Ukrainian migrants working in Ireland flew back home to fight against the Russians.
Here is a short message from them: pic.twitter.com/WEg1p8uCJ4
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 2, 2022
This afternoon.
Take that, keyboard warriors.
Also: please don’t join the Azovs.
FIGHT!
Thanks Stephen Moran
Meanwhile…
…The Ukraine or simply Ukraine?
Anne Marie Devlin, of University College Cork, writes:
The word Ukraine may be understood in a particular way which can have a profound impact on how the country itself is viewed. For many Russian speakers, the word Ukraine is transparently broken down into two main parts or morphemes.
They are ‘u’ and ‘krai’. ‘U’ can roughly be translated as ‘at’ in English. ‘Krai’ means ‘edge’. As a result, the word ‘Ukraine’ may conjure up an image, not of an independent nation, but of a region at the edge of a sovereign country, which presumably is Russia.
This mental image of a region on the edge of a country was further solidified in Russian and Ukrainian by the preposition which traditionally accompanied the country’s name; and in English by the use of the definite article (The Ukraine).
The word Ukraine had been collocated with the preposition ‘na’ (on) instead of the more common ‘v’ (in) in both Russian and Ukrainian despite the fact that ‘na’ (on) is more commonly used for regions and ‘v’ for countries.
This may seem superficial. After all, it’s only a preposition, but feelings around it run extremely high. In 1993, the Ukrainian government formally requested that the Russian government change the preposition from ‘na’ to ‘v’ in official documentation with the aim of receiving ‘linguistic confirmation of its status as a sovereign state’. While the Russian state reacted nonchalantly, over time, the new linguistic form was adopted by many people.
However, in a 2016 study I conducted into the weaponization of the use of prepositions in Russian social media during the Crimean crisis, results strongly suggest that the use of ‘na’ vs ‘v’ was deliberately used by many people as a political football to demarcate political and ethnic faultlines.
In short people intentionally used ‘na’ to position themselves as pro-Kremlin, thus denying the sovereignty of Ukraine; and ‘v’ to position themselves as anti-Kremlin and to acknowledge Ukraine as an independent nation.
‘na’?
Or ‘V’?
You must decide.
Kyiv vs Kiev: why the right names matter in Ukraine (RTE)
Well done gents, I wish you all well and I hope for a speedy victory and your safe return.
Absolutely. Well done to them.
I’m more inclined to wish for a speedy de-escalation in hostilities and for fruitful negotiations to occur.
How do you envisage a speedy victory coming about against a nuclear super power? World War 3, total carnage type scenario?
Exactly f_lawless. These fools cheering for victory for one side are simply fanning the flames of war. We need international calls for a deescalation, ceasefire and peace talks where BOTH sides legitimate concerns are considered and respected. All out war will see the people of Ukraine sacrificed on the altar of globalism and western Liberal virtue signaling.
Sorry f_lawless and E’Matty, I was trying to give the lads a few positive words, who know what the future holds or what the best course of action is, these lads are leaving a safe place to enter a war zone.
I honestly think it’s okay to root for a people and a country fighting for their survival when invaded by a massively superior force from an agressive expansionst neighbour. It’s a bit clueless to piously call for de-escalation when one side is fliring misslies into cities they’ve surrounded with tanks and the other side are just trying not to die. How exactly are the Ukrainians supposed to ‘de-escalate?’
“How exactly are the Ukrainians supposed to ‘de-escalate?’”
E’Twatty’s idea would be for Ukraine to capitulate and Poots whatever he likes.
By not surrendering it is they who are the warmongers.
…err…I think you’ll find that it might have been ‘an aggressive expansionist neighbour’ that caused this…but then…you love those old proxy wars…
Yes, Russia.
“Fruitful negotiations” with Putin?
asking to negotiate WHAT???
why v Ukraine needs to negotiate to be recognised? it is a sovereignty country period
you could see where BS stands at this topic… they even asked at the end
‘na’? Or ‘V’?
You must decide.
Note: I meant Broadsheet and no bullpoo when I typed BS, even when lately this website is pure that
‘you could see where BS stands at this topic… they even asked at the end ‘na’? Or ‘V’? You must decide.’
This doesn’t make sense, anti morons, with the greatest respect.
Ukraine: We’re a sovereign nation, please leave us alone.
Putin: Niet.
Broadsheet: Hurrah for Putin!
Meat for the grinder
But god watch over them
There will not be any “speedy victory for Ukraine”. A ceasefire and talks is their best hope. Those cheering them on to war cheer them on to their likely deaths.
