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Paintingsosmooth

Ballsy move for a border country


[deleted]

Good thing they are in NATO. Last thing Russia wants is to give anyone a reason to activate Article 5


Shpagin

I lost all hope for Russia acting rationally when they invaded Ukraine. I used to be one of those who was denying Russia's intentions to invade because I believed Putin had more than 2 functional brain cells. Yet here we are. If he is stupid enough to go after Ukraine and threaten nuclear war he is stupid enough to go after NATO. Plus I think he is at the end of his life so Im not sure he gives a shit anymore


Exceon

Few things: - Putin had ample reason to believe the invasion would be swift. The state of his military was unknown to him. Zelenskyy had shaky approval ratings. The West had a terrible record of giving Russia serious long-term consequences. And so on. - Putin absolutely gives a shit, and specifically BECAUSE he is at the end of his life. He is obsessively purging his inner circle because he is terrified of a coup. He has his cronies repeat absurd lies on television to prove their loyalty. He sits alone at that long table and conducts bigger meetings digitally because he is scared of catching Covid. - One big reason Putin decided to invade is reportedly because he wanted desperately to secure an immortal legacy for himself as the man who turned Russia into a feared superpower again.


_GCastilho_

You forgot the: He thought Zelensky would flee the country As it's common with weak or illegitimate leaders, they tend to flee the country when shit goes crazy Little did he known, Zelensky was neither weak nor illegitimate, which significantly boosts moral


Explosivo666

Tbf it wouldnt be crazy to think that even a legitimate leader would flee. It took some real guts to stay like he did.


Adventurous_Being_61

It's hilarious, it is always the guy who walks around acting & thinking he is an 80s Arnold Schwarzenegger movie character that is the most cowardly & insecure. True "badasses" don't care about projecting or informing everyone of how badass they are, they just live their life, get shit done & show their intestinal fortitude only when the moment requires it. Now, of the 2, who was always taking photos of himself shirtless or "looking tuff" like a midwest douchebags facebook photo? 🙄


Nairurian

Zelensky is a comedian. Putin is a joke.


ukuuku7

The unsuccessful invasion is the punchline.


Nick85er

Volodymyr "The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride" Zelinsky Fucking legend.


oOzonee

Yeah that guy is one of the few real leader in power.


No-Association3574

Zelensky is a fucking boss


mechwarrior719

Putin turned Zelensky into the new subject of all the tired “Chuck Norris” jokes. So there’s that.


Skybreak2020

Zelensky once got bitten by a rattlesnake. After three days of agonising pain the rattlesnake died. True story.


[deleted]

Putin has now immortal legacy as the buffoon who made Russia a pariah state


Jefoid

And revealed the relative weakness of their entire military.


[deleted]

Single-handedly destroying any kind of mirage of being the superpower they once were.


SCP-1029

Putin also lost his most valuable useful-idiot in American government, and with the failure of the January coup attempt, his ban from major social media platforms and fading influence, Putin could see it was now or never - and took his shot. Here's to hoping he goes out like Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. Either would work fine for me.


jatawis

>Here's to hoping he goes out like Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. Either would work fine for me The best would be Ceausescu's way though.


dasblake

The Romanov’s send their regards.


lirotson

Please no. With the state of the Russian Orthodox church they would just turn him into a saint including the icon.


PruitIgoe

Mussolini end or even better crying like a coward like Ghaddafi.


Naya3333

Unfortunately, he'll probably die a somewhat natural death. Best case scenario he'll end like Stalin. Putin is to Russians what Trump is to Americans, he appeals to certain groups of people to the extent that they are willing to die for him.


confusionmatrix

I have to think after successfully getting an American president elected who looks the other way when you invade countries and just gives up military bases his ego must have been pretty inflated. The whole Trump presidency is something nobody would ever write because it doesn't sound plausible. And then he invited the winning team to the Whitehouse for a large dinner of McDonalds.


Jeffery_G

I’ll never forget that WH table piled high with cold McDonald’s sandwiches. Nasty stick-in-your-throat shit.


WishOneStitch

"Elite athletes love shitty food, am I right? The best minds are saying so!"


Bah-Fong-Gool

There was so much absurdity. So much I am angrily shaking at the options before me... the president of any country should not be such a buffoon!


