So Putin is a popular fascist? Why is he trying to kill nazis successfully killing citizens in Ukraine then? If he’s so popular, why the need to shut down TV and radio stations? Why arrest protesters? He’s popular, a bit of a protest and a sign on a TV broadcast shouldn’t matter.

He’s popular because he and the ruling party have a history of jailing and killing opponents.

Putin might be a thug but he's a thug with generally popular support among the Russian people. His popularity never went below 65% for his first two Presidencies, it soared again after he annexed Crimea. Independent surveys that I've seen say he has around 70% support from the Russian people for the invasion of Ukraine.

So Putin is a popular fascist? Why is he trying to kill nazis successfully killing citizens in Ukraine then? If he’s so popular, why the need to shut down TV and radio stations? Why arrest protesters? He’s popular, a bit of a protest and a sign on a TV broadcast shouldn’t matter.

He’s popular because he and the ruling party have a history of jailing and killing opponents.

Putin might be a thug but he's a thug with generally popular support among the Russian people. His popularity never went below 65% for his first two Presidencies, it soared again after he annexed Crimea. Independent surveys that I've seen say he has around 70% support from the Russian people for the invasion of Ukraine.

That's because of the propaganda that the Russian people are being fed. if they were told the truth ,he would have WAY less support.

So Putin is a popular fascist? Why is he trying to kill nazis successfully killing citizens in Ukraine then? If he’s so popular, why the need to shut down TV and radio stations? Why arrest protesters? He’s popular, a bit of a protest and a sign on a TV broadcast shouldn’t matter.

He’s popular because he and the ruling party have a history of jailing and killing opponents.

Putin might be a thug but he's a thug with generally popular support among the Russian people. His popularity never went below 65% for his first two Presidencies, it soared again after he annexed Crimea. Independent surveys that I've seen say he has around 70% support from the Russian people for the invasion of Ukraine.

Doesn't matter if its Pauline, Donald, Clive or Vlad, 'Confused of Adelaide' will always be there waiting to put in a good word for them

So Putin is a popular fascist? Why is he trying to kill nazis successfully killing citizens in Ukraine then? If he’s so popular, why the need to shut down TV and radio stations? Why arrest protesters? He’s popular, a bit of a protest and a sign on a TV broadcast shouldn’t matter.

He’s popular because he and the ruling party have a history of jailing and killing opponents.

Putin might be a thug but he's a thug with generally popular support among the Russian people. His popularity never went below 65% for his first two Presidencies, it soared again after he annexed Crimea. Independent surveys that I've seen say he has around 70% support from the Russian people for the invasion of Ukraine.

Doesn't matter if its Pauline, Donald, Clive or Vlad, 'Confused of Adelaide' will always be there waiting to put in a good word for them

Where did I say I supported Putin?

So Putin is a popular fascist? Why is he trying to kill nazis successfully killing citizens in Ukraine then? If he’s so popular, why the need to shut down TV and radio stations? Why arrest protesters? He’s popular, a bit of a protest and a sign on a TV broadcast shouldn’t matter.

He’s popular because he and the ruling party have a history of jailing and killing opponents.

Putin might be a thug but he's a thug with generally popular support among the Russian people. His popularity never went below 65% for his first two Presidencies, it soared again after he annexed Crimea. Independent surveys that I've seen say he has around 70% support from the Russian people for the invasion of Ukraine.

Doesn't matter if its Pauline, Donald, Clive or Vlad, 'Confused of Adelaide' will always be there waiting to put in a good word for them

Where did I say I supported Putin?

Fair enough, DO you support Putin's actions by invading a independent country?

So Putin is a popular fascist? Why is he trying to kill nazis successfully killing citizens in Ukraine then? If he’s so popular, why the need to shut down TV and radio stations? Why arrest protesters? He’s popular, a bit of a protest and a sign on a TV broadcast shouldn’t matter.

He’s popular because he and the ruling party have a history of jailing and killing opponents.