You forgot to comment on the posts showing evidence of the impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukrainian civilians.
What posts were these? I’m working so don’t have time to go through the whole Internet today
Working on that philosophy major, yeah? Haha. You are an utter tool.
Poor divils. I hope they never see the front line. We need calls for a deescalation and ceasefire, not this jingoistic “Slava Ukraine” and “Ukraine to victory” nonsense I see so many posting online. There will be no Ukrainian victory. They can only hope to avoid mass casualties which will inevitably result if people keep fanning the flames. I understand completely why these Ukrainians would return to defend their country but in truth, the Ukrainians and Russians on each side are but cannon fodder in the psychopathic games of the global ruling class. This is all pure theatre more for the psychological impact it is having on the global populace than a battle for Ukraine specifically.
Cheering on one side or the other to victory is warmongering, plain and simple. It might make you feel good but all it dies is increase the likelihood these men will never see their loved ones again. As I said, we need calm heads calling for a deescalation and immediate ceasefire. Talks must follow and Russus must respect Ukraines independence and the West must respect Russia’s legitimate concerns on NATO expansion to its borders. A neutral Ukraine, economically supported by all, would thrive and remove this threat of war.
“Poor divils”..exactly what I was thinking..god love em. A very rational and level-headed post compared to some of the rubbish I’ve seen.
Remarkably patronising, I thought, and trying to recast support for Ukraine as on the level with ugly pro-war Putin-suporting propaganda is just contemptible.
A sensible post at last.
This is an interesting observation coming from England.
https://www.tiktok.com/@jamespyke/video/7070219930062376197
There will be no winners and those who come back broken will return back fending for them selves just like all in
Previous wars
And all to protect the interests of the elite
Just look how the USA treats its vets for example
There are no winners from war as their sacrifices are quickly forgotten
For the life of me if the world was run by canines it would be a far better place
All I remember before this kicked off the rhetoric bounded about from the US UK Zelensky and the EU was appalling and they really aired an absolute madman and he responded by doing the unthinkable and millions of decent peoples lives are ruined and destroyed
Hope they get out safe, and for a quick and relatively painless end to the conflict.
The Patriotism is admirable, but mostly futile in this situation. Diplomacy is needed, not more guns
unfortunately, while the diplomats are mourning the loss of their gravy train ukrainian people are losing their lives. like it or not, right now, they need more weapons and more fighters.
That’s it, throw a bit more petrol on the flames. More guns, more soldiers, more bodies. Ukraine will never out muscle Russia in an all out war. They’ll be annihilated. The West cannot afford to become involved as no US pilot will want to try their luck against the SA-21 Growler missile system, and Putin always holds the trump card of having a larger nuclear arsenal than the US, UK, France, Israel and China COMBINED.
There is no military victory possible for Ukraine here so anybody who genuinely cares for the people of Ukraine will call for an immediate ceasefire, deescalation of hostilities and peace talks. Anything else is simply media brainwashed westerners virtue signaling their support for Ukraine, all the while increasing the likelihood of absolute tragedy for that country. It’s warmongering plain and simple.
It’s amazing that you think the Ukrainian people haven’t made this calulation. I seem to remember lots of contempt for the diplomacy that took place pre-invasion, which clearly meant nothing to Putin. Calls for diplomacy now it’s too late ring utterly hollow.
The pre invasion talks showed no regard from Ukraine or the West for Russia’s legitimate concern about NATO expansion to its borders. The West and the corrupt Western controlled Ukrainian government didn’t enter the talks in good faith. War was the inevitable result.
Your continued cheering on more war Nigel shows scant regard for the ordinary people of Ukraine who will face tragedy if Russia is backed into a corner. I repeat, Russia cannot be militarily defeated here. Therefore, unless you’re desperate to watch Ukrainians die in their thousands for no good reason, you’ll abandon your simplistic Western media conditioned perspective and join calls for a deescalation of tensions and an immediate ceasefire.
Or, you can continue your self indulgent virtue signaling and maybe paint you face yellow and blue for the weekend
Plenty have made that calculation, others have been deluded by propaganda to think they have a chance. On Feb 27th they were saying Russia only had funds for 10 more days of war before they give up – by my count theres only 7 days left. Survive one week and Ukrainians win?
If only
‘The West and the corrupt Western controlled Ukrainian government didn’t enter the talks in good faith.’
The Ukrainian government has every right to form alliances with whoever they want, and they have every right to expect support from their allies. Putin has no actual say in any of that, except what he demands with his bullying and aggression.