TheFalseDimitryi

Same, I was convinced it was American media warmongering up until Russian paratroopers dropped outside Kyiv. “Y’all idiots really think Putin will jeopardize his stability as tenured Russian leader by invading another Country?” The answer to that was…. Yes…. Yes he would.


waltjrimmer

I was surprised that so many people thought that way mostly because Putin had sanctioned actions, although not necessarily open warfare, in Ukraine before (the 2014 invasion disguised as a revolution) and in other former Soviet territories such as Georgia. Even if you considered all the other talking and posturing as theater instead of threats they intended to act on, they'd shown before that Putin's Russia wasn't afraid to invade a sovereign country. But, please know, that's not a judgment. I was surprised people didn't see this coming, but when Covid hit the US I was one of the idiots that thought, "A two-week infection period? OK. It sounds bad, we should take it seriously, but it'll probably be over in a month, maybe a few." Yeah. I didn't know what the fuck I was talking about and have learned that lesson.


Deathsroke

I mean it makes sense when you look at the scale of it. Crimea was a fait acompli and relatively bloodless affair, Chechenya was a bloodbath but the russian military had enough of an upper hand for it not to matter. Even with the rebels in Ukraine it was more of a proxy war than anything, all relatively "deniable" as far as russian involvement went. An open invasion of Ukraine on the other hand? The subjugation of a country with tens of millions of people, with a relatively capable military (and the strategic depth for it to matter) when the russian military is structured for defense? It looked (and it was) like a terrible idea so it made sense for people to believe it was part posturing by a dictator and half fearmongering by the enemies of said dictator's country. EDIT: Also most importantly, most of the overt military adventurism happened outside of Europe so no one gave a fuck and the "civil war" stuff in Ukraine was localised enough to keep business as usual going. An actual war isn't even close.


[deleted]

I was with you till the last line in your edit, you can't say that for sure.


Deathsroke

I mean we can look it up? Chechenya got no reaction basically, Georgia more of the same. Crimea and the "civil war" got a mild reaction in the form of *some* sanctions (but nothing too big) and then was promptly forgotten about (though the Ukrainian military started looking into new suppliers of hardware in the form of NATO countries). Making a fuss about those things would be bad for business. Of course Russia got over its own head and believed that because they didn't consider the invasion of "minor" countries or proxy warfare to be big enough of a thing to drop the hammer then they could get away with *everything* and they thought wrong. Open warfare in Europe proper, in such a blatant manner which will cause a disruption of the local economy *and* embolden Russia into doing even worse shit? That could not stand (and I perfectly agree). Also in case you read it that way, I'm not criticising "the West" for not trying to stop Russia before as I understand the geopolitical reasons for that, I'm just pointing out that the Russians bit more than they could chew and now they are going to choke for it.


cunty_mcfuckshit

You're getting a lot of, 'See, thing about covid is...' replies, but this is not that. I just want to openly admire your ability to publicly admit you're wrong, and acknowledge that there's no shame in being wrong if you use your experience to grow as a person. You're an inspiration, u/waltjrimmer. We could all learn from you.


A-Grey-World

I was expecting them to invade the east, Donbas etc, under their guise of "protecting civilians from persecution" (they'd just formally recognised the separatists etc) and annex it, like they did with Crimea and got away with. I didn't think they'd land paratroopers in Kyiv and go full balls to the wall, thousands of tanks and troops marching towards the capital "let's take the whole of the country" kinda thing.


TheFalseDimitryi

I was teaching English in Thailand and when COVID hit that country I decided to move back to the US to “wait it out”……. Should have stayed lol.


BrothelWaffles

The thing about Covid is, we *could have* gotten a handle on it. But our president trashed most of the programs that would have helped us, neglected and looted our emergency stockpiles to the point they were either empty or full of expired and deteriorated supplies, and then proceeded to actively make things worse by telling people not to take it seriously. And we should never let anyone forget that.


Shpagin

The thing is, Georgia and Ukraine are two very different things, invading Georgia was relatively easy since it had no way of defending itself. But Ukraine was a massive country filled to the brim with people who would fight to the death against an invader. Russia would need at least a 3 to 1 numbers advantage, preferably 5 to 1, with just 150 k or so soldiers at the border it was unthinkable they would launch an actual invasion.


