Ukraine Watch...

[adam2]

"The EU has asked its satellite centre in Madrid to provide intelligence to Ukraine about Russian troop movements, the EU's head diplomat said."

So... is that satellite centre in Madrid now a legitimate target for submarine launched cruse or ballistic missiles?

Maybe, and what about the Inmarsat building near Old Street, London, and no doubt others.

[Stumuz2]

How much further can we go down this route before Putin convinces himself a UK airfield involved in transporting weapons to Ukraine is a legitimate target for cruse missiles? Or a UK factory?

This is exactly what he wants you to feel. Scared.

You, me, anyone cannot live their lives in fear. It is what bullies always want you to feel.
Let him do his rhetoric. When he does something more than 'gob off' which he is excellent at, we will (able countries) call his bluff, which he will then need to raise the stakes. And bring his people with him.
One of the reasons we have reduced our conventional forces is because we (able countries) have the power to overwhelmingly destroy everything within Russia.

He may want that, I think he is cornered. There is no face saving way out. His Belorussian bomb chum has had to put down his people with extreme force. Putin has got a huge civilian spying system to keep his people repressed. His KGB instincts never went away.

You don't want to live under a system like that. He will have to be faced down.

For a bit of light relief, have a look at this Style council video shot in Warsaw Poland during the cold war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5HfOipwvts

How many SB (The Ministry of Public Security) Secret police can you see in the audience.

[PS_RalphW]

Ukraine asks to join the EU. Switzerland to match EU sanctions against Russia. FIFA may suspend Russia (after all over nations have explicitly refused to play against them, which would make Russia champions by default)

[Catweazle]

Here in UK the police regularly confiscate illegally held guns from criminals, these weapons are generally later destroyed.

Most weapons confiscated are airguns or replicas. The curious UK law means that if someone believes something is a firearm then it is a firearm, even if it's a chair leg in a bin bag. If I take a replica into the street and wave it at someone it becomes a firearm.

There are genuine firearm confiscations, often guns imported from the Czech Republic, but the variety and small numbers don't really fit with the army policies of standardisation.

[PS_RalphW]

UK bans Russian owned or operated ships docking at UK ports. Specifically oil tankers. Oil supply might become a bit tight in the near future.

[clv101]

Russia produces over 10 mbpd, bit over 10% global supply (higher proportion of exported oil). It seems plausible global market is going to lose a few mbpd in the coming month or so.

[Vortex2]

So ... with all these sanctions in place, how can we pay for Russian gas or oil?

How about Germany?

[Potemkin Villager]

"The EU has asked its satellite centre in Madrid to provide intelligence to Ukraine about Russian troop movements, the EU's head diplomat said."

So... is that satellite centre in Madrid now a legitimate target for submarine launched cruse or ballistic missiles?

This is scarcely the sort of thing you would think sensible folk would rush to tell the world about!

[Vortex2]

The West simply thinks that they have Putin sorted out.

Very complacent.

An EMP burst over Russia- by the Russians - might deal with that hubris.

[Vortex2]

It's laughable that we are 'dealing with Putin's dirty money'.

One in three dollars in the world is held in offshore banks and international pensions.
These accounts have NO regular printed statemnets - they might tip-off the local tax authorities.

All those yachts and apartments in Monaco?
I doubt that many are Russian owned.

If you checked out our MPs' finances, I bet many have offshore accounts.

All this holier-than-thou media nonsense about squeaky clean Ukraine and that evil Putin is making me sick.

This is a clash involving issues far above the man in the street.

[PS_RalphW]

The sanctions are an attempt to put pressure on Putin and his supporters to feel financial pressure to stop them ordering their military from invading a sovereign state and killing many innocent people. That it is a token effort when we complicitly accept many billions in dirty money from them and most other murderous dictators around the world is unfortunate. The people of Ukraine are seen as European and Christian and many of them speak English and have huge popular support among the European public helped by a massive media coverage. If Ukraine was Muslim or darker skinned or had a less integrated diaspora there would be token complaints at diplomatic levels when Putin bombed them back into the stone age, but unless you read the international sections of serious newspapers you would never have heard of the cities anyway.

This massive coverage in the UK media is extremely convenient for a ruling party that 2 weeks ago was facing having its leader convicted of breaking laws he himself had introduced months earlier and being kicked out by his own mps.

[adam2]

"huge column of Russian armoured vehicles approach Kyiv"

Various reports state. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60542877

Hopefully the anti tank weapons supplied by various countries will prove effective, and hopefully the Russian vehicles will be unreliable.

[PS_RalphW]

First rumours of a convoy of Belarusian troops entering Ukraine

[Stumuz2]

This massive coverage in the UK media is extremely convenient for a ruling party that 2 weeks ago was facing having its leader convicted of breaking laws he himself had introduced months earlier and being kicked out by his own mps.

But thank the Lord, that half packet of crisps, disputed icing on a cake, and proximity to tinsel is considered a scandal. When questioned about kicking Russia today off the air, Boris said unlike autocracy Russia, the prime minister of the UK does not have the power to do so.
In our democracy an independent institution, who can be hostile to the Government decides. Democracy is a wonderful thing. It is why the Ukrainians are fighting to the death for it.
Rejoice that the PM was facing legitimate criticism for cake and crisps.

BTW. Ireland has been told to stop broadcasting Russia today, by unelected foreign technocrats, who genuinely believe they know best for the Irish People.
The ban takes effect whether the Irish Prime minister, government or people, want it or not.

Democracy, where the politicians who have power to make decisions for you, can be directly removed from office if they get it wrong, is very precious.

[Stumuz2]

All this holier-than-thou media nonsense about squeaky clean Ukraine and that evil Putin is making me sick.

This is a clash involving issues far above the man in the street.

They are not squeaky clean, but are fighting to the death for their democracy. Geopolitics are at work I agree