‘Your continued cheering on more war’
That’s a truly perverse distortion of support for the country that was invaded.
‘If Russia is backed into a corner’
The only corner Russia has been backed into is that of Putin’s self-image and how much his unwillingness to lose face will drive him to destroy Ukraine and kill Ukranians, not to mention Russians.
‘self indulgent virtue signaling’
When someone like you knows they’re in the wrong, that’s often the phrase that emerges.
‘Plenty have made that calculation, others have been deluded by propaganda to think they have a chance.’
I think they’ve been ‘lulled’ by the way the Russian army has perfformed in the invasion so far. They were supposed to have stormed in and taken Kyiv in three hours.
so you expect the ukranians not to resist the invasion of their country and the destruction of their cities. that’s fine, but that’s not your call to make – it’s theirs. and my point stands, the fact that we are looking at an invasion is a direct result of the failure of diplomacy.
I see nothing wrong with Ukrainians fighting to defend their country. I object to westerners sitting at home cheering them on to victory, a victory they simply cannot attain. Lambs to the slaughter comes to mind.
It would appear to date that this invasion has been somewhat restrained with low casualty figures and low intensity fighting. It’s clear Putin and Russia are seeking specific objectives and indiscriminate killing of Ukrainian civilians doesn’t appear to be one of those. What their actual objectives are nobody seems to really know. Western media is filled with BS artists posing as experts claiming things not going as planned for Putin, when they have no clue what he actually has planned. He could have blitzed the entire country by now, but is playing a game of chess, I for one can’t fully figure out. Reports on these US biolabs are interesting but lack anything concrete. Removal of Zelensky could very well be an objective. It’s all impossible to tell right now.
The whole conflict is extremely suspicious which is why, in other comments, I have suggested we may be watching pure theatre intended more for a global audience than any issue specific to Ukraine.
There wasn’t a failure of diplomacy. There was no serious attempt at diplomacy at all.
just so’s we’re clear, i fully agree about those who themselves have no intention of fighting urging others to pick up a weapon, mostly you hear this from tory poopheads and the like.
‘Western media is filled with BS artists posing as experts claiming things not going as planned for Putin, when they have no clue what he actually has planned. He could have blitzed the entire country by now, but is playing a game of chess,’
Irony alert.
‘I have suggested we may be watching pure theatre intended more for a global audience’
For feck’s sake.
‘There was no serious attempt at diplomacy at all.’
Not from Putin, no. The united western front and imposition of sanctions suggest some serious diplomatic work was definitely being done, though.
If Russia stop fighting it is the end of the war.
If Ukraine stop fighting it is the end of Ukraine.
Ukraine need to recognise joining NATO is simply not an option. Their corrupt governments determination to pursue this path sits behind this entire crisis. Russia are entitled to defend themselves against the advance to their borders of the world’s most aggressive military alliance. The US, UK and Co claim a right to intervene anywhere in the world where their security is even allegedly threatened, no proof required. Yet, the very same powers seek to deny Russia the same right on their own borders? Were Canada or Mexico to enter an economic or military alliance of this nature with either Russia, China or Iran, we all know what would happen and you wouldn’t even question it.
Wait, do you agree or disagree with the principle that countries can militarily intervene in other soveriegn states if they claim their security is threatened?
Because
1) who the hell actually think even a NATOfied Ukraine would pose an actual threat to Russia?
2) Russia have already shown an utter disregard for other countries borders and sovereignity – who do you think is funding, supplying and providing fighters for the so-called breakaway areas of Ukraine?
3) This has nothing to do with security – it’s expansionist imperialism. He literally said so.
You are back to being one dumb fupp
Well done to those men. I’m sickened by this war and am devastated and emotional by the horrendous atrocities being committed by the dictator that is Putin. I can only hope that he is dragged through the street naked before being strung up when he fails.
CFD
‘Citizen journalist’ in need of fresh underwear:
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/for-a-split-second-i-thought-he-was-going-to-assassinate-me-mayo-man-on-kyiv-streets-after-curfew-warning-41403150.html
Highly respected family
While the world did gaze with deep amaze
At those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight that freedom’s light
Might shine through the foggy dew
For what it’s worth – written over last weekend and sent to Joe on Sunday – followed up by me with call to team on Monday morning; was told (paraphrasing) that there was a lot of stuff in it but it didn’t say clearly what I ‘felt’ about things and wasn’t really suitable for Joe’s show …
Subject: The halfwit spoke and the brainless believed (Iranian proverb applied to Varadkar)
FAO Researchers @ ‘Talk to Joe’ – caveat, if Joe will talk to you!