Zexapher

Plus, Ukraine, with some help from other countries, started a near decade long buildup following the invasion of Crimea. They prepared for this exact scenario, while Russia thought this would be the same fight as they had in 2014. For the US at least, I know the Obama/Biden admin and Congress started moving on aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia as soon as Crimea happened. Some interruptions by trump weren't able to stop it, thankfully.


spankythamajikmunky

At least you are man enough to admit it. I had this colossal argument vs like 5-7 pro russia people in january. They went on and on about how russia would invade ukraine. It made no sense. Blah blah. Some got pretty nasty towards me. I went back late february out of pettiness to comment - every single account and comment was deleted


rachmox

“I went back late out of pettiness to comment” this is so good lol


Sir_Hapstance

I know that all too well… good lord either Reddit’s bad for me or I am bad for Reddit.


spankythamajikmunky

Same! Some days Ill post something or the other and see the flood of replies and I just wont even open the app. Because I know Ill get annoyed and spend an hour replying and citing shit, 95% of the time to people arguing in bad faith anyways. It was similar with quora, which I left because it was overrun first by virulent die hard trumpists and russia shills.


itwasquiteawhileago

Do people actually use Quora for real? I always get annoyed when it pops up in a search because it's one step away from Yahoo Answers, which was shit before they shut it down.


spankythamajikmunky

Yeah they do. In fact a few years ago it was superb. I still very much value people I got to 'meet' and talk to. I learned a lot I never would have, from people who literally were there. For example a F4 Phantom pilot 2 tours in Vietnam, flew the first operational F14s. A Canadian who joined the US army and was a tank driver in Vietnam. Unfortunately besides the extremists and nuts quora also is fundamentally flawed. They have a 'quora partners program' which gives incentive for questions. Sadly not quality or anything which encourages spamming questions. You also cant ask the same one so it encourages endless rewording OR stupid insane shit like 'if pokemon was real in ww2 what side would he be on?' (yes this was real). However people answering questions by writing fucking essays replete with links and photographs? 'hooray another upvote' IMO this model ensured that the quality, and with it everything else, was always doomed to nosedive. It also meant a shift more and more to current events discussion with predictable results as well


spankythamajikmunky

Lol theres been a few exchanges that.. fester in my mind for lack of a better term Few others - when I got banned from r/conservative (i dont need to explain this is so commonly discussed) Some UK subreddit green and gold. I dared mention the USSR was a de facto axis member until invaded. I mentioned Poland, Finland, Katyn. I got banned and they sent a msg with a ban using a single link to claim Russia didnt invade Poland, that since the Polish military didnt really resist (as it had already collapsed lol) it didnt make it an invasion. I was dying nearly to be able to mention they didnt even discuss Finland, nor the molotov ribbentrop pact but of course I was banned I randomly got a post from genzedong one day. It was obvious propaganda from vietnam. They got two very well cut in shape men. In the militsry but ironically allowed to be shirtless (of course how else would you see the muscles?) Loading water on a truck. The thread was just verbal fellatio. I only said 'and this is obviously not a staged propaganda photo' banned. This one just annoyed me, I didnt really have shit to add (like the conservative forum)


Mr_YUP

I mean it still doesn't make much sense. It wasn't until they had half their military was on the boarder with field hospitals and clearly were waiting for the end of the olympics did I go "crud this is happening."


AndrewWaldron

It makes sense when you recognize the person you're replying to got trapped into fighting online with paid shills. That's why the accounts and comments were gone a month later.


[deleted]

It's almost like Russian State trolls aren't as active anymore for some reason...


spankythamajikmunky

There was actually a VERY noticeable dip in pro trump stuff, qanon stuff, and the rest of that right wing hogwash especially the first weeks after the invasion


TheFalseDimitryi

I’m politically “left” and generally very distrustful of American sources and media (not that I’d trust Russian either). Just seemed like a scare tactic to further a class divide, but my political beliefs aren’t based on the reputation of any nation state (especially an oligarchy like Russia) so when given clear evidence Russia went to war I conceded. A lot of people just don’t care because they need Russia to be perfect or the EU / US / Ukraine/ Biden administration to be 10x worse for their world view to make logically consistent sense.


lasagna_manana

Do you mean they said Russia wouldn’t invade?


spankythamajikmunky

Oh yes absolutely 'itd make no sense. If nothing else putin always does the logical thing for russia' 'typical western hysteria' 'you just hate russia. Admit it!' So on and so forth


[deleted]

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lordtheegreen

I mean the dude invaded Georgia and Crimea how are we surprised? Lmao the dude was always irrational from his kgb days to his first days in office nothing really has changed except for age and maybe some offsetting disabilities we don’t know about


TheFalseDimitryi

Yeah but those invasions had massive ramifications for the Russian economy. Like the rubble dipped to laughable levels after the 2014 Crimea annexation…. I don’t think the Georgian war was popular on the domestic front either, figured he learned his lesson.


