Stupid Shit in Kyiv

[Jmsuttr]

Russian? His "home country"? LOL.

With his dual passport dusted off, this rat is going to his home country.

The Jpost article mentioned that he applied for citizenship upon arrival and his application was reviewed and approved under the "Right of Return" laws pertaining to Jews born outside Israel.

That puts him in a different category from Russian oligarchs who already had Israeli citizenship like, IIRC, Roman Abramovich. That's because someone with pre-existing dual-citizenship already had an escape door available, but Prokhorov abandoned Russia without having that in place.

So, while I'm sure he had people working behind the scenes to grease the skids, there was still some degree of risk that things could go wrong. So that brings me back to my original point, which is that the easiest path would have been to stay in Russia. As an oligarch he had all the privileges and advantages available to the elite.

So why take on the risk of leaving? Any amount of risk, large or small, is still greater than staying put. It's my guess that he looked at Russia's bleak future and decided it was worth the risk to jump ship when the opportunity presented itself.

The elites don't give a shit about what regular people do, but they watch each other like a hawk. With Chubais leaving, and now Prokhorov, others are probably asking themselves whether they should also head for the exits.

[Golfinho]

Mikhail Prokhorov, former owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, has fled to Israel and applied for Israeli citizenship.

Q: Why would a rich Russian oligarch abandon his home country?.

Russian? His "home country"? LOL.

With his dual passport dusted off, this rat is going to his home country.

[Jmsuttr]

The current government is cleaning up the oligarch issue in Russia and also in Ukraine, where Clown President is the world's richest comedian, with over $1.3 billion in foreign banks.

Russia does not need American comments on its system of governance.

America does not support or export democracy. That is a self serving fallacy.

America has no values, let alone democratic values.

And sinking fast, because poor Putin and his pussilanimous posse of pipsqueaks have collectively pulled the plug!

Every passing day the tide turns further against Russia. They're in a constant state of loss: whether it be territory, or status, or support, etc. Even Kazakhstan is distancing itself, which is a shocker since Putin just bailed out the Kazakh leader not long ago. That's gratitude for you, eh?

Oh, and as I predicted, Finland is reportedly submitting their NATO application by April 14th. Which means Putin will have yet another member of NATO sitting on his border. And Poland is buying about $5 billion worth of US (Abrams) tanks and is offering to host NATO nukes.

Everywhere you look, assuming one isn't deluded enough to believe one's own propaganda, Putin is losing ground. Russia is totally fucked and has no future. When that reality dawns on the people, when it can't be hidden any longer and the curtain is pulled back, it's not going to be good for anyone in the Russian leadership, especially Putin.

Buh-bye, tovarisch!

[Golfinho]

Hmm Israeli dogs. That's an odd reference in a post about the Ukraine war. The NATO countries referenced makes sense. Israel though?

Not at all an odd reference in context of the Khazarian Homeland. Ample evidence and likely more forthcoming of the Ashkenazim insinuating themselves into this conflict.

[Golfinho]

It's always the same story with fascists. Blame the Jews.

It's always the same story with Jews. Blame the fascists.

Oh, wait, except in Ukraine where the Jews are the fascists.

[Neurosynth]

Hmm Israeli dogs. That's an odd reference in a post about the Ukraine war. The NATO countries referenced makes sense. Israel though?

It's always the same story with fascists. Blame the Jews.

[Jmsuttr]

These events have turned them into rabid Russian haters. This will not go off in 20 or 30 years. This will linger a long time.

Putin believed his own fantasy, further fed by the lies of his sycophants, that Ukraine wasn't really a nation, that they longed to be part of Russia again, and that the Russian army would be welcomed as liberators.

When that didn't happen he unleashed the kind of brutality one might expect from a rejected and jilted lover. A kind of "If I can't have you then I'm going to completely ruin you" sentiment. Even the formerly sympathetic areas in Eastern Ukraine will be impossible to effectively manage. Sure, Putin can station many troops in areas he manages to seize and hold, but those areas will never be a willing and productive part of Russia. Instead, they will continue to bleed Russia of manpower and resources while the vast majority of the world keeps sanctions in effect.

Putin will have turned Russia into a larger version of North Korea, a true pariah state. That assumes, of course, that he manages to stay in power after such a humiliating defeat and display of weakness. He raised expectations in Russia to an extremely high level such that the general belief was that Kyiv would be quickly conquered and the Zelensky government overthrown. Instead, Putin's army had to retreat from the Kyiv front in humiliating fashion and Zelensky remains in power. No matter how hard the Kremlin spin doctors try, Russian citizens recognize this as a defeat and a profound failure to achieve the desired objective. They may not be able to freely talk about it, but they surely understand what's happened. And that can't be good for Putin's future prospects.

[WyattEarp]

Hopefully, if not Siberia, the remains of these American, French, British, German and Israeli dogs will be paraded for the world to see what human filth looks like.

Hmm Israeli dogs. That's an odd reference in a post about the Ukraine war. The NATO countries referenced makes sense. Israel though?

[Cons68]

I had a team in Ukraine, most of them could not give a shit about politics, they were about reading their thesis, making money, going on with their lives. Holodomor was just a distant memory.

Now, they are supporters of Azov, and they ask me about the Blau Division, Spanish volunteers with the Wehrmacht.

These events have turned them into rabid Russian haters. This will not go off in 20 or 30 years. This will linger a long time.