Re Varadkar comparison of Putin to Hitler
While the synonyms of ‘halfwit’ include all scales on the SQ (Stupidity Quotient) I do not call Varadkar stupid
but, in comparing Putin to Hitler, I do call him both ignorant and insensitive. His facile, puerile comparison
shows an absolute lack of basic historical awareness – the simplest google search for ‘Siege of Leningrad’ and ‘Battle of Stalingrad’ (WW2) gives a historical perspective that is factually undeniable.
Anybody with a titter of wit – https://www.google.com/search?q=wit+synonym&rlz=1C1CHBD_enIE784IE784&oq=wit+synonym&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i10j0i512j0i20i263i512j0i10l3j0i512j0i10i22i30l2.4906j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
not a twitter wherein wit is sadly absent (https://twitter.com/talkRADIO/status/1497215459132907520?s=20&t=udY9hKGRGrDH2lnGKDrMDA) –
knows that any war, anywhere, at any time is brutal, ugly and devastating and it is ALWAYS AND EVER the common people who die or suffer and are left to pick up the pieces after the ‘Leaders’ sit in gilded halls to discuss the spoils. In WW2 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were well away from the blood-and-guts-fest
they oversaw as are Putin, Biden, Johnson and Van der Leyden today.
This is not an attempt at intellectual superiority (the Great-I-Am!) – I score within the average range on both
the IQ AND the SQ scales as would nearly all of us. I do, however, ask for rationality rather than emotion which, in current times, is a big ask. It’s very easy to have an emotive gut reaction and say, post, print all sorts of stuff when it’s not your guts lying in the mud. One naturally empathises with the suffering of the Ukranian common people today and individual stories talk directly to us. The same empathy should be shown to all people everywhere suffering from war; I find it unsettling that there appears to be an emphasis on the ‘war in europe’ narrative as opposed to the ‘war everywhere’ narrative which I believe harbours a nasty view that might suggest any war far away and between mostly ‘other’ types is less awful than ‘war in europe’ and I personally don’t like that.
Enough digression – to get back to Varadkar’s ignorant insensitive rush of blood in some direction. In terms of loss of life and sheer agony, the Russian people paid a very high price for the outcome of WW2 – about 25,000,000 soldiers and civilians died and the Siege of Leningrad and Battle of Stalingrad were defining turning points in that awful war. I wonder how many members of the Russian ballet troupes whose appearances were cancelled – emotively – number some of that 25 million dead among their forebears …
First thing tomorrow morning Dv I intend to ring the Russian Embassy here and, as an Irish citizen, disassociate myself from Varadkar’s ignorant insensitive comparison of Putin to Hitler. As an aside, I find it interesting to note that there was no outcry from any of those who appear to believe that reference to Hitler should only refer to six million dead and am of the view that should such a comparison be made to any other head of state such as the Bush(es) or Blair it would be stomped-upon.
Finally, the war-mongerers of WW2 and all subsequent wars up to the present day obviously never read the WW1 poets or, if they did, very quickly blanked them. From that genre, the poem that resonanates most with me is Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen –
Dulce et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
I can only ask that people read this and, instead of immediately taking to social media, just sit and reflect – the
technology of war may have changed but the sights, sounds, smells and suffering remain the same …
PS And, given changing technology, don’t encourage the ‘old Lie’ by getting or paying for digital war games – at least until they include sights, sounds, smells and suffering ..
”First thing tomorrow morning Dv I intend to ring the Russian Embassy here and, as an Irish citizen, disassociate myself from Varadkar’s ignorant insensitive comparison of Putin to Hitler.”
Why bother? And on what planet do you think they care what you think?
Any reflections on the rest of the post?
Feel free to take it sentence by sentence if you wish …
I’d rather eat my own cat’s droppings
@Maura ”Any reflections on the rest of the post?”
Yes, it makes you seem a tad unhinged and I don’t think people will take you seriously, but I admire your passion.
Care to answer my question, it’s just one sentence long, I try to keep things succinct so people don’t nod off.
I bother because I believe. Planet Utopia …
Fair enough, thanks for the reply.