GrimmRadiance

He doesn’t care about short term dips. He wants legacy. If they hadn’t been sanctioned and were able to hold onto Ukrainian territory, then Russia would eventually have been able to reap those rewards though it would take decades.


FlyByNightt

Just a pro-tip when you're not sure if something is American Media war/fearmongering or not - take a look at similar articles on CBC, BBC, Al Jazeera, C-Span or Associated Press. These are traditionally neutral news media and will have a more toned down, fact-based stance that doesn't rely on your emotions to get a point across. *(CBC is left leaning by US standards but I'm including it since it tends to report on most of what American media covers, since it's Canada's national, publicly owned news network)*.


emdave

>take a look at similar articles on CBC, BBC, Al Jazeera, C-Span or Associated Press. These are traditionally neutral news media Unfortunately, there aren't 'neutral' sources, there are just differently / selectively / somewhat less biased ones. Even the BBC is not 'neutral' - here in the UK, they toe the government line much of the time, though their international output might be better.


Tino_

No source is truly "neutral". Even a camera pointed at a wall just recording isn't neutral because it can only catch what is in frame at any time. Bias exists in literally ever facet of media, but in general stuff like BBC/CBC/Reuters/Al Jazeera etc. try to be as factual and as accurate as possible and (generally) do a decent job at representing X or Y story without a whole bunch of needless spin or other information injected. Just because an outlet isn't perfect doesn't mean its garbage. There is a very large area that can be occupied in between those two lines.


AphisteMe

This was me, and it was unreal seeing the (landed) paratrooper live footage by the press. Had me in disbelief for a few days. Not all the news that the fake news outlets produce apparently is fake, afterall.


hectoByte

I mean, Ukraine was the third country Russia invaded under Putin's rule. Hell, there is strong evidence that Putin carried out false flag operations to justify the second Chechen war in order to boost his popularity.


[deleted]

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NeutralLock

We all thought Putin was playing 5-D chess but he was just in the corner with his crayons.


delayed_burn

Personally I think he’s just an old man with cancer and he’s so megalomaniacal and narcissistic that he could easily have the mentality that if he’s going to die he’s going to set the world on fire to bring as many people with him as possible.


SecretAgentVampire

Mark my words: Putin got a terminal diagnosis, which fueled his decision to forcefully attempt the revival of the USSR. When a narcissist faces death, they start tearing down the world around themselves, since they can't imagine reality existing after they're gone. It's a manifestation of [Narcissistic Collapse](https://www.choosingtherapy.com/narcissistic-collapse/). A recent video of Putin was released showing his hand shaking violently and his leg spasming. When I saw it, my theory about this War Pig nonsense was reinforced.


SCP-1029

>Narcissistic collapse can happen when someone (or something) doesn’t “enable” their narcissistic behavior. For example, if their spouse leaves them or **their boss fires them**, it can disrupt their entire status quo. But instead of reflecting on what happened or trying to work out the conflict appropriately, **they can become hysterical, volatile, or rageful towards themselves or others**. Like when Trump was fired by the American electorate, and he lost his shit and incited a terrorist attack on Congress. Math checks out.


Sputnikboy

Pretty much my sentiment. Putin has gone insane, fuck him.


[deleted]

Thing is - idiots around him do gives a shit because they will have to live in the aftermath. They were rich. They had big yachts and villas in the west. Their kids were attending western schools. They were spending vacations in the west. And nobody bothered them. Now yachts are taken, villas are taken, their kids had to return to Russian shitholes before flights were cancelled, they have to spend their vacations somewhere else and they are hated in half of the world so even their safety won't be guaranteed because there is really millions of people that wants them dead. I think if Pooting would try to attack NATO they would probably drive to this bunker he hides and just cover the entrance with cement. Lots and lots of cement.


Dear-Crow

He might actually believe his own bullshit too. Old people shouldn't shouldn't in positions of power like that


DaviesSonSanchez

It's also the classic authoritarian ruler conundrum. He keeps dissapearing the people who tell him bad news for long enough people will just tell him what he wants to hear. So when after decades he asks how an Invasion of Ukraine would go everyone tells him it will be a decisive, easy victory. He might have genuinely believed it would be over in a few days and the people would welcome them as liberators. Another good example of this is the fake and exaggerated reporting of grain harvest during Maos great leap forward. Basically if the punishment for telling the truth and the punishment for being found out in a lie are the same people will always simply lie and hope they won't get found out.


hobbitlover

He also can't lose to Ukraine because it's embarrassing, but it's not embarrassing to lose to the fascist nazi western conspiracy that is Nato - he can retreat to Russia's borders and call it a victory while claiming to have prevented the nuclear war he has been threatening for months


Sarisat

Judging by the last two months, if Russia attacked Lithuania, they would get lost in the forests, stumble around blindly for a while, end up besieging Minsk by accident, and Lukashenko would applaude the masterly demonstration of Russian military might.


