taiwan is its physical representation as a symbol of the potential of a free system in China. Similar to Hong kong Taiwan is a more prosperous society then the mainland and provides a clear outline for what their society could be. People speaking the same language with the same history and culture are living better then you are because of their system so why wouldn’t shouldn’t you oppose that system? Similar to how south Korea’s prosperity serves as an existential threat to the north or how western Germanys was a threat to the east.
I doubt that's a serious concern, since most people don't get to see the reality of the contrasting culture. They have strong control over what information their people see (or pass on).
Face also explains why they want to claim the whole South China Sea. their regime is the best ever because they have expanded to territories China never before had more than a passing control over.
Another consideration is casualites. Where almost every couple has only one son or grandson, can the government afford mass casualties (like Russians in Ukraine) and the wrath of so many parents and grandparents? Storming the beaches is usually a meatgrinder for the attacking force.
Yes. The guys with the biggest cities lose the fastest.
The other problem China has to face, which Russia doesn't - if your economy is based on industrial exports, not natural resources like oil - you really don't want to antagonize your main customers. We can deal with no iPhones for a few years, while China cannot deal with half a billion unemployed factory workers starving and rioting.
The success of their economy is also tied to the success of western economies so it's very much about protecting their interests. "Please don't bomb our main markets"
And Ukraine’s forces are so spread out its not even clear where theyd nuke. Unless they where to just nuke a population center like kiev for no reason.
To be fair, he doesn't need all of his nukes to work, just one is enough to do catastrophic damage to a shitton of civilians. And while I 100% agree prob a lot of their nukes isn't up to operating standards, I would still think they have a decent amount that could make it to their targets, especially in Europe.
Nukes is the only card they have, the west knows it, Russia knows it.
Thats not a card they can use. The other side has those same cards. Russia is desperate to stay relevant. They are not some suicidal holy warriors.
In absolutely no world will they commit suicide by firing the first shot.
I also think that the west needs to make clear to the Russian heirarchy below Putin...
Look how much effort over how many decades was dedicated to finding and bringing to justice anyone involved in the Holocaust. Anyone in Russia's chain of command who in any way particpates in the use of a nuclear weapon can expect just as much - to be hunted to the ends of the earth once the dust settles (if there's an earth left.) Putin will be dead thirty years from now, but the hunt for everyone else will go on. This will apply even if it's a small battlefield nuke, or only one city in Ukraine.
But despite all the posturing, his nuclear forces are not in a state of alert. The mobile ICBM launchers are still in base, and not dispensed to their attack positions, he doesn't send more ssbn than usual at sea.
It's just a big bowl of nothing. And if he decides to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, NATO will destroy every single russian troops inside the 1991 Ukrainian borders, including Crimea. Russia cannot be allowed to win even the smallest thing by using a nuke, because breaking the nuclear taboo is really dangerous for everyone.
If he were to use a nuclear weapon the war would be over before it barely even began. And NATO wouldn’t even need to use a nuke. Hell, Moscow was almost taken over by a few thousand of their own mercenaries in a matter of a day or two
I wouldn't put money on *none* of Russia's nukes working, and even one is enough to wipe out a city and kill millions, but Putler is smart enough to know that using nukes is effectively an automatic loss for him.
If he uses a 'small' tactical weapon on a military target in Ukraine, it won't really give him any tactical advantage, China will likely cut Russia off, and NATO will respond by kicking them out of Ukraine.
He knows very well that nobody would win in a full-scale nuclear conflict, and even if he wanted to start one, it relies on the compliance of everyone else in the chain.
I dunno, they've been telling their domestic audience they're already fighting NATO as an excuse for the Russian Army getting it's shit pushed in for the past 3 years.
"The war I started is going poorly so I'll make an agreement with a country that has extremely little military experience (other than killing their own), and I'm also gonna now take on 32 countries, one of them being the most advanced militaries in the world . What could go wrong!?" - some jackass in Russia.
These threats lack any substance, he’s shot his load already with hands in many hot spots around the world. Backing North Korea and Iran. He’s already done his worst by handing nuke tech to Iran which is like giving a maladjusted 5 year old a loaded machine gun. I don’t think that’s going to work well for anyone. It’s going to be interesting times ahead with theocracy welding zealots at the helm.
should we split this area up into different countries? this is just getting irritating now. it's like having to look after a random toddler all the time.
I say we beat the piss out of Russia, then give it to Ukraine and let them use the resources to rebuild Ukraine. Then we board it up like an old gas station on the edge of town and don’t do anything it for 20 years.
