This is continuation Ukraine topic.
Thanks RiffRaff, and I apologize for the double post. I wasn't logged in properly when I made the first one and I didn't think it went through.A surprise attack by Russia on any country besides Ukraine is extremely unlikely. Putin may be trying to expand Russia's borders, but he's not a madman. Everything you mentioned is more of a signal to NATO that he's ready for a furball if NATO wants to get involved. There's nothing to lose sleep over at this point.
Judge by the clear military logic instead - the amount of forces is barely enough to do anything worthwhile in Eastern Ukraine. In order to pull off the offensive you need the at least three times more forces. 100-200 thousands of Russian servicemen roaming around the borders against the whole country? That is unlikely. Take on Europe? Do not listen to freak media, there is no force that is capable of taking on Europe (except the US that already holds it).All this is starting to freak me out. The amount of forces they’re moving around appears meant for a larger conflict than eastern Ukraine. There were those reports a couple weeks ago regarding several Russian cities to prepare to receive mass casualties and testing their blast doors in subways. I know folks here aren’t into Nyquist but is it likely that something more nefarious is at play here? First strike on the US followed by an invasion of Europe?
Bringing what equipment, exactly? Old rusty BMP's from storages to show off on camera? It's nothing. All the real weaponry that works in the modern warfare and Russia counts on always was stationed there in readiness - NATO Reconnaissance aircraft conducts weekly/daily flights regularly for many years with a reason. Federation Council is not an emergency meeting, but an unplanned one, to discsuss new directions given by the President and how to accomplish them - regular boot licking of Russian great Emperor on media, of "how much we support and work for him" and such. (Also there are some stirrup within the Council, but it's completely internal matters of those persons relationships and i don't think i can say it here anyway).So guys, is this it? We've got Russia bringing all this equipment to their western border which seems to be far more than what they need to take Eastern Ukraine, and there's been a lot of other "stuff" going on which we've seen reported such as the Russian government telling some cities across Russia to prepare for mass casualties, testing of blast doors, the emergency meeting of the Federation Council etc. What's going on? I know many of you here do not like doomsday porn and dont think much of guys like JR Nyquist, but could we in fact be at a point where a surprise attack on the US homeland may be imminent - followed by an invasion of Europe? I worry about this, and have been extremely worried about it the last month - so much so that it affects my sleep. Whats an honest assessment of this situation? Are we out of time? Thanks for your hard work and time.
I think the key thing to understand here is that Putin/Russia have goals and any sort of aggressive action on their part is going to, at least in their minds, be done to further those goals. A scenario like that basically guarantees that Russia is destroyed or at least unrecognizable without much if any ability to project power. If a situation got really crazy, mad gambles like that become a little more credible. But in the status quo, Russia is able to make incremental gains at very little cost without doing anything that forces the hand of the West. Leaving three nuclear powers (US/UK/France) with nothing to lose and facing an existential risk when any one of them can bring an end to your great power status is not the kind of gamble that makes any sense at all, not even for an aggressive expansionist power. Speaking as a non-staff member here, I think what the staff is trying to do with the Defcon level (in part) is highlight dynamics where great and terrible gambles like that might start to make a little more sense.So guys, is this it? We've got Russia bringing all this equipment to their western border which seems to be far more than what they need to take Eastern Ukraine, and there's been a lot of other "stuff" going on which we've seen reported such as the Russian government telling some cities across Russia to prepare for mass casualties, testing of blast doors, the emergency meeting of the Federation Council etc. What's going on? I know many of you here do not like doomsday porn and dont think much of guys like JR Nyquist, but could we in fact be at a point where a surprise attack on the US homeland may be imminent - followed by an invasion of Europe? I worry about this, and have been extremely worried about it the last month - so much so that it affects my sleep. Whats an honest assessment of this situation? Are we out of time? Thanks for your hard work and time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned NATO against cultivating closer ties with Ukraine and Georgia, saying such a policy was irresponsible and would have unspecified consequences for the alliance.
“We will respond appropriately to such aggressive steps, which pose a direct threat to Russia,” said Putin.
“Our colleagues, who are trying to aggravate the situation, seeking to include, among others, Ukraine and Georgia in the orbit of the alliance, should think about the possible consequences of such an irresponsible policy.”
This doesn't deal directly with Ukraine, but I think it's starting to become multinational crisis at this point:
Russia threatens Denmark with nuclear weapons
The Russian ambassador in Copenhagen says Danish warships would become 'targets for Russian nuclear missiles'www.independent.co.uk
I think that is an old article.This doesn't deal directly with Ukraine, but I think it's starting to become multinational crisis at this point:
Russia threatens Denmark with nuclear weapons
The Russian ambassador in Copenhagen says Danish warships would become 'targets for Russian nuclear missiles'www.independent.co.uk
March 2015. A tad out of date.I think that is an old article.
Well, hell. They got one by me. Sorry 'bout that.March 2015. A tad out of date.
Significance?Maybe they are preparing for 9 of May?