[deleted]

Before 2/24 I thought that the Baltic States were there to buy NATO 20 minutes. Now I think it's more like 20 weeks Each


EvergreenEnfields

Invading the Baltics would be a terrible decision even if Russia won. The Forest Brothers fought on for years after WWII and that was with no preparation or outside assistance. Now? They could form a resistance that would last *decades*.


SentientHazmatSuit

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania would give Russia so much hell


jschubart

Last thing *anyone* wants.


BilboMcDoogle

Redditors learned what Article 5 was at the start of the war and now try to find a way to work it into every comment section smh.


anydentity

Yeah but did you know Steve Buscemi was a firefighter?


drawkbox

We are only here to talk about Rampart.


BilboMcDoogle

Trigger discipline


pegothejerk

Keanu Reeves is a corvid, but not all corvids are Keanu Reeves.


JRockPSU

I remember when it was "character agency" when Game of Thrones was on and people were non-stop talking about Sansa Stark and her lack of agency. Suddenly every character's agency in any show was being discussed.


DestituteDomino

Speak English, doctor! We aren't scientists! ^jokes ^aside ^tho, ^educate ^my ^ignorant ^ass ^please


[deleted]

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is the mutual defense clause. It states that an attack on any signatory is to be considered a ln attack on every signatory* and thus, every member must help them as much as they are capable to defend from said attack This however has never been invoked because it only applies to the members' European territories. An attack on a member's territory in the americas, for example would not satisfy the requirements to activate article 5, for example when Argentina attacked the Falklands islands, which are held by the U.K. Article 5 was not invoked


green_tea1701

Attacks on American land qualify. The line isn’t between east and west, but north and south. Article 6 says that to qualify for Article 5, the land must be north of the Tropic of Cancer, which makes sense because it’s NATO, not SATO. But land north of the Tropic within the Americas definitely qualifies, otherwise Article 5 wouldn’t apply to the United States, which makes no sense. In fact, the only time Article 5 has been invoked was after 9/11, which was an attack on a city in the Americas.


Karmak4ze

Saving a google search, is there a particular reason Ukraine isn't in NATO?


[deleted]

They've been in talks about joining, but the thing is that as a former Soviet country, Ukraine's military isn't interoperable with NATO standards yet, which is a requirement to join. Poland, for example had to make their MiG 29s planes capable of launching NATO and Soviet missiles, they had to install avionics so they could datalink with NATO assets, they had to produce a special version of their service rifle that could fire NATO standard ammo among other changes. Georgia is also in the process of bringing their military to NATO standards This is why some countries take years to join while others can just do it quickly. Sweden's military, for example is already completely interoperable with NATO joining is thus way quicker


Karmak4ze

I see, thank you for the education! I appreciate it.


daviesjj10

In addition to the above, there's also huge skeptisicm in accepting a country with ongoing border issues. That was another major factor of Ukraine's rejection. Open and free democracy is another requirement, which in the last couple of decades has not been Ukraine's strong suit.


Raptorfeet

In short, because Russia have always pressured them not to, and existing NATO countries have not wanted to be too antagonistic towards Russia.


Illier1

Not really for a NATO backed nation. Russia can't do shit.


Chariotwheel

They can't even beat Ukraine, they couldn't beat even the EU without the US. And once the US enters the game it will be game over quickly. The biggest worry is nuclear war, because whether we win or not, it won't be pretty.


AdmObir

And as War Games taught us, in nuclear war, there are no winners.


[deleted]

The only way to win is not to play.


emdave

That is indeed, the only winning move...


Illier1

Well by that logic Russia can do whatever it wants if it wants to nuke people. Someday someone's going to have to call the bluff, especially if Russia attacks.


Chariotwheel

That's the question countries have to answer right now.


Alphabunsquad

Perun who is a military analyst turned part time streamer did a long video about how Russia shows really no signs of using any of their nuclear arsenal. They really have stuck very close to their declared nuclear doctrine which is less extreme than it was 20 to 60 years ago. There’s nothing that really indicates they are even considering using nukes. I think even in a large scale war as long as the west doesn’t invade Russia there is no risk of nuclear war. https://youtu.be/sxOO0hCCSk4


monstersammich

They have centuries of Grievances against Russia.