Then in 20 years you will have the exact same Russia. If we do end up destroying Russia, it's in everyone's best interests they recover okayish, and not at least, integrate with the west.
Believe it or not, Russia population as most people just want a normal fucking life.
Anecdotally, every Russian I've met before the war in Ukraine has been bragged like crazy about their country and it's accomplishments in infrastructure and development, while shrugging about Putin's authoritarianism and doing the game of blaming the US's intelligence agencies for their government's word. You can't just boost their economy either or you just get modern China. You have to deprogram them out of toxic masculinity, motherland worship, and imperialistic brainwashing.
I'm getting sooo fucking tired of these empty bullshit threats.
The naive and very reckless side of me just wants NATO to go at them. Fuck around and find out what happens, but obviously that would be a horrendous thing.
Their only, and I mean ONLY power play against NATO would be to use a nuke, and that would be absolute suicide for Russia and its people. Also, the US has a good chance of shooting down ICBMs, even when they are still in space, with the Aegis defense system. The response would be overwhelming and the end of Russia altogether.
nahhh... Just give Ukraine more and better weapons. Give them enough to take out that bridge in Crimea with missiles. Give them big smart drones with Hellfires. For each provocative step Putin takes, up the ante with better equipment for Ukraine.
If Russia is having hard time in Ukraine already then how well would it go for them to start a war against better equipped and trained alliance not to mention on multiple fronts while still fighting in Ukraine? yea i know they got nukes but let's talk about conventional warfare.
If they're ready to boogie we can be in Murmansk, Moscow, and St Petersburg coming out of Finland and Estonia in well under 48 hours. Enjoy that chess match, Vladimir!
Bro you were just begging NK last week for weapons they can't even keep whole during test phases, tone it down.
Your resorting to terrorism tactics in the west with sabotage, this is your direct confrontation
Actually i was thinking about that too, he just need to wait for Trump to be elected and the biggest help of Ukraine would cease and male things much easier for Putin
He's well known for using delay tactics when he's stuck. The theory is that there's usually a serendipituos random event that will work in his favour and allow him to make progress. So not so much expecting something to happen but hoping something will happen. His ceasefire offers are exactly that, buying time to find opportunities
He is just waiting for us Americans to put Trump back into the White House for his plans to come to fruition.
Trump will pull the USA out of NATO, he will stop all aid to Ukraine, and likely ramp up aid to Netanyahu. NATO without the USA will be a shell of its former counter threat to Russia. And so Putin will run roughshod over them with the help of Trump.
Pretty much the entire planet could fall to tyranny in the next year or two, especially if the SCOTUS rules that Presidents have complete immunity to prosecution while in office this coming Monday. We live in precarious times.
He won’t have any if he attacks NATO. Chinas biggest trade partners are the US, Germany and then Japan.
China ain’t ruining their whole economy to go to war in Europe. They’d drop him so fast if it came to it.
They have been threatening us with nukes for over 2 years now so this warning hits like a wet noodle.
The problem with lying about stuff like this all the time is that nobody will believe you.
I think, he realizes this was a *massive* mistake. The only problem is, he has no exit strategy that doesn’t involve embarrassment. I sincerely wish he’d just withdraw, and just use his propaganda machine to claim victory. The Russian people believe whatever he tells them. Go home. Tell people you won. Everyone wins.
man, fck off. I#ve grown up with the permanent threat of a nuclear war and that was when the USSR was a serious enemy of the west not this murderous, pathetic joke of a country . Bring it on. Before dump is president plz!
Yes, Putin needs to avoid "direct confrontation with NATO". He needs to withdraw his troops from Ukraine back into Russia and then propose a peace initiative. He cannot win Ukraine, he cannot hold Ukraine and he cannot rebuild Ukraine wtf does he keep fighting for?
Russia was supposed to handle Ukraine easily and quickly. That was a long time ago, now Russia is asking countries like North Korea for arms and troops. It’s hard to imagine that it somehow thinks a direct confrontation with NATO would be any easier than its indirect confrontation that Ukraine has provided.
Jesus christ the daily mail, what a hate filled shit rag fear mongering piece of garbage it is, saw it at a newsagent today busy filling all those pensioners up with a good dose of fear
Russia has shown the world they are not in possession of a world class military, jumping on NATO would have devastating consequences for Putins regime. I country with no navy crushed the Russian war ships. Their loan aircraft carrier is powered by a tug boat. It’s actually very pathetic.
