Current Affairs Ukraine

[NilSatisOptimum]

So because 1% of the UK elite are bad people you'd abandon the 99%?

Risk my life to keep the status quo, the same status quo that brought about the hypothetical invasion of the UK, too right I would turn my back!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

We aren’t Ukraine’s allies though Bruce, that’s the point. If they attack the Baltics or Poland, or the Czech Republic then we absolutely should defend them.

Intervening militarily in Ukraine risks the sort of conflict that could destroy us all. It should not be done unless the risk to the rest of us is justified; I don’t think it is.

"We're not Ukraine's allies". So all the navel-gazing in this thread is what? It's an insult.

 

[Toast]

I swear some of the news presenters / journo’s would love to be shot live on air..

Absolutely no need for Mark Austin etc to be presenting Live from Kiev.

 

[PhilM]

Well Ukraine government is saying sanctions don't go far enough... They would know!

Sanctions aren't enough and I think most realise that. I suspect most knew they wouldn't before the invasion, but that was the direction we sadly took.

Talking hypothetically, militarily we're limited in terms of what we could do right now. There aren't enough combat ready troops in a unified formation to send in.

The support services and air cover isn't there either, or at least enough to be ready. So are we using precision munitions to directly attack Russian forces?

Putting the troops on the ground from Romania and Poland wouldn't be enough; we can't reliably make an air bridge to move enough troops in to counter.

That could spiral to toe-to-toe combat very quickly and because, rightly and wrongly, Ukraine wasn't part of NATO this hasn't been an option.

If troops go in, it's war and a war we're not prepared for. Some many call it navel-gazing, whereas others sadly see the realistic position of where we are.

Go back to Poland in WWII - we could never have got troops close enough to defend it. What was criminal was the lacklustre Saar Offensive in response.

Right now, we need to hit Russia where it hurts and then prepare for the real hard hitting punches.

 

[Brennan]

We aren’t Ukraine’s allies though Bruce, that’s the point. If they attack the Baltics or Poland, or the Czech Republic then we absolutely should defend them.

Intervening militarily in Ukraine risks the sort of conflict that could destroy us all. It should not be done unless the risk to the rest of us is justified; I don’t think it is.

That’s the definition of “I’m alright jack” to be fair. Straight out of the Tory playbook, the same kind of logic they use to cut benefits and leave the poor high and dry.

Shame if that’s the view.

 

[Paulie]

Will there be US/UK and other countries special forces in Ukraine?

 

[Brennan]

Sanctions aren't enough and I think most realise that. I suspect most knew they wouldn't before the invasion, but that was the direction we sadly took.

Talking hypothetically, militarily we're limited in terms of what we could do right now. There aren't enough combat ready troops in a unified formation to send in.

The support services and air cover isn't there either, or at least enough to be ready. So are we using precision munitions to directly attack Russian forces?

Putting the troops on the ground from Romania and Poland wouldn't be enough; we can't reliably make an air bridge to move enough troops in to counter.

That could spiral to toe-to-toe combat very quickly and because, rightly and wrongly, Ukraine wasn't part of NATO this hasn't been an option.

If troops go in, it's war and a war we're not prepared for.

It seems pretty mental to me that we spend ungodly amounts of money on a military and aren’t ready to use it in any meaningful capacity. If the intelligence services are to be believed they knew this invasion was likely for months.

£45 billion….

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Not seeking direct conflict with a nuclear power threatening "consequences you have never experienced in your history" is perhaps sensible. Ukraine is probably knackered, sadly. That's the consequence of 20 years of turning a blind eye to Russian transgressions and not standing up to the thousand tiny escalations that have led us to this point... Now NATO/the EU/The west in general need to draw some new lines and come up with a new strategy.

So we leave Ukraine to get squashed by a bully because we're scared. Go us.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I swear some of the news presenters / journo’s would love to be shot live on air..

Absolutely no need for Mark Austin etc to be presenting Live from Kiev.

I always admire those people to be honest

That job has to be utterly harrowing most of the time

Not only for the risks to your own health but having to see all that suffering up close

I'm man enough to admit that I couldn't do it. I wouldn't have the minerals

 

[Jebus_lives]

I swear some of the news presenters / journo’s would love to be shot live on air..

Absolutely no need for Mark Austin etc to be presenting Live from Kiev.

Better to burn out than fade away

 

[Tipp blue]

It seems pretty mental to me that we spend ungodly amounts of money on a military and aren’t ready to use it in any meaningful capacity. If the intelligence services are to be believed they knew this invasion was likely for months.

£45 billion….

Of course they are to be believed, they have actively telling us it was going to happen.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

So we leave Ukraine to get squashed by a bully because we're scared. Go us.

We suck

I have to give respect to the Russians who have protested the war and have been arrested/bludgeoned by the Russian authorities as a result though

That's genuine bravery

I'm not even sure I'd be capable of doing that if I knew those consequences were on the table

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Sanctions aren't enough and I think most realise that. I suspect most knew they wouldn't before the invasion, but that was the direction we sadly took.

Talking hypothetically, militarily we're limited in terms of what we could do right now. There aren't enough combat ready troops in a unified formation to send in.

The support services and air cover isn't there either, or at least enough to be ready. So are we using precision munitions to directly attack Russian forces?

Putting the troops on the ground from Romania and Poland wouldn't be enough; we can't reliably make an air bridge to move enough troops in to counter.

That could spiral to toe-to-toe combat very quickly and because, rightly and wrongly, Ukraine wasn't part of NATO this hasn't been an option.

If troops go in, it's war and a war we're not prepared for.

Was typing specifically talking about the sanctions they are simply are not enough in the reach or scope and its Ukraine government stating this. Putin chumocracy money is more important to us than Ukrainians sovereignty, let's just have some honesty.

 

[gonetomorrow]

I always admire those people to be honest

That job has to be utterly harrowing most of the time

Not only for the risks to your own health but having to see all that suffering up close

I'm man enough to admit that I couldn't do it. I wouldn't have the minerals

Lyse Doucet is my favourite. The licence fee is well worth it with the likes of her stood there dodging bullets.

 

[grandjoeblue]

For people who want to send in British armed forces, would you be happy to go to fight in Ukraine? If not, why should we let young British men die in a war again?