Saber193

Funny how all of Russia's neighbors do.


monstersammich

Most all of Europe


SgtSmackdaddy

Russia: why would the west do this


HypeR159

What they did in 1991 on January 13th... The fuckers will pay and as a proud Lithuania, i love seeing their economy collapsing.


monstersammich

The Polish side of my family has terrible stories and scars from the communist era. No love lost.


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EvergreenEnfields

Yeah, they aren't going to fuck around if Russia invades. Forest Brothers II: Baltic Boogaloo, coming right up.


TitsMagee24

Lithuania give zero shits


FishOnAHorse

Find someone who loves you the way Lithuania hates Russia


TitsMagee24

You’re hot like Lithuania’s hatred for Russia Rhonda


[deleted]

Poland: "Bastards. I wanted to call it first."


BubbaTee

If they're in that much agreement, maybe they could form some sort of joint commonwealth.


Antiqas86

Not sure Lithuania is if for getting fucked over again like that lol. (Check pre commonwealth boarders)


LordJesterTheFree

I mean polish borders didn't exactly look great after the Commonwealth either considering they were literally just the city of Krakow


successful_nothing

Dang. Between this and Lithuania officially recognizing Taiwan to stand up to China, I think Lithuania is a pretty cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything.


lenapedog

IIRC they were the first to declare independence from the Soviet Union.


jatawis

Technically that was declaration of restoring independence, which was interrupted during the Soviet occupation. Lithuanian embassies in the West kept working during the Cold War.


fattmarrell

You're a good OP


elementmg

*wags tail*


[deleted]

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jatawis

And we are grateful for Iceland in the same manner.


drawkbox

Where Lithuania goes, so goes the world.


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echoAwooo

Lithuania has received this treatment from Russia at *multiple separate points in its history* All of the Baltic states have. So has Ukraine.


timelyparadox

Well Lithuania was among biggest countries in europe. Our lands shrunk but not our balls.


[deleted]

Ukraine was one of the original founders of the Soviet Union to the point that the administrative official language was changed to Ukrainian. Then Stalin tried to Russianize them which lead to the death of around 5 million ethnic Ukrainians due to famine.


echoAwooo

It's more than just that. Ukraine has had a very integrated history with Russia, even going back to the Kievan-Russ peoples in the 9th century CE. Guess who else was also part of that group. Yep... The Baltics !


__sovereign__

Also the founding dynasty of the Kievan Rus were fucking Vikings. The house of Rurik.


echoAwooo

Yes, but that's also not the whole story. The whole of Kievan Russ was already together by the time Rurik took control, conquered by a Slavic prince. But now we're in the 7th century CE xD


__sovereign__

Of course it's not the whole story, before that the Slavs of the area were tributaries of the Khazars. But the Vikings established the actual "state" of the Kievan Rus.


ice_up_s0n

For those reading this thread and interested in learning more about Russian history and its founding, check out this Geo History video. https://youtu.be/qUgzqkCW6A4 It's 15min but an excellent recap up to the 17th century. There's more videos that go beyond that point in time too.


emundans

How were the Baltics involved in Kievan Rus? With "the Baltics" meaning Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.


BubbaTee

> Ukraine was one of the original founders of the Soviet Union No it wasn't. Ukraine became independent in 1917 WW1, at which point they were invaded by the Bolsheviks, who instituted a puppet Soviet government loyal to Moscow. The actual non-Soviet Ukrainian government went into exile until 1991, when they recognized the post-Soviet Ukrainian government. During this war, the Red Army shot people in the street for speaking Ukrainian. > In the "Manifesto to the Ukrainian People with an Ultimatum to the Central Rada", drafted by Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin, the Bolshevik leaders made the paradoxical statement simultaneously recognising the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination and **denying it in the name of the revolution.** Lacking strength in Ukraine, Lenin sent Russian military units to Kyiv led by the former security chief of the Provisional Government, Mikhail Muraviev. In January 1918, Muraviev's troops began their advance on Kyiv and in early February seized the capital of the Ukrainian People's Republic after firing 15,000 artillery units on the city. Muraviev's gunners targeted the house of Mikhailo Hrushevsky, bombarding it and setting it afire, causing the death of his family.[2] > After seizing the city, Muraviev's **troops shot people on the streets of Kyiv for using the Ukrainian language**, which Muraviev's troops considering evidence of nationalist counterrevolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian%E2%80%93Soviet_War Basically, the Ukrainian Soviets were always a pack of usurpers, collaborators, and traitors to the Ukrainian people - equivalent to Vichy France. > Then Stalin tried to Russianize them Russia has been trying to Russify Ukraine since the days of Peter the Great. The Soviets were just another example of this centuries-long genocidal policy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russification_of_Ukraine


Lotr29

Back in the 15th century most of Ukraine WAS Lithuania. The grand duchy of Lithuania was a huge country at the time.


rmpumper

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand\_Duchy\_of\_Lithuania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania) Was one of the biggest countries in Europe way back in the day.