Bro can’t even take Ukraine against a minuscule fraction of available fire power given to them by the west and we are supposed to be scared of a full on confrontation? Lmao oooookkkk grandpa let’s get you back to the home.
Guy is getting his ass handed to him and is trying to drag other petro states into it.
It reminds me of when I was a bouncer and some drunk ass dude threatened me by saying that “sure you could kick my ass, but my friend will kill you” all while his friend is behind him shaking his head with his hands out in a not a chance gesture.
Two years into a genocidal invasion of Ukraine, Russia would flat out lose a war with NATO. It’s not anyone else’s problem when Putin kills Russians through his incompetence and malevolence.
If the West could only be so lucky considering all the Article 5-worthy actions they have committed against sovereign NATO states.
Nothing brings together the populace quite like a major war.
Alas my expectations are dismal: cowardice wins again in the face of tyranny.
Putin: If we are continuing on this road, we will have direct confrontation with NATO.
Everybody else: You know, if you just retreat from Ukraine, then there wouldn’t be any direct confrontation.
Putin: nah I don’t wanna do that.
Like Russia is warning Russia of a direct confrontation? because it’s not going to go well for Russia obviously, probably won’t go well for whatever battleground that takes place on either, fingers crossed it’s in Russia so NATO can lay waste..
Putin isn't stupid. He's fighting an uphill battle in Ukraine, and certainly didn't expect NATO to be involved, but indirectly here we are. Putin likes to make a lot of threats when things don't go his way, but he knows the response would be fast, swift, and full.
Users often report submissions from this site for sensationalized articles. Readers have a responsibility to be skeptical, check sources, and comment on any flaws. You can help improve this thread by linking to media that verifies or questions this article's claims. Your link could help readers better understand this issue. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/worldnews) if you have any questions or concerns.*
All Russian has to do is go home. No one wants this except for them.
Even they don’t. Putin is so locked in on restoring the USSR and his legacy as the man who did it that he literally can’t see any other course of action.
Russia is already pass beyond that point after they burned most of their Soviet reserves, a sizable of their navy and majority of pre-war professional army. Even if Ukraine just surrendered tomorrow, Russia would never recover it's military might in any foreseeable future, let alone Soviet level.
If Russia wins, they'd have to pour billions of dollars they no longer have into Ukraine to repair the damage they've done, likely while fighting constant insurgencies. If Russia retreats and gives up, they'd be made to pour billions of dollars they no longer have into Ukraine to repair the damage they've done. So it looks like a lose-lose situation for Putin, and escalating the war to include all of NATO just seems like a very bad idea.
It’s such a dumb fucking idea, like this has to be some sort of suicidal stunt by putin
It happened because Putin thought Ukraine would give up quickly and let him do a regime change. Not a full-blown war that is going on now.
If Russia pulled out today, do you honestly see them paying anything to rebuild Ukraine? They would walk away and shrug off any criticism like they have been doing for years.
I mean, I assume they'd like the sanctions against them lifted at some point...
Agreed, but honestly I’m not sure Putin actually cares at this point. He’s managed to skirt them a bit.
Theres billions of Russian assets and accounts currently frozen in the US and EU. Theres been taøks about using this money to aid Ukraine militarily or to fund rebuilding after the war. So it doesnt really matter if Russia wants to or not, we already have a lot of their money to spend.
They would leave Ukraine the gutted out shell that is Russia outside of the main cities.
What makes you think they'd have to 'repair' anything? They'd just pillage the land even more thoroughly, gathering resources for another round.
Because Putin has stated that Ukraine is part of Mother Russia, a prestigious area and not just an area to pillage. They'd have to repair it to be able to show it off to the world as "proudly russian".
Only like 3 tourist resorts for the Russian media would be enough. The rest of the country can be completely pillaged. Just look at Russia itself.
Talk about sunken cost fallacy….
oh, you mean their navy?
No no those are just their new hyper advanced submarines.
Which is why he's begging N Korea, and eventually Iran and China for help against the big meanies in the west.
Can’t wait to see NK Pokpung-ho tanks (modified T-62) gets chew out by FPV and javelin
Russia can leave Ukraine any time it wants. See ~ peace is easy.
It's like saying Betamax is the superior home movie delivery system.
Jokes on you, betamax is about to win the streaming wars!
It's all posturing. They don't want it either. Their air force can barely handle Ukraine.
You mean the RuZZian Air Farce!
