Ukraine Watch...

[Catweazle]

Russia to enforce Russian citizenship on Ukrainian new borns and orphans in their control.

I am beginning to think that Russia has a demographic crisis.

I assume Russia is forcing their nationality onto Ukrainians in order to claim that Russia is protecting Russian citizens living in Ukraine. Nobody except ( actual) Russians will believe it, but it will muddy the numbers and make things difficult.

[invalid]

I've come across a few articles recently arguing that Russia's demographic situation was one of Putin's main motives for this operation.

How many thousands of Ukrainians have been moved to Russia since this operation began - I believe it's many thousands. They are also fast-tracking russian citizenships in many of the occupied areas. Far from this conflict causing a further decline in Population, if Russia can take and hold much more land then that's a lot more Russian citizens!

... Just another reason not to judge the outcome of a military conflict on the events of the first week (or day). You might find yourself getting mislead.

[mr brightside]

Saw the Lavrov interview on the BBC news last night. He's still banging the same drum very loudly; no war, western disinformation. His narrative hasn't really changed from the start, Nigel Farage used the same method.

[kenneal - lagger]

Putin will be extremely unhappy then.

Is that a good thing?

Yes!! I hope it gives him apoplexy. In his current state of health it might kill him.

[kenneal - lagger]

Saw the Lavrov interview on the BBC news last night. He's still banging the same drum very loudly; no war, western disinformation. His narrative hasn't really changed from the start, Nigel Farage used the same method.

I saw bits of it but it was giving me apoplexy so I turned it off. Why they don't give them a harder time, call him the lier that he is, or just laugh at the bastards, I don't know. Why give him a platform to spread his misinformation?

[Mark]

Ukraine War: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov fact-checked:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/61829953

[Mark]

I've come across a few articles recently arguing that Russia's demographic situation was one of Putin's main motives for this operation.

How many thousands of Ukrainians have been moved to Russia since this operation began - I believe it's many thousands. They are also fast-tracking russian citizenships in many of the occupied areas. Far from this conflict causing a further decline in Population, if Russia can take and hold much more land then that's a lot more Russian citizens!

... Just another reason not to judge the outcome of a military conflict on the events of the first week (or day). You might find yourself getting mislead.

invalid fact check...

1. the 'operation' you mention is actually a war/invasion - the words you use reveal you for what you are
2. Putin's stated war aims are “to protect the people that are subjected to abuse, genocide from the Kiev regime” and to “demilitarize and denazify Ukraine.”, neither of which cover forcibly relocating thousands of Ukrainian civilians to Russia....

Nobody on here is 'mislead', we all know this is just a naked and illegal resource grab by Putin, and that includes grabbing people.

[Vortex2]

The Grayzone / Max Blumenthal

I have no idea if this site contains a load of tosh ... but if any of it is true, then it's clear that Ukraine is not the democary it claims to be.

https://thegrayzone.com/2022/04/17/trai ... pposition/

[kenneal - lagger]

From Wikipedia, a simple check on the Greyzone

The website, initially founded as The Grayzone Project,[16] was affiliated with AlterNet before becoming independent in early 2018.[2] The website's news content is generally considered to be fringe.[2][17][18][19] It is known for misleading reporting[20] and sympathetic coverage of authoritarian regimes,[2][13][21] in addition to its denial of the Uyghur genocide.[25]

That would call into question the contents of the article.

[Vortex2]

That would call into question the contents of the article.

Hmm . Wikepedia isn't exactly an unbiased source either.

Grayzone may indeed be biased and/or run by nutters .. BUT .. I'm not sure it allows us to treat all of its output as made up.

[kenneal - lagger]

If the source is known to be dubious sureiy you should verify the contents from another source before publishing it.

[Vortex2]

20.06.2022 Russia has given Lithuania an Ultimatum Because of the Kaliningrad Transport Blockade

On June 20, Lithuania's Charge d'affaires Virginiya Umbrasene was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"They stated in this regard that if cargo transit between the Kaliningrad Region and the rest of the Russian Federation via Lithuania is not fully restored in the near future, then Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests,"

https://www.oreanda.ru/en/gosudarstvo/r ... le1434106/

Russia is VERY peeved.
This is just the sort of thing which could kick off a major conflagration.

[kenneal - lagger]

I hope that the Lithuanian Ambassador asked the Russian Foreign Minister if they had started their tanks before making the threat. After all how many of them might actually work for another Special Operation? Or had the Foreign Minister sold the fuel off privately?

[clv101]

One thing Russia has succeeded in is an increased diversity of customers. It's still selling most of the same stuff (often at higher prices), but the swing away from EU and towards India, Africa, Brazil, China etc, arguably gives Russia a more secure market. Again, depends how close you think European collapse is. Obviously this conflict and the commodity price hikes has brought the collapse foreward somewhat.

[clv101]

This is a good comment on the situation, from a retired Indian diplomat who spent a lot of time in former Soviet states:
https://www.indianpunchline.com/west-at ... raine-war/