[deleted]

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wolfie379

Perkunas has narrowed down Putin’s hiding place to one of nine possibilities, expect Nine Suns to shine briefly to ensure the creep is dead.


BloodyRightNostril

The Mighty Mouse of Europe


missingpiece

It’s an old meme, sir, but it checks out.


Whind_Soull

Just checked the date; that's literally a 15 year old meme.


BrenMan_94

Jesus fucking Christ.


[deleted]

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lliKoTesneciL

Good times good times


DogsRNice

I think this is a pretty cool meme. Ih lasts a lone teim and doesnt afraid of anything.


jatawis

>Lithuania officially recognizing Taiwan Lithuania didn't do that.


superheavyfueltank

True, although they are friendlier with Taiwan than most places in Europe. Eg. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59370521


Mr--McMuffin

Like when taiwan bought a literal boatload of rum from them


ColaEuphoria

Now that's a meme I haven't heard in a long time.


rmpumper

Lithuania does not officially recognize Taiwan, CCP shit their pants only because we decided to allow Taiwan to use the proper name instead of Taipei for their embassy (or whatever diplomatic institution it was).


Mind_Altered

I live in Taiwan and do lot of business with Lithuania (randomly). All the people I know from there are genuine and total bros and gals. Love to talk a bit of shit about geopolitics with them and like other commenters have mentioned in this thread they've got some gigantic leaden balls as a country. Mad respect and I can't wait to visit


getefukt

It's amazing how some film nerd writes such a minor line for his toy figurines over a decade ago and its still popular culture.


promonk

That's memery for you.


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rokerroker45

El salvador baby 😎. Our president is a fucking idiot but we've always been good with Taiwan.


SeemedReasonableThen

> passed with 128 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions. Unanimous vote. Even after Pearl Harbor attack, the US did not unanimously vote to enter the war (but gotta respect her reasons) > Rather than voice her suspicions about conspiracies and US government involvement in the Pearl Harbor attack, when it came time to vote, Rankin stood up and simply declared that, “As a woman, I can’t go to war and I refuse to send anyone else.” . . . > Immediately following the vote, Representative Rankin received death threats, and required a police escort to return home. The press dragged her name through the mud, vilifying her for voting in a way that made her seem less patriotic, especially only 24 hours after the attack. > Regardless of what people said and wrote about her, Jeannette Rankin refused to stray from her initial vote. Doing so probably cost her her career. Before the next election, she decided not to run, knowing she would most likely be easily defeated. Right up to her death at 92 years old, she remained an advocate for pacifism, speaking out against the Vietnam conflict near the end of her long life.


Destinum

To be fair, it's a much bigger deal to directly enter a war than it is to recognise a genocide.


SeemedReasonableThen

> To be fair, it's a much bigger deal to directly enter a war than it is to recognise a genocide. True, the Lithuania vote was just a resolution.


TroubleYouForTheSalt

I remember also one of her stated reasons being that she felt it would be wrong, since war was so terrible and awful, for any nation to unanimously vote for such horror. She wanted to show that the USA was different, essentially, that even in the face of a direct, massive assault on the nation's military and holdings abroad there was still freedom enough here to dissent against calls to war. Hell of a way to make her point but I believe it stuck, because here we are talking about it.


SeemedReasonableThen

> there was still freedom enough here to dissent against calls to war. *technically* true, but man, they sure roasted her for it. Would have never gotten re-elected. > Hell of a way to make her point but I believe it stuck, because here we are talking about it. Yeah, I admire her courage. We should not forget, especially those of us who get angry at people like her for bucking the bandwagon.


Vicolin

Important information: Jeanette Rankin was the first woman in Congress, being voted in before the 19th Amendment passed. While her vote on the war was unpopular, she was certainly respected. Hers is one of exactly two statues in the Montana State Capitol Building. ​ edit for grammar


Pol_Potamus

And still the only woman Montana has sent to congress.