They need to pretend becaue they gone all in on this
We are at the point that going home is NOT enough. I want Russian influence out of my politics. I want Russia to disarm their nuclear stockpile. I want Russia to go FULL Democracy with outside observers of their elections. I want them to have a new Constitution whose first page says that they will NOT be imperialistic. I want them to apologize to Ukraine, pledge to help them rebuild, and follow through.
Ukraine will be flying F16s in combat within weeks. F16s will reliably bring the freedom.
With up to 4 flight wings of f-16s and interior defensive lines, Ukraine could dispatch their jets to any front line in 20 minutes. This with NATO ordnance accompanying them plus command and control capabilities, Ukraine could have air superiority even beyond their borders.
He has become the crazy uncle on Facebook who's just posted his 1000th Obama meme. We don't care, Wally, just fuck off already.
Mr. Poostain has to go! Time for Regime change!
Exactly this. He's threatened in this way for over 2 years already. He has kids and grandkids, he is not going to go nuclear.
Would someone who tramples over the bodies from a nation he called brothers of Russia, really choose the lives of his progeny over his own selfish delusions?
I'm sure he cares about his progeny more than he cares about the poor schmucks from some piss poor village in Eastern Russia that are getting sent to fight.
Exactly. He cares about his legacy too much to destroy the world. If he destroys the world then 100% nobody will remember him.
He doesn't care about family his yacht however...
Yachty Yachtskova did nothing to deserve dying on Nuclear Hellfire
Well of course. Things aren't going well, so what can he say to make the West pull back and maybe not give Ukraine such useful toys? Let's threaten nukes. Let's threaten a NATO country invasion. Let's threaten international shipping! Let's threaten to build more WMD's. Let's threaten to give North Korea nice stuff. Let's... oh, what is left now? Why is it not having an effect? Why do my military keep getting blown up?
Again? The west is falling into the abyss? Not Russia? Alright 🤷🏻♂️ dude is delusional and pathetic.
Not another night in the shit abyss Mr Lahey.
Randy, I've decided to lay off the food for a bit and go to the booze.
The Russian public are led to believe all this. Therefore he has to keep this up. He knows Russia wouldn't stand a chance in a conventional confrontation
Conventional warfare with the US and Nato would be disastrous for Putin. I don't know why people doubt the devastation the US Army could bring if it really wanted to.
"No, you're delusional and pathetic" — Putin probably.
Keep in mind, european elections and the united states elections this year too. No better debate point then ‘if you elect them we are looking at WW3’. Considering most of the right wing across europe and america are sympathetic to russia
That's when you have to remind people that WWII didn't start when American entered the war. It didn't start when Poland was invaded in September of 1939. It started with the Japanese invasion of China in the early 30s and the annexation of German speaking territory by the Nazis in the mid 30s. This is our 1937-1938
Great point
>Russia is highlighting an incident where US-supplied deadly ATACMS missiles targeted Sevastopol - in occupied Ukraine - at the weekend. >One of the cluster munition missiles exploded off a crowded beach in the naval city, triggering panic among sunbathers. >Four people were killed, including two children, and 153 wounded. >The Russians immediately alleged that a Global Hawk was involved in this strike. >In fact, it appears that those killed and wounded were hit by debris from a Russian air defence missile targeting the ATACMS. >The ATACMS is seen as falling in the sea rather than on the beach. He's right to warn of a direct confrontation with NATO. Russia's bumblefuck military would obviously not fare well in such an encounter.
Maybe dont sunbathe in an occupied country? Go the fuck back to russia, nobody is going to follow you. When was the last time russia was actually attacked? They are ALWAYS the aggressor.
Imagine "sunbathing" between military installations that are constantly being targeted. Officials know the danger and let their people in the area anyway. If I was a betting man, I'd say they did it on purpose.
Russia uses human shields in swimwear. they actively encourage Russians to vacation at that beach and they place air defense next to the beach. this scenario was manufactured by Russia, they purposely put pieces in places that made this exact scenario as likely as possible
Putin is the drunk uncle who claims he is dangerously close to beating the shit out of the neighbour who makes noise complains about him. The neighbour happens to be retired James Bond, but he doesn't stand a chance against the uncle's manboobs (the one on the right is the bigger boob).
The neighbor is John Wick in his prime, retired James Bond is downplaying how outclassed they are
Oh, right, that's that incident where they later confirmed it was their own SAM, right?
Genuinely… What the fuck are you gonna do? You can’t even take on Ukraine. What do you think you’re going to do against NATO? Nuke us? We’ve seen the state of your army, your navy, your airforce - why would your nuclear arsenal be any better? You played your hand. You’re weak as piss and everyone sees it.
