Ukraine Watch...

[PS_RalphW]

I agree that Ukraine since independence has been far from corruption free. Its effective theft of Russian gas through the transit pipelines has been discussed here on Powerswitch iirc. That said, all the ex Soviet nations have suffered from corruption and extreme right wing movements to a greater or lesser extent, and we all know that Russia under Putin is whiter than white in this respect.

What Ukraine has not done is covet its neighbours territories or supplied weapons and 'volunteer' soldiers to independence movements or annexed a large part of a country in direct contravention of international treaties, etc.

None of the justifications that Putin has publicly given for this invasion hold any water. Ukraine under the current leadership has been moving in the right direction on corruption and prejudice, and it is precisely for this reason that Putin has decided to invade at this time, to prevent Ukraine from slipping out of his potential sphere of influence for ever.

No society or culture is purfect, but in this war Russia under Putin are the bad guys by any reasonable objective measure.

[BritDownUnder]

It's a very long and complicated story.

Absolutely! Anyone promoting a simplistic narrative is doing themselves a disservice, and contributing to the going dumbing down of public discourse.

It really is quite simple. Russia likes to invade its neighbours. Historically that is what they do. The UK used to do it as well.

This time they have stumbled and now is a good opportunity to get off fossil fuels and to punish them so that they will feel the consequences of their mistake for a long while.

[Vortex2]

It really is quite simple.

"EVERYTHING SHOULD BE MADE AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE, BUT NOT SIMPLER" —ALBERT EINSTEIN (probably)

[kenneal - lagger]

And you, Vortex, ar completely ignoring the Russian complicity in fomenting the rebellion in the Donbas and the "little green men" who infiltrated Crimea before illegally annexing it. Then there is the shelling and counter shelling for 8 years. The shelling wasn't all going one way! But you are quite happy to ignore the Russian shelling it would seem from your posts which have never mentioned it once. Or do you believe that the poor put upon Donbas fighters didn't have artillery?

AS for Ukraine being the most corrupt country in Europe you would have been up in arms if NATO had gone in to "De-corrupt", or should I say "De-Nazify", Ukraine. There can be no justification for the invasion of a country because you don't like the government. And don't say that NATO has done this in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else because the circumstances are entirely different. As it is the second most corrupt country has gone in so that it can extend its own corruption into Ukraine to make a bit more money.

And as for Ukrainians putting down Russian speakers, the Ukrainian president is, or was, a Russian speaker as is much of his government. And Hitler used that argument before he started WW2. On that basis it seems that you would have supported Hitler!

How do you save a people by shelling the guts out of every town that you come across. Surely the mighty Russian army could have invaded a corruption ridden, ethnically fragmented country like Ukraine in a few days without despoiling the whole place? They couldn't because virtually the whole of Ukraine has risen up against the invader and the invaders came through supposedly "friendly" Russian speaking Ukraine first. The one major city that they took, Kherson, saw anti Russian protests from the day that the Russians arrived or was that all arranged by the BBC.

I haven't seen our own RenewableCandy on here complaining about misrepresentation of Russian broadcasters on the BBC or any other media. Her husband is Russian and would know if there was any mistranslation of Russian speakers. Virtually the whole of eastern Europe has risen up to support Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees. The only countries not to are Hungary with its right wing, not quite Nazi, government and Serbia which isn't far off Nazi itself. surely that should give you and inkling on what is going on or are they all brainwashed as well?

[adam2]

This report refers to mains water supplies in large parts of Ukraine being interrupted by Russian attacks.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63463697

Of particular note is the large number of people collecting water from old fashioned hand pumps in public open spaces. How many urban areas in the UK have such hand pumps still available and in working order ? Almost none I suspect.

[kenneal - lagger]

We're more advanced than that, we have standpipes. What do you mean, "They don't work unless there is electricity to power the pumps"?

Not many people know that, unfortunately! We would suffer quite a bit more than the Ukrainians in case of an attack on our public services.