Putin might be a thug but he's a thug with generally popular support among the Russian people. His popularity never went below 65% for his first two Presidencies, it soared again after he annexed Crimea. Independent surveys that I've seen say he has around 70% support from the Russian people for the invasion of Ukraine.

Yeah, so when he jails and/or murders politician rivals, as a Russian, when asked if you support him or not, what would you say?

So Putin is a popular fascist? Why is he trying to kill nazis successfully killing citizens in Ukraine then? If he’s so popular, why the need to shut down TV and radio stations? Why arrest protesters? He’s popular, a bit of a protest and a sign on a TV broadcast shouldn’t matter.

He’s popular because he and the ruling party have a history of jailing and killing opponents.

Putin might be a thug but he's a thug with generally popular support among the Russian people. His popularity never went below 65% for his first two Presidencies, it soared again after he annexed Crimea. Independent surveys that I've seen say he has around 70% support from the Russian people for the invasion of Ukraine.

Doesn't matter if its Pauline, Donald, Clive or Vlad, 'Confused of Adelaide' will always be there waiting to put in a good word for them

Where did I say I supported Putin?

I have never known a person who doesn’t support Putin to say ‘might be a thug’.

Yeah, so when he jails and/or murders politician rivals, as a Russian, when asked if you support him or not, what would you say?

Did we do any better after getting rid of Saddam? I thought a wave of refugees ultimately hit Europe as a result of the colour revolution that swept through. That and the creation of ISIS.

I'm not saying Putin is any good at all, I'm just saying maybe the West needs to take a look at the current frontiers of push-back to understand where our challenges are - like Vietnam, Cambodia, Venezuela, dozens of other countries the West routinely interferes in.

It's really disappointing that none of you see the inevitable separation of the world into multi-polar powers, the red and the blue. We're never going to truly have world government and maybe that's a good thing.

While Aaron and Don debate about who can make better predictions ...

Plausible:

Within a month? Russia wouldn’t telegraph their intentions that far in advance.

Don agreed with Aaron's post.

Russia invaded 23 February.

Maybe it runs in Aaron's family:

Australia is closing its embassy’s in the Ukraine and evacuating all staff war imminent ?

Relatives in Polish military still say no war imminent. If they thought so the rest of the family would been advised by them to leave Poland by now, this would at least be one way to get the father in law to come visit.

They have described Australia pulling staff and citizens back as ‘prudent, but over reaction’.

I am still travelling to Poland in May, and my wife will prevent me from travelling to Ukraine AGAIN! But I am going to try and get there.

How's the trip to Ukraine, looking, Aaron?  I hear Mariupol is nice this time of year.

Russia didn’t invade within that month, and when the invasion came, it was with some surprise. Russia didn’t give notice and US weren’t exactly there saying ‘they’re coming tomorrow’. It was as I said it would be, not telegraphed with any real notice at all.

And, since you asked, given the chance I would still go to Ukraine if it’s not still being bombed by the Russian infestation - for starters I would need their government offices to be working so as to issue me a visa. I have family and friends still in Ukraine today.

You’re saying that your prediction was correct because you were surprised by what happened?

That’s an impressive level of delusion.

You’re saying that your prediction was correct because you were surprised by what happened?

That’s an impressive level of delusion.

Are you saying the 15th of January is within a month of February 23? That’s an impressive misunderstanding of a calendar.

I am not correct because I was surprised, it shocked the world, Putin gave no direct warning, as I said, US/intelligence wasn’t sitting there knowing when it was going to happen, they were wrong to suggest that Putin was going to give them notice - he didn’t.

German Railways contributing to the safety of the Ukraine people seeking support in western europe:

German Railways contributing to the safety of the Ukraine people seeking support in western europe:

Interesting they don’t show a line from Berlin to Hanover. Wrocław to Frankfurt is a nice trip - cheap too maybe EUR6 return when I took it.

India has quadrupled its imports of Russian oil since the start of the Ukraine conflict to 360,000 barrels a day - buying up cargoes that the West has embargoed. India has no intention of sanctioning Russia over the Ukraine war.