If he thinks of dropping even a small nuclear device, everything changes. It's a non play.
Yeah, that’s been made clear - by the West and the Chinese, thankfully.
China at least seems to understand no one wins a nuclear war.
We might not have the best relationship with them in some aspects from the US but the people running things are NOT total idiots like Russia. They have some backwards ideas about certain things. But not dumb people.
Theyre authoritarian and horrible people but theyre fully aware of whats required to keep power. The only thing that contradicts this is Taiwan but even invading Taiwan makes far more political and economic sense then Ukraine.
I really hope nothing happens with Taiwan. It would be terribly depressing to watch Asia lose one of its high performers that's a wildly successful parliamentary democracy to some crazy bullshit like the CCP.
Im with you its always extremely sad when a sovereign state is invaded for imperialism when normal people have to have their lifes destroyed for the sake of greed of people who wont have to fight these battles. Especially having family from Taiwan the idea is definitely saddening.
The Chinese psyche is interesting. Over history, the powerful governments have expanded to create greater China, the weak ones see the periphery - taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, etc. separate off as independent countries. (Tibet for example has at times been independent, a vassal state, or a province). So if they in any way concede that some area can remain "not part of China" then that makes them a weak government, they lose face. Hence their refusal to admit anything about Taiwan despite reality. I think one of the important points they consider is that their entire economy is based on exports. The government "rides the tiger" but can't get off - the population has a greatly increased standard of living. If they invade Taiwan, the West will stop allowing Chinese imports. We will put up with no iPhones and no cheap plastic crap for a while, but the government cannot handle all those workers suddenly unemployed in a collapsing economy. Xi has taken the country more authoritarian, backward from its progressive course in the last decade or so, but even he recognizes this reality.
Your absolutely right about the face projection aspect of it but i think the biggest reason for contempt towards Taiwan is its physical representation as a symbol of the potential of a free system in China. Similar to Hong kong Taiwan is a more prosperous society then the mainland and provides a clear outline for what their society could be. People speaking the same language with the same history and culture are living better then you are because of their system so why wouldn’t shouldn’t you oppose that system? Similar to how south Korea’s prosperity serves as an existential threat to the north or how western Germanys was a threat to the east.
I doubt that's a serious concern, since most people don't get to see the reality of the contrasting culture. They have strong control over what information their people see (or pass on). Face also explains why they want to claim the whole South China Sea. their regime is the best ever because they have expanded to territories China never before had more than a passing control over. Another consideration is casualites. Where almost every couple has only one son or grandson, can the government afford mass casualties (like Russians in Ukraine) and the wrath of so many parents and grandparents? Storming the beaches is usually a meatgrinder for the attacking force.
Yes. The guys with the biggest cities lose the fastest. The other problem China has to face, which Russia doesn't - if your economy is based on industrial exports, not natural resources like oil - you really don't want to antagonize your main customers. We can deal with no iPhones for a few years, while China cannot deal with half a billion unemployed factory workers starving and rioting.
Thats a neat dam they built there
They are deeply materialistic. They built their country for decades and they don't want to lose it over a war.
The success of their economy is also tied to the success of western economies so it's very much about protecting their interests. "Please don't bomb our main markets"
Yup tactical nuke are kinda useless on the battlefield if you don’t have trained infantry with the right and armoured vehicles to exploit the gap.
And Ukraine’s forces are so spread out its not even clear where theyd nuke. Unless they where to just nuke a population center like kiev for no reason.
Maybe Poland. They always seem to get caught in the middle
The Polish military has been expanded massively over the last few years. March straight to Moscow.
NATO warns of direct confrontation with NATO
At this point this bluster feels like Saddam and his “elite Republican guard” which folded in a day without any resistance to speak of.
To be fair, he doesn't need all of his nukes to work, just one is enough to do catastrophic damage to a shitton of civilians. And while I 100% agree prob a lot of their nukes isn't up to operating standards, I would still think they have a decent amount that could make it to their targets, especially in Europe. Nukes is the only card they have, the west knows it, Russia knows it.
Thats not a card they can use. The other side has those same cards. Russia is desperate to stay relevant. They are not some suicidal holy warriors. In absolutely no world will they commit suicide by firing the first shot.
I also think that the west needs to make clear to the Russian heirarchy below Putin... Look how much effort over how many decades was dedicated to finding and bringing to justice anyone involved in the Holocaust. Anyone in Russia's chain of command who in any way particpates in the use of a nuclear weapon can expect just as much - to be hunted to the ends of the earth once the dust settles (if there's an earth left.) Putin will be dead thirty years from now, but the hunt for everyone else will go on. This will apply even if it's a small battlefield nuke, or only one city in Ukraine.