[BritDownUnder]

This report refers to mains water supplies in large parts of Ukraine being interrupted by Russian attacks.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63463697

Of particular note is the large number of people collecting water from old fashioned hand pumps in public open spaces. How many urban areas in the UK have such hand pumps still available and in working order ? Almost none I suspect.

I think there is a spout where you can get actual Buxton spring water but it flows naturally not by pumping. The time we went there my uncle was complaining that people were taking 20 litres at a time in huge drums resulting in a very long queue.

I would expect that hand operated pumps, if they were installed in the UK would be very cheaply made and probably break after a few uses, assuming that they had not already been vandalised.

It's a useful preparation to have. I have a hand pump in the shed ready for installation when I get the time. Another good preparation is a water filter that will filter water from various non-potable sources.

[PS_RalphW]

Ukraine fighting seems to have died down for the winter, with almost no movement on the front lines. Russia seems to be encouraging Ukraine to attack Kherson, after reenforcing their defensive positions. Bombing of water and electricity supplies continues in a clear war crime. Russia has had their bluff called on the grain deal and backed down, with no more than a stern word for the British ambassador.

[UndercoverElephant]

The UK used to do it as well.

Well, France anyway.

[BritDownUnder]

The UK used to do it as well.

Well, France anyway.

Problem with Napoleon and Hitler was that they wanted it all done too quickly. Russia took it easy and adopted a multi-generation neighbour invasion approach. Take a province here and a city there. Remember Bessarabia, Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, East Prussia etc. A lot of nationalities, especially Christians, preferred Russian rule to Turkish or Persian rule. China was the same. They took 2000 years to form their country.

[adam2]

"Judge frees Greenpeace protesters who delayed russian tanker ship" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-63519487

Good news in my view.

[UndercoverElephant]

The UK used to do it as well.

Well, France anyway.

Problem with Napoleon and Hitler was that they wanted it all done too quickly...

You said the UK used to invade its neighbours, and it isn't really true. We spent centuries at war with France, but most English territory in France came to us not through invading our neighbours but by being invaded by the Normans in 1066. The UK, rather obviously, decided to use its total domination of the high seas to claim territory much further afield - territory that we were always going to end up losing, precisely because it isn't contiguous with the UK. Unless you count Ireland, of course (which was lost due to serious maladministration).

[PS_RalphW]

Although there is very little movement of the front lines, there are reports that fighting has been heavy in some areas, with heavy casualties on both sides. One particular report is that a Russian naval infantry brigade suffered heavy losses when it was ordered to advance in Kharkiv region with very little artillery, air or tank support. As the saying goes, never believe reports until they are officially denied, as this one was this morning.

Kherson city has now lost power and water, Russia claims this is due to the hydroelectric dam upstream being bombed by Ukraine. In fact, it seems that the city is being now forcibly depopulated and stripped and looted by the Russians, with Anything that can be unbolted or dug up being stolen, presumably in preparation for it becoming the new Stalingrad, where they defend it house by house to the last untrained ethnic non Russian conscript inflicting maximum casualties on the advancing Ukrainians in a glorious defeat that will go down in history as Putin’s greatest legacy. In fact the Serbian president has already made this exact prediction.

Ukraine is far too rational to fall into such a trap.

[kenneal - lagger]

Apparently there was a similar skirmish in Zaporezhia as well where untrained Russian conscripts were used in unsupported human wave attacks resulting in very large losses.

[clv101]

Thinking about Nord Stream again, whilst you & I don't know who did it, it's interesting to think just how many people *do* know. Heads of state & inner circles of ~all NATO members & Russia, plus hundreds/thousands of military personnel involved in planning/carrying out the task. That must be a minimum but it could be a lot more, the boards of lots of major European energy and industrial companies? Truth will out but in the meantime it must already be influencing geopolitics. Can we infer who blew the pipeline from the subsequent geopolitical actions of those who do know?