@Aaron, how do you manage to cram so many blunders into such a small number of short posts?

BREAKING: White House says, based on intelligence assessments, that Russia's behavior could signal an invasion into Ukraine within a month

Within a month? Russia wouldn’t telegraph their intentions that far in advance.

That means you thought Russia would invade well within the month, because you were saying Russia wouldn't telegraph their intentions a whole month in advance.  In fact it was slightly longer than a month before they invaded, as you have helpfully pointed out.

Relatives in Polish military still say no war imminent [and] they have described Australia pulling staff and citizens back as ‘prudent, but over reaction’. I am still travelling to Poland in May, and my wife will prevent me from travelling to Ukraine AGAIN! But I am going to try and get there.

Seeing that your first prediction on 15 January failed, you backflipped.  On 13 February you said "no war imminent", purportedly on the basis of some sort of inside information from the Polish military.  So confident were you, you said you still wanted to go to Poland in May and still wanted to go to Ukraine.

10 days later, the war was on.

Russia didn’t invade within that month ... It was as I said it would be.

Even if your English is so poor that you meant the opposite of what you originally said on 15 January (ie you had originally meant to say that Russia would not invade in a month), the invasion happened one month and eight days later.

So even if we accept your attempt to twist your own words to wriggle out of this, you were still wrong!

US weren’t exactly there saying ‘they’re coming tomorrow’.

Yes, they were.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the following in a speech to the UN Security Council on Thursday, 17 February 2022:

“Our information indicates clearly that [Russian] forces, including ground troops, aircraft, ships, are preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days."

On Sunday 20 February CBS News was the first to report that the Kremlin had given the green light to commanders among the more than 150,000 troops in potential attack positions.

On 21 February, Blinken told CBS:

“As President Biden said, everything we are seeing tells us that the decision we believe President Putin has made to invade is moving forward.”

At the same time, CBS reported that:

"US intelligence has detected evidence that Russian troops amassed close to the border with Ukraine have received actual orders to proceed with an invasion".

So you're also wrong about what the US was saying.  In doubling down on your your original blunders, you've blundered even more!

Putin gave no direct warning

I'm not sure why this point matters, but this claim is wrong too.

On Monday 21 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two regions in Ukraine as independent and ordered Russian troops to conduct "peacekeeping" operations there, raising fears that Russia is paving the way for an attack.

Sounds like a direct warning to me.

And let's not forget all the sabre-rattling before that.

when the invasion came, it was with some surprise

It looks like the only person who was surprised was you.

So as I said, you’re saying that your predictions were correct because you were surprised by what happened!

Next level delusion, for sure.

And, since you asked, given the chance I would still go to Ukraine if it’s not still being bombed by the Russian infestation - for starters I would need their government offices to be working so as to issue me a visa.

What, even if it's occupied by Russia?

Does this mean that your wife now wants you to go?

I have family and friends still in Ukraine today.

FWIW I hope they are all ok.

But getting back to the petty point scoring ...

I'm tempted to say that you were starting to sound like Myrtone.  However, that that would be an insult to Myrtone.

"Trademark squatting" has begun in Russia - News.com.au;

A budding burger chain in Russia called Uncle Vanya is looking to grab business that has been left on the table by McDonald’s – revealing a logo that looks strikingly similar to the Golden Arches.

A March 12 trademark filing with the Russian government showed an image that closely resembles the McDonald’s logo turned on its side.

The sketchy filing shows a Cyrillic letter “B,” which references the “V” in “Uncle Vanya,” cast in yellow against a red background.

“Trademark squatting has begun in Russia,” tweeted Josh Gerben, a prominent intellectual property lawyer who was among those who flagged the filing.

The application appeared online after Russian officials indicated they would remove patent protections for companies linked to countries deemed hostile to Russia – a response to crippling international sanctions and a mass exodus of Western companies in response to the Ukraine invasion.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested the Kremlin would move to seize assets from companies exiting the country by “ external management” and “[transferring] these enterprises to those who want to work,” according to Russian state media.