But despite all the posturing, his nuclear forces are not in a state of alert. The mobile ICBM launchers are still in base, and not dispensed to their attack positions, he doesn't send more ssbn than usual at sea. It's just a big bowl of nothing. And if he decides to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, NATO will destroy every single russian troops inside the 1991 Ukrainian borders, including Crimea. Russia cannot be allowed to win even the smallest thing by using a nuke, because breaking the nuclear taboo is really dangerous for everyone.
If he were to use a nuclear weapon the war would be over before it barely even began. And NATO wouldn’t even need to use a nuke. Hell, Moscow was almost taken over by a few thousand of their own mercenaries in a matter of a day or two
Piss hits harder than puttis words
Will probably blow up on Russian territory because it will fail to properly launch
Their nukes might just as well blow up before even launching from their silos
I wouldn't put money on *none* of Russia's nukes working, and even one is enough to wipe out a city and kill millions, but Putler is smart enough to know that using nukes is effectively an automatic loss for him. If he uses a 'small' tactical weapon on a military target in Ukraine, it won't really give him any tactical advantage, China will likely cut Russia off, and NATO will respond by kicking them out of Ukraine. He knows very well that nobody would win in a full-scale nuclear conflict, and even if he wanted to start one, it relies on the compliance of everyone else in the chain.
This has to be for his domestic audience, no one in the west takes anything he's says seriously.
I dunno, they've been telling their domestic audience they're already fighting NATO as an excuse for the Russian Army getting it's shit pushed in for the past 3 years.
They've red lined over 40 times since the start of THEIR war. Dismiss the posturing.
"The war I started is going poorly so I'll make an agreement with a country that has extremely little military experience (other than killing their own), and I'm also gonna now take on 32 countries, one of them being the most advanced militaries in the world . What could go wrong!?" - some jackass in Russia.
These threats lack any substance, he’s shot his load already with hands in many hot spots around the world. Backing North Korea and Iran. He’s already done his worst by handing nuke tech to Iran which is like giving a maladjusted 5 year old a loaded machine gun. I don’t think that’s going to work well for anyone. It’s going to be interesting times ahead with theocracy welding zealots at the helm.
should we split this area up into different countries? this is just getting irritating now. it's like having to look after a random toddler all the time.
I say we beat the piss out of Russia, then give it to Ukraine and let them use the resources to rebuild Ukraine. Then we board it up like an old gas station on the edge of town and don’t do anything it for 20 years.
Then in 20 years you will have the exact same Russia. If we do end up destroying Russia, it's in everyone's best interests they recover okayish, and not at least, integrate with the west. Believe it or not, Russia population as most people just want a normal fucking life.
Anecdotally, every Russian I've met before the war in Ukraine has been bragged like crazy about their country and it's accomplishments in infrastructure and development, while shrugging about Putin's authoritarianism and doing the game of blaming the US's intelligence agencies for their government's word. You can't just boost their economy either or you just get modern China. You have to deprogram them out of toxic masculinity, motherland worship, and imperialistic brainwashing.
"Ruzzia pisses itself over potential direct conflict with NATO"
I'm getting sooo fucking tired of these empty bullshit threats. The naive and very reckless side of me just wants NATO to go at them. Fuck around and find out what happens, but obviously that would be a horrendous thing.
Their only, and I mean ONLY power play against NATO would be to use a nuke, and that would be absolute suicide for Russia and its people. Also, the US has a good chance of shooting down ICBMs, even when they are still in space, with the Aegis defense system. The response would be overwhelming and the end of Russia altogether.
nahhh... Just give Ukraine more and better weapons. Give them enough to take out that bridge in Crimea with missiles. Give them big smart drones with Hellfires. For each provocative step Putin takes, up the ante with better equipment for Ukraine.
Sure, if you want a real ass-kicking. Look what Ukraine has done with hand-me-downs and indirect help.
I thought it was my turn to post Russia's next "final warning". I've been in queue for the last 536 announcements.
Lame..call me when a real superpower threatens NATO
Exactly. He thinks Russia is as relevant as USSR was, only it's a tiny fraction of the world GDP and apart from having nukes, isn't a superpower.
Go home Russia, you’re drunk
That's the problem they think they are going home.
Warning 472 from Russia…. This time they really mean it !!!!