Might I suggest you try one (or two) of these to calm your furrowed brow and tortured soul
The Zelenskyy
50ml Kavka Vodka
20ml blue curaçao
20 lemon juice
20ml apricot brandy
10ml sugar syrup
And then check out what pariah Putin’s “intelligencia” think should be done with the pesky meddlesome Ukraine
https://twitter.com/DmitryOpines/status/1499071505757614080
enjoy
Like Putin, his “intelligencia” are complete psychopaths. This is however, no different to the psychopaths who rule the Western Powers too. The world is run by psychopaths. It is the ruling class versus everybody else, yet many fail to recognise this and throw their lot in with their enemies. You’d be one of those.
Good post and sentiment. The double standard of Western liberals who have sat silently by while Yemen has been bombed for years, or the ease with which they fall for Western claims of “humanitarian intervention” anytime they embark on a neocolonial war is hypocrisy at its finest. Everybody should be calling for a cessation of violence now, not egging one side on to a victory they simply cannot achieve.
I’ve posted this before but anyways.
George Galloway- History doesn’t start when Sky News arrives
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1559490277784539
George absolutely nails it.
I bet the chaps in the Ukraine are regretting giving up their Nukes now – this debacle wont exactly encourage any self respecting despot like Trump’s pen pal Kimmie / the former playboy of Sussex CC Imran Khan or Hindi nationalist narcissist Modi to hand the codes over. The lads in Tehran will be taking note and the Israeli’s well are glad someone else is getting some shade no doubt pondering where this leaves the financing of Putin’s Syrian tour and their support for the needy and aptly named Bashar al-Assad,
Your Mammie can come and collect you ! You’ve been a very naughty boy – the ultimate ignominy
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says Russian mothers can pick up their POW’s sons from Kiev. If they are physically picked up by their own mother, they are free to go. There are buses waiting for the mothers at the Polish border.
https://twitter.com/Daannnnnnnn/status/1499045749887496194
This is one of those days when you forgot to take the dogs out for a walk and they literally crap all over the house
Providing you with dog droppings in case there weren’t any cat droppings available … enjoy! (I’d rather eat my own cat’s droppings).
Yea cat food appears to be more flavourful
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s 512-foot yacht has been seized by German authorities in the northern city of Hamburg. It was the world’s largest superyacht upon completion in 2018
Usmanov, a Russian oligarch worth over $20 billion who owns Russia’s largest iron ore company, a telecommunications company and a newspaper in Russia, holds stakes in Airbnb, Spotify, Uber Technologies and was an early investor in Facebook.
https://twitter.com/Forbes/status/1499128423947636739
hahahaahahahaha
There a whole oligarch yatch watch going on follow this article about the russian tech big-shot who lost a lot in the last couple of days…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2022/03/02/putin-has-broken-russias-brightest-tech-businessfounder-arkady-volozh-loses-2-billion-in-three-months/?
Coup next week? Or will it be a Mugabe situation? Marshal law in Russia from tomorrow… sounds like fun…
Well I don’t think his masterplan of some Vichy stuffed shirt on the throne on Kyiv is going to cut the mustard with a easily supplied and highly motivated large scale insurgency snipping that will bankrupt Russia. If one considers the US spent approx $6 trillion (that is trillions not billions) maintaining the show in Iraq and Afghanistan – there is no way Russia (which has GDP per capita that is less than than of Turkey) could sustain that sort of hemorrhaging for long. Trouble is Putin has no off ramp here – his minimum take hold not to loose face is the whole of the disputed Donbas + areas plus Ukraine recognizing Crimea as part of Russia but I can’t see that working with those pesky meddling kids in Kyiv at the minute.
For a few rubles less : Things just got a little more problematic for anyone with Russian exposure.
VanEck is halting the creation of shares for the VanEck Russia ETF (RSX), the world’s largest Russia-focused exchange-traded fund, due to “significant declines” in value and liquidity of Russian securities.
The bottom line is simple – with the underlying assets practically worthless -Dow Jones Russia GDRs are down a stunning 97% in just a few days.
This is evident in the Dow Jones Russia GDR Index, an index designed to track the top Russian Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) that trade on the London Stock Exchange. The index plunged a mind boggling 97% in just a few days and wiped out $572 billion from the market value of 23 stocks, including Gazprom PJSC, Sberbank of Russia PJSC, and Rosneft PJSC, according to BBG
“It’s very difficult to see any scenario right now where buying Russian assets makes sense,” David Coombs, head of multi-asset investments at Rathbones, told CNN. All bets, he added, would be a “pure gamble.”
The pricing of Russian assets abroad suggests finding buyers for stocks and bonds could be an arduous task. On Friday, S&P lowered Russia’s credit rating to “junk.”
And who will end up ‘making a killing’ on the markets when it suits – won’t be the dead Ukranian civilians and soldiers