No one with a lick of sense thinks that Ukraine was (or is) run by a bunch of saints. But, whatever corruptions and sins they may have committed, or are still committing, Putin has washed them clean by his own actions.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Ukraine was engaged in all the nasty and negative activities of which Russia and Putin and you have accused them. So what? Was Ukraine ever going to be able to threaten Russia militarily? Were Ukrainian tanks and missiles ever likely to reach Moscow, or any other Russian city? Was Ukraine ever likely to be allowed into NATO in the foreseeable future? The answer, for anyone who hasn't drunk their fill of Putin's poisonous propaganda, is an unequivocal no.

As long as Putin maintained the pre-Feb 24 status quo, he could have continued to argue his point of view and many in the West would have been sympathetic. But he threw all that away when he launched his disastrous MudKrieg. He singlehandedly turned a situation that had many shades of gray into one that is starkly black and white. He is now and forever the villain. And he will now and forever be branded a war criminal and a butcher of innocent civilians. It's already done, a fait accompli, and nothing you say or believe will ever change that fact.

Putin acolytes and sycophants (like you) will go to their graves thinking that Putin is the good guy. But 99% of the world has already found him guilty. There is no good outcome for him because, even if he manages to seize and hold parts of Ukraine, he's turned Russia into a pariah-state. And even formerly pro-Russia elements in Ukraine now hate his guts. The sanctions will continue, the brain-drain will continue, and China is sharpening their pencils for all the IOUs that will be coming due.

Whether you believe it or not, whether you like it or not, that's Russia's reality.

[Cons68]

Reports are coming in a US general has been captured in Mariupol. Though I have the name, I doubt it is is him.

Either way, any Americans captured in Mariupol are not protected by the Geneva Convention.

There is some serious shit going on there.

There is some serious shit going on in your head.

[VinDici]

Except this one won't keep his murder within his own borders. Maybe the next one will have learned a lesson.

Pretty much this. When the regime meddles with the affairs of other countries by, invading, starting a war and then murdering their civilians, it is not unreasonable to want it changed.

[PedroMorales]

The current government is cleaning up the oligarch issue in Russia and also in Ukraine, where Clown President is the world's richest comedian, with over $1.3 billion in foreign banks.

Russia does not need American comments on its system of governance.

America does not support or export democracy. That is a self serving fallacy.

America has no values, let alone democratic values.

[Neurosynth]

This is the problem with our misguided regime change mindset. Most of these countries don't have the necessary traditions to have a functioning democracy. What you get after you destroy the government is a new one cut from the same cloth. Better to stay out of the mess.

Except this one won't keep his murder within his own borders. Maybe the next one will have learned a lesson.

[Paulie97]

This is the problem with our misguided regime change mindset. Most of these countries don't have the necessary traditions to have a functioning democracy. What you get after you destroy the government is a new one cut from the same cloth. Better to stay out of the mess.

There's certainly hope for real change, especially as more time passes. Younger Russian citizens are exposed to social media and function with a lot of western concepts and enjoyment of western culture. Polls regarding Putin's popularity aren't reliable so this is an unknown, though through oppressing the media and his opposition likely has majority support at the moment. We also don't know how many citizens want to speak out but are afraid to. There's other countries in the region that had little to no democratic history but are now functioning democracies. There's a good chance that a replacement for Putin would be a step in the right direction for Europe. We are currently experiencing more instability, genocidal acts and threats to democratic freedoms on the continent than we have since World War II. It's hard to fall out of bed when you're already sleeping on the floor. Plus there's a broader worldwide conflict between democracy and autocracy, with the cancer of the latter alive and well in Europe and the US. We ignore this at our peril.

P.S. As to current events, no we aren't going to "stay out of the mess" while a tyrant is murdering our friends. We will support Ukraine and punish Russia. Likewise we are unlikely to go head to head with Russia unless he touches a NATO country. In any case there's too many Neville Chamberlain's among us, especially in monger forums, for whatever reason. Putin has already stated his objective, to roll back NATO to pre-1997. Now is a time to project strength.

[Dickus Maximus]

https://ricochet.com/1214468/finnish...ssian-mindset/

Fascinating insights from someone who had an entire career dedicated to analyzing and understanding Russian thinking and motivation. The article is a translation from a lecture given in 2018.

It's a bit of a read, but well worth it, IMO. It explains the historical basis for Russia's deep-seated insecurities (paranoia?) and constant need for an external villain and a "strong man" leader who will protect the country from outside forces and prevent internal chaos.

One conclusion I drew from the article is that, even if Putin is replaced, any new leader is likely to be cut from the same cloth. And that's simply because Russia isn't culturally or psychologically prepared for anything else. The idea that there will be some type of more liberal or progressive leadership is almost certainly nothing more than wishful thinking.

If Putin's failures in Ukraine cause his downfall, it's more likely that it will come at the hands of those who are more hawkish and militaristic. Putin's problem now is that his propaganda wrote checks that his military can't make good. No matter how he tries to spin things, he's abandoned any attempt to take Kyiv, the Zelensky government remains in power, and that will be seen in Russia as weakness and failure. The article gives insight into how Russians react to such things, which doesn't portend a bright future for Putin. Maybe he'll survive by becoming even more repressive, who knows?

As noted above, the lecture was given in 2018. For the (retired) intel officer's current thoughts on the situation, here's his Twitter handle:

https://mobile.twitter.com/maraj60

(Most tweets are in Finnish so you'll need to use your favorite translation method).

This is the problem with our misguided regime change mindset. Most of these countries don't have the necessary traditions to have a functioning democracy. What you get after you destroy the government is a new one cut from the same cloth. Better to stay out of the mess.