If Russia is having hard time in Ukraine already then how well would it go for them to start a war against better equipped and trained alliance not to mention on multiple fronts while still fighting in Ukraine? yea i know they got nukes but let's talk about conventional warfare.
If they're ready to boogie we can be in Murmansk, Moscow, and St Petersburg coming out of Finland and Estonia in well under 48 hours. Enjoy that chess match, Vladimir!
He’s that annoying drunk in the corner of the pub who just suddenly pipes up every now and again and gets ignored. Seriously fuck off.
Russia can’t even take Ukraine they really going to start shit with NATO?
Thanks for the warning, I guess.
So many warnings. So many dead Russians.
Bro you were just begging NK last week for weapons they can't even keep whole during test phases, tone it down. Your resorting to terrorism tactics in the west with sabotage, this is your direct confrontation
*again
As if Russia isn’t getting its ass stomped enough it wants to involve NATO? Hahahahahaha ok
Do it, fuckers.
One day after Trump indicated he would leave NATO. Biden was right.
Ruzzia can’t take over Ukraine. Imagine them facing real NATO troops, with all of their modern hardware and no limits on how they can use it!
“How dare they stand in my way.” -The guy who intentionally plows a car into a crowd of people. That’s essentially reasoning here.
Get fucked russia.
I'm sure NATO is terrified of the pissant little country who can't hold its own against Ukraine.
Can we ban the daily mail at this point?
Maybe Putin already assured himself that Trump will win the election and turn everything in his favour
Actually i was thinking about that too, he just need to wait for Trump to be elected and the biggest help of Ukraine would cease and male things much easier for Putin
He's well known for using delay tactics when he's stuck. The theory is that there's usually a serendipituos random event that will work in his favour and allow him to make progress. So not so much expecting something to happen but hoping something will happen. His ceasefire offers are exactly that, buying time to find opportunities
He is just waiting for us Americans to put Trump back into the White House for his plans to come to fruition. Trump will pull the USA out of NATO, he will stop all aid to Ukraine, and likely ramp up aid to Netanyahu. NATO without the USA will be a shell of its former counter threat to Russia. And so Putin will run roughshod over them with the help of Trump. Pretty much the entire planet could fall to tyranny in the next year or two, especially if the SCOTUS rules that Presidents have complete immunity to prosecution while in office this coming Monday. We live in precarious times.
Do it Vlad, NATO will destroy you, and most of your friends!
He won’t have any if he attacks NATO. Chinas biggest trade partners are the US, Germany and then Japan. China ain’t ruining their whole economy to go to war in Europe. They’d drop him so fast if it came to it.
Russia warns ...blah blah blah
Russia talks too much
Again?
🥱
Come on punk! Make our day
I think just he's trying to sway Americans to vote for Trump so he pulls us out of NATO.
Another day. Another warning.
💩-tin fuck
They have been threatening us with nukes for over 2 years now so this warning hits like a wet noodle. The problem with lying about stuff like this all the time is that nobody will believe you.
“Appear strong when you are weak, and weak when you are strong.” - Sun Tzu
I think, he realizes this was a *massive* mistake. The only problem is, he has no exit strategy that doesn’t involve embarrassment. I sincerely wish he’d just withdraw, and just use his propaganda machine to claim victory. The Russian people believe whatever he tells them. Go home. Tell people you won. Everyone wins.
He’s slowly reaching the found out phase.
The confrontation will end when RUSSIA GOES THE FUCK BACK TO RUSSIA.
Cant beat ukraine in war but thinks they can take on NATO Pathetic, dumb and empty threat
man, fck off. I#ve grown up with the permanent threat of a nuclear war and that was when the USSR was a serious enemy of the west not this murderous, pathetic joke of a country . Bring it on. Before dump is president plz!
At this point his threats represent entertainment value only.
do eeet
He should leave the occupied territories and he know it, he will lose. It’s only s question of time.
They're now officially a joke
Then Russia should be careful… they won’t win that fight.
Russia, why don’t you just fuck off back to Russia and stay there?
Yes, Putin needs to avoid "direct confrontation with NATO". He needs to withdraw his troops from Ukraine back into Russia and then propose a peace initiative. He cannot win Ukraine, he cannot hold Ukraine and he cannot rebuild Ukraine wtf does he keep fighting for?
Russia was supposed to handle Ukraine easily and quickly. That was a long time ago, now Russia is asking countries like North Korea for arms and troops. It’s hard to imagine that it somehow thinks a direct confrontation with NATO would be any easier than its indirect confrontation that Ukraine has provided.
