Russia invades Ukraine *** READ RULES IN POST 6 BEFORE POSTING ***

[BrAinPaiNt]

 

[DallasEast]

Love how the first breaking news banner reads: NATO OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO JOIN NATO. Someone likely said 'CRAP!' before correcting the typo.

Sweden. Finland. How many more non-NATO European countries will fall like dominoes in response to Putin's decision to invade Ukraine?

 

[JJHLH1]

Russia has lost 1/3 of its total ground fighting force since the invasion began in February according to the UK Ministry of defense.

The massive losses help explain Russia’s continuing struggles across the entire theater of war.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Finland and Sweden joining NATO would be epic.

 

[Bigdog]

Finland and Sweden joining NATO would be epic.

Yes it would especially since Finland holds a 346 mile border with Russia. Russia definitely doesn’t want this but I don’t think there much they can do about it. Strength in numbers is important.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Good boost to getting Putin thrown out. Dude invades Ukraine on pretense that NATO is getting too aggressive and instead weakens himself and starts a chain reaction of countries that once had no thoughts about NATO now lining up for admission. I can see the powers-that-be seriously questioning Putin’s effectiveness. That with confirmations of 1/3 troop losses… you have to wonder how long this guy will be able to stay in power.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

 

[DallasEast]

That was freaking ingenious. I had no idea Finland had a nationwide network of bunkers for its entire population.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Very interesting stuff. So the takeaway is we can probably anticipate a severe recession to not take place until the end of this year in Russia.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

That was freaking ingenious. I had no idea Finland had a nationwide network of bunkers for its entire population.

I saw a similar video about those bunkers a few months back. Pretty interesting stuff.

 

[nobody]

Apparently the recent Russian rocket launch with a secret military satellite failed and did not deploy the satellite and the rocket will fall back into the atmosphere within days. If I wanted a secret military satellite, launched during international tensions, I'd want to either succeed splendidly or more likely report failure to trick people into thinking my military satellite didn't exist, especially if it had an internationally illegal payload. Given what we have seen of the state of Russia's military I would lean toward it being a legit screwup.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-roscosmos-space-launch-screw-up

 

[john van brocklin]

Can we discuss this or does it breach 'politics' rules?

This is very sad news and the Ukraine needs our prayers !!!!

 

[Tuomas]

It is quite interesting how Finland's situation is now one of biggest news in the world. I am from Finland so I can answer some questions if someone wants to know something.

After 2014 when Russia started invasion to Ukraine, it was quite clear that Finland made good decision after cold war. When others "destroyed" their defenses, we put more and more resources for the development of national defense.
Conscript model is very cost effective way to do this. I also served 9 months in the army years ago.
It is quite funny to read how people wondering about bomb shelters. Shelters are so regular and part of everyday life here. In Finland even when we build new bridges building regulations says that there must be hooks and crevices where mines and explosives can be placed during the war. So we can destroy them if necessary.

What becomes to Nato. For my opinion Finland should have joined Nato over 20 years ago. Not because fear of Russia or something like that. We are not afraid of Russia and now when we have seen how Russia is doing in Ukraine it is a pretty clear that even alone Finland is too big piece to bite. Finland is a western county. Period. That's why we should join to Nato. As former Finnish President and peace Nobelist Martti Ahtisaari said: "The western country must belong to western organizations".
But better late than never, I guess...

 

[MichaelWinicki]

 

[Montanalo]

It is quite interesting how Finland's situation is now one of biggest news in the world. I am from Finland so I can answer some questions if someone wants to know something.

After 2014 when Russia started invasion to Ukraine, it was quite clear that Finland made good decision after cold war. When others "destroyed" their defenses, we put more and more resources for the development of national defense.
Conscript model is very cost effective way to do this. I also served 9 months in the army years ago.
It is quite funny to read how people wondering about bomb shelters. Shelters are so regular and part of everyday life here. In Finland even when we build new bridges building regulations says that there must be hooks and crevices where mines and explosives can be placed during the war. So we can destroy them if necessary.

What becomes to Nato. For my opinion Finland should have joined Nato over 20 years ago. Not because fear of Russia or something like that. We are not afraid of Russia and now when we have seen how Russia is doing in Ukraine it is a pretty clear that even alone Finland is too big piece to bite. Finland is a western county. Period. That's why we should join to Nato. As former Finnish President and peace Nobelist Martti Ahtisaari said: "The western country must belong to western organizations".
But better late than never, I guess...

Appreciate the offer to answer a few questions.

What is the thinking behind Finland not joining (or wanting to join) NATO prior to now?

What happens when Russia cuts gas and oil exports to Finland?

Do your comments reflect a majority of the Finnish?

BTW, my wife and I visited Helsinki and Lapland about 3 years ago... had a great.time.

 

[jnday]

What are the Russian war games?

They invite a lot of friends and show off their military technology. Several countries join them in these exercises. I think it is designed to be a big ego booster for Putin.

 

[jnday]

Finland and Sweden joining NATO would be epic.

Do you think they could still have some Viking long boats?

 

[VaqueroTD]

It is quite interesting how Finland's situation is now one of biggest news in the world. I am from Finland so I can answer some questions if someone wants to know something.

After 2014 when Russia started invasion to Ukraine, it was quite clear that Finland made good decision after cold war. When others "destroyed" their defenses, we put more and more resources for the development of national defense.
Conscript model is very cost effective way to do this. I also served 9 months in the army years ago.
It is quite funny to read how people wondering about bomb shelters. Shelters are so regular and part of everyday life here. In Finland even when we build new bridges building regulations says that there must be hooks and crevices where mines and explosives can be placed during the war. So we can destroy them if necessary.

What becomes to Nato. For my opinion Finland should have joined Nato over 20 years ago. Not because fear of Russia or something like that. We are not afraid of Russia and now when we have seen how Russia is doing in Ukraine it is a pretty clear that even alone Finland is too big piece to bite. Finland is a western county. Period. That's why we should join to Nato. As former Finnish President and peace Nobelist Martti Ahtisaari said: "The western country must belong to western organizations".
But better late than never, I guess...

Wow. Different reality indeed. You have to provide spaces for bombs on the bridges so you can blow them up if necessary? Thanks for sharing.

Russians think they’re having a hard time invading Ukraine? Wait until they try to take over the old Viking land with all that snow and mountain passes, and support it with their Navy.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Nice links. Imagine if the nightly news could report like this.