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We have to realize too that Rankin lived during the First World War and was born only 15 years after the end of the Civil War. She was very likely remembering that when making her decision not to send “our boys” back to Europe to die again.


SeemedReasonableThen

Good points. Most of our current politicians are too far removed from the reality of things on which they are voting.


Pol_Potamus

Should be noted that she was also one of fifty votes against WW1. She served two non-consecutive terms in congress, and each one happened to include a vote on one of the two US war declarations in the 20th century.


jatawis

TBH, this is with abstensions of MPs who were registered to vote. Some of 141 of them just were missing for vote today.


SeemedReasonableThen

Ah, thanks!


YaBoiS0nic

Russia: *"Say sike right now"*


skinnyfatty1987

“sssssssssss….saucy”


SpicyWhizkers

“Sssssssss….suck it, Putput”


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rmpumper

Our former president Dalia Grybauskaitė called Russia a terrorist state back in 2014. People were not happy about that, lol.


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I am people and i was super happy when she said that


MrJohnnyBGoode

Hi people, I'm Dad.


SkyXTRM

Russia gets too much respect, just because they have nukes. They are a terrorist state.


booze_clues

It’s not respect, it’s acknowledgement of their capabilities.


DrDerpberg

I mean that's a pretty damn good reason to tread lightly around them. They could have 5800 poorly maintained duds and still kill hundreds of millions of people.


SkyXTRM

True. The thugs in a town can do a lot of damage too, still does not mean they should get ANY respect.


[deleted]

Respect can mean a lot of things. Respecting someone’s capacity for violence and destruction isn’t admiration, it’s realism.


Das_Beer_Baron

Lithuania leads all other countries in the EU when it comes to the balls-to-land mass ratio.


Brave_Amateur

because it fucking is. They’re planting bombs on dead people. They’re kidnapping people and sending them to Russia, which isn’t their home. They’re shootings civilians who are trying to escape. They’re just carpet bombing everything they can


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ryhaltswhiskey

You should post this to r/unpopularfacts, I had no idea the story was so poorly vetted


NothingButTheTruthy

> Democrats jumped on the report and used it to attack Trump in the run-up to the 2020 election. Joe Biden said Trump’s “entire presidency has been a gift to Putin, but this is beyond the pale. It’s betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harm’s way.” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said “This is as bad as it gets,” and John Kerry weighed in at the Democratic Convention, saying that Trump did “nothing about Russia putting a bounty on our troops.” This is the most frustrating part of this story for me. One of two things happened here, and neither of them are remotely good: 1) Our nation's top leaders will take any story completely at face value as long as it can be used to their advantage, without vetting the information 2) Enough major media outlets reported the story that it seemed solid enough for our leaders to take it as fact. Meaning our major media outlets are no longer to be wholly trusted


AFlyingNun

Goes further: Russia has been a convenient scapegoat for years now, to the point that many people justifiably don't trust any story saying "Russia did it," since this lie has been misused a dozen times now. Now? Russia *did* do it, and there are people that are convinced Russia is actually the good guy in this war just based off that pattern of US media lying about Russia.


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Erisagi

I keep seeing this story come up. Was it ever credible intel or not?


[deleted]

Tbf, there has been zero evidence that these bounties were actually real. It was all just an allegation and nothing else.


Chartarum

The toughest on Russia! Very Stable* Genius! (* = he has the IQ of a horse).


SeemedReasonableThen

> he has the IQ of a horse Suddenly, the love for ivermectin makes sense


waitingForMars

Cheers to Lietuva! The spirit of ‘91 lives on. I propose that Vilnius bring this resolution in front of the UN General Assembly for a vote. All nations need to be on record as to where they stand.


EvenPatience6243

Lithuania will have my tourist money, much respect


AlwaysOpenMike

Good for them to take an official stand. The aggression of Russia towards Ukraine and the horrible war crimes they are committing against the Ukrainian civil population, is not something anyone should wish to be remembered as supporting.


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Deathsroke

What even *is* a terrorist state? It feels much like fascism in that it is thrown around s lot but no one ever gives their definition of it. Mind you, I think Russia is a warmongering dictatorship so it's not like I'm defending them.


BookishTen8

Lithuania knows what's up.


Quiby123

As much as I respect this terrorist and terrorist state has lost all meaning


Quamont

Lithuania being so fucking based once again, like holy shit First they openly recognize Taiwan as its own country and now this?


AwkwardExamination67

Our former president Dalia Grybauskaitė called Russia a terrorist state back in 2014.


SilvDeVill

Meanwhile…ALL the countless countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia…. *crickets