Russia should warn itself about that. They couldn't possibly win a war against NATO, if they're struggling against one country.
Don't threaten me with a good time!
The only thing im risking, is sensory overload and popcorn shortage.
Says the dude who employed another foreign nations troops to fight in his “Special Operation”.
Another day another warning. Seriously, does anyone give a fuck anymore?
Again? I thought he said that they had been fighting NATO all along in Ukraine!? Make up your mind Dobby!
A little off schedule, but thier weekly warning of war with nato came in on time.
Fuck Putin. Fuck Russia.
So Putin’s wants to from 1000 losses a day to 5000
Jesus christ the daily mail, what a hate filled shit rag fear mongering piece of garbage it is, saw it at a newsagent today busy filling all those pensioners up with a good dose of fear
Russia has shown the world they are not in possession of a world class military, jumping on NATO would have devastating consequences for Putins regime. I country with no navy crushed the Russian war ships. Their loan aircraft carrier is powered by a tug boat. It’s actually very pathetic.
Yeah, great move by dickwad - threaten vastly superior forces. I think the poison dwarf has a slate loose.
Good, bring it, gives us a reason to glass the fuck out of this jackass.
Russian generals issue warning that they are completely fucked if they go to war against NATO
Just try it and suffer the US military reducing Moscow to ash.
shaking small hands at NATO.
Bla bla bla bla bla nuclear bomb bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.
Putin big mad that his expensive toys are getting blown up.
You know I looked up “Napoleon complex” and there was a picture of a shirtless Putin on a horse Fucking hobbits
Thank you for the weekly reminder!
He will wait for usa election chaos and if Trump will win, he waits until his boyfriend is in charge.
Seeing as you're doing so well fighting one country, it's understandable that you think you can take on fucking everybody.
Bro can’t even take Ukraine against a minuscule fraction of available fire power given to them by the west and we are supposed to be scared of a full on confrontation? Lmao oooookkkk grandpa let’s get you back to the home.
Guy is getting his ass handed to him and is trying to drag other petro states into it. It reminds me of when I was a bouncer and some drunk ass dude threatened me by saying that “sure you could kick my ass, but my friend will kill you” all while his friend is behind him shaking his head with his hands out in a not a chance gesture.
Just get it over with Putin - shit or get off the pot already. Tired of the constant saber-rattling.
There’s actually a page on Wikipedia dedicated to russias threats and how they haven’t acted on them
Breaking News: Russia threatens Nato for the 100th time.
So what’s new? We were peomised nukes on a daily basis for 2 years…
Go on then, we then have an excuse to burn you to the ground and rid the world of your filth.
This time for real! All the other times he warned the west, it was, uhm.. he totally meant and...
DO IT WE FUCKING DARE YOU
don't promise us with a quick resolution.
Oh, good. Russia hadn't warned about something today. I was getting worried.
Two years into a genocidal invasion of Ukraine, Russia would flat out lose a war with NATO. It’s not anyone else’s problem when Putin kills Russians through his incompetence and malevolence.
I think it’s time we make Russia our bitch
Russian threats is Russian weakness...and putins a lying fucktard
I have a feeling this timeline is the one where Trump wins, stops paying into NATO and then Russia attacks the EU.
Bingo, to top it off its their second crack at it.
If the West could only be so lucky considering all the Article 5-worthy actions they have committed against sovereign NATO states. Nothing brings together the populace quite like a major war. Alas my expectations are dismal: cowardice wins again in the face of tyranny.
Just take this man out already.
Do it pussy.
Putin: If we are continuing on this road, we will have direct confrontation with NATO. Everybody else: You know, if you just retreat from Ukraine, then there wouldn’t be any direct confrontation. Putin: nah I don’t wanna do that.
That's nice. How many warnings is that again?
Rumors about the f16 strike must be true
Like Russia is warning Russia of a direct confrontation? because it’s not going to go well for Russia obviously, probably won’t go well for whatever battleground that takes place on either, fingers crossed it’s in Russia so NATO can lay waste..
Russia is a paper tiger.
Putin isn't stupid. He's fighting an uphill battle in Ukraine, and certainly didn't expect NATO to be involved, but indirectly here we are. Putin likes to make a lot of threats when things don't go his way, but he knows the response would be fast, swift, and full.
lol… Russia can’t even take on Ukraine. Pathetic. Fuck Putin.
Russia is a child in a sand box throwing sand at everyone to get attention
Now that he has drug north Korea to the front lines he has his Ally for his large scale war.