Sure, it’s just over the top claims. Both sides have been throwing around torture and Geneva convention violation videos, but somehow the US press only believes the Russian ones were faked.
I mean, I don’t know how the laws work for war crimes but I’m sure Putin isn’t out there shooting civilians personally and I doubt there’s any evidence he told his forces to do that, but bad stuff happens in war just like Vietnam. I don’t remember our Commander in Chief then being responsible.
That’s the only constant thing with Russia.
Biden is pushing for Putin to be replaced - albeit via the most counter productive message to do so. But even if/when Putin is somehow replaced, you can bet your last dollar that he’ll be replaced by someone currently close to him. Meaning someone who clawed his way doing dirty work for Putin for years, gained his confidence, then at the first opportunity rallied allies to convince them that they’d all be richer and more powerful if he was in charge instead of Putin. Hoping this new guy will be any different from Putin is misguided IMO. All of them are much too interested in preserving the oligarchy/kelptocracy to be anything else.
This is what Russians want and deserve though, like Joseph de Maistre accurately stated 200+ years ago: “Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite.”
The US is trying, and will probably succeed, in forcing a Russian bond default. Not because they don’t want to pay, as they have instructed US banks holding dollars to make the payments, but because the US is telling those banks not to allow it.
We hate the Russians more than we like our investors apparently.
this is going to hasten the end of the dollar as a reserve currency. Particularly if the awful Iran deal goes through. The major oil countries in the Middle East will not be amused and become sworn enemies of the United States even more.
You know you’ve made it full circle when WashPo writes a puff piece backing the Nazis.
https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Right-wing-Azov-Battalion-emerges-as-a-17060658.php
Russian politicians want Russian stocks to only trade in Russia.
Good for arms sales and propaganda jobs, peace in our time not so much.
There have been innumerable fake news incidents either staged entirely or fabricated by Ukrainian officials which have gone unchecked by “fact checkers” since the start of the war.
They include the ‘Ghost of Kiev’ farce, the supposed ‘slaughter’ of Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island and the ‘attack’ on a Holocaust memorial in Kiev that never happened.
Uhm, what? I don’t know if anyone ever said it was “an attack on the memorial,” only that it was damaged by the shelling. The target was likely the nearby TV tower. It doesn’t matter in the same way that it doesn’t matter that they supposedly targeting “military targets” and shooting at the military while they’re actually hitting residential buildings and killing civilians.
That was later. The initial articles and Zelensky’s portrayal were that the memorial site was hit and possibly targeted. For example,
I’m not sure how much of that is because the military in the cities is closely located together in civilians areas and then they both get attacked. Here was an example from Kiev
More on Bucha specifically
Around Bucha, Russian forces were getting bogged down. Ukrainian army detachments worked secretly in Bucha and other Russian-occupied areas. Special-forces units lobbed grenades at Russian posts, helped guide artillery strikes and fired small arms from high windows. The Russian soldiers began to scrutinize the local population more fiercely, according to residents.
If you say so. I was following the news pretty closely and it was obvious to me that the TV station was the target.
I’m not sure if you’re time constrained or intellectually lazy. Your comment leads me to believe the latter. Why respond, if you’re not even going to glance at the posted link? If you had, you would know it wasn’t @xerty saying so. It was Zelensky, Yermak, and several reporters.
What do you expect when invading a foreign country? That the local defending army is not going to use buildings to meet a superior force, that sympathizing residents are more likely to help them than to help the invader?
Honestly, after having had my birth country invaded/occupied by Russian who then installed a puppet regime in the 20th century, it’s sickening to read the constant defense of the poor Russian invaders who had no choice but to turn in civilians because they were not as welcoming of the “liberators” as the Russian propaganda would like to make you believe.
If they did not expect resistance when invading a free country that was not about to attack them, here’s a crazy idea: maybe imperialist Russia could have stayed the bleep out of it to avoid reminding everyone of their true nature (#Chechnya; #Georgia; #Crimea; #Ukraine; #<insert future independent neighbor to be invaded).
I agree with all of your post accept the portion quoted above. Where are you reading the constant defense of Russia? It sure isn’t here, unless you’re forgetting the pro Ukrainian and anti Russian posts. Or, do you see one post that corrects facts that were previously misreported, and construe that as a constant defense of Russia.
I understand that you hate Russians. If they had attacked, invaded, or occupied my country, I probably would too. That said, you can’t possibly believe that Ukraine does nothing wrong, and Russia does nothing right.
When Bill Clinton bombed the aspirin factory in Khartoum, (a very few days after admitting he had sex with a young intern) I believe that he said it was a source of Osama Bin Laden getting chemical weapons, and thus was warranted, despite the fact that civilians were there. Likewise, you can expect that if Ukrainians make use of memorials, or hospitals, or residential buildings, the army that’s fighting them, be it Russia, Germany, or heaven forbid, the French, will attack those locations without hesitation. It’s a war. Sadly, that is not only what happens in war, but is supposed to happen in war.
I agree. Both the invader and the defenders are gonna use dirty tricks counting as war crimes by the ICC. But who invaded first? Would we be debating who’s doing what horrible deed if they had not? You cannot insulate anything that happens after that from who’s the aggressor here. In my opinion, that colors the following debate very strongly against the aggressor.
I read the link, did you? They never mention the target of the attack, only that the site was shelled and damaged. The first thing you see is the photo showing the TV tower and the caption saying that the holocaust site was nearby.
It sure is, everything xerty posts. He may not be outright “defending Russia,” but he sure is protesting or ridiculing every action taken to oppose their invasion.
Hmmm… Czechoslovakia?
Yes, which is why I couldn’t believe you made the statement that I quoted (Hint: look at what I originally quoted; it helps to understand my post, which is why I quoted it). Your response has no bearing on my question and statement regarding your post.
You have conveniently, as is seemingly your want, ignored the part of your post that I quoted, and to which I responded. To eliminate the chance of further obtusion, or misunderstanding, I will explain, sadly without the use of a whiteboard.
I only quoted your first sentence. You didn’t seem to get the point, so I’ll go the extra mile. You said …
I said (edited to eliminate ANY chance of incomprehension)
Please, no further feigned ignorance. I don’t have the skill to make something uncrawfishable for anyone who has to be the perfect hall monitor.
Hmm… so many responses, where to begin. 
Well, I would dispute your comment, but you already did, so, there’s that.
Alternatively, I presume you are agreeing with my comment, but are additionally accusing @xerty of uh, defending, protesting, or ridiculing Russia and/or those opposing them? 
Or maybe Hungary, but I suspect she’s too young to have been around for the installation of that Commie regime.
US Treasury defaults on Russian debt
S&P hits Russia with default rating on foreign debt . S&P Global moved Russia into default on its foreign-debt credit rating after the government attempted to make a payment on a dollar bond to investors in rubles.
The ratings company is the first to declare the country in default. Russia attempted to make the dollar bond payment due April 4 but the transfer of money was blocked under U.S. sanctions. The Treasury Department refused to approve a waiver to allow the payment to go through. It had granted such waivers on previous payments in March.