McDonald’s was singled out as a likely target. Vyacheslav Volodin, a top official in Russia’s State Duma, said last week that Russian restaurants should take control of McDonald’s locations – with a specific reference to Uncle Vanya.

“They announced they are closing. Well, okay, close. But tomorrow in those locations we should have not McDonald’s, but Uncle Vanya’s,” Volodin said, according to the The Washington Post.

That's a step too far!  Now Biden will definitely invade.

Biden will send in the maccas crew, management will organise rostering, 14(th battalion) year olds first in armed to the teeth with tomato sauce guns

Biden will send in the maccas crew, management will organise rostering, 14(th battalion) year olds first in armed to the teeth with tomato sauce guns

Biden couldn't organise a trip to the toilet on his own - let alone arrange for capitalism to march back into Russia.

I wonder if Trump will order two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish burgers and a large chocolate milkshake from Uncle V's (or is that B's?).

US President Joe Biden said on Monday it’s “clear” Russia is considering the use of chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine and warned of a “severe” Western response if it chose to do so, AFP reports.

“His back is against the wall,” said Biden of Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting that Russia has recently accused the United States of holding chemical and biological weapons in Europe.

“Simply not true. I guarantee you,” he told a gathering of US business leaders in Washington.
“They are also suggesting that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. That’s a clear sign he’s considering using both of those,” he said.

His warning echoed statements made by his administration earlier this month as well as other Western nations, after Russian officials accused Ukraine of seeking to hide an alleged US-backed chemical weapons program.

“Now that Russia has made these false claims… we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them,” tweeted White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Biden on Monday also reiterated that such an action would prompt a “severe” but so far undefined response from Western allies.

Putin “knows there’ll be severe consequences because of the united NATO front,” he said, without specifying what actions the alliance would take.

At the same event, Biden noted that he had warned Putin of a US response if Russia launched cyber attacks against US critical infrastructure.

“We had a long conversation about if he uses it, what will be the consequence,” said Biden, referring to a summit with the Russian leader last year in Geneva.

Earlier in the day, Biden issued a statement warning the US business community of intelligence pointing to a growing Russian cyber threat and urging companies to “immediately” prepare defenses.

“If you have not already done so, I urge our private sector partners to harden your cyber defenses immediately,” he said, citing “evolving intelligence that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks” including in response to Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“It’s part of Russia’s playbook,” he said.

His statement added that the US government would “continue to use every tool to deter, disrupt, and if necessary, respond to cyberattacks against critical infrastructure.”

However, he underlined that most critical infrastructure in the country is owned and operated by private entities, which cannot be compelled to take specific cyber security measures.

So, the war in Ukraine continues, despite more and more peace talks, I think Putin needs to seriously think about where he is headed in this, what is his end game in all of this, where will it end up?, Russia seems to be getting more and more desperate.

So today, one of the Putin aligned Russian newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda let slip in publication that the number of Russian MoD numbers for soldiers killed in Putin’s invasion was 9,861 - which is just extraordinarily (and tragically) high, wounded count was 16,153 soldiers. For a 3-4 week conflict in which the Ukrainians were going to welcome Russian troops with ‘flags and flowers’ that is just mind boggling, I saw reports that this was four times more than the US lost in 20 years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Минобороны РФ опровергает информацию украинского Генштаба о якобы маштабных потерях ВС РФ на Украине. По данным Минобороны РФ, в ходе спецоперации на Украине ВС РФ потеряли убитыми 9861 человека, ранения получили 16153 человека.

Читайте на http://WWW.KP.RU: https://www.kp.ru/online/news/4672522/

Komsomolskaya Pravda - which sort of translates to something like ‘The Truth to the Young Members of the Soviet League’ - not sure if you can read it still, AND you probably need to be able to read Russian, or trust Google Translate, but I have copied part of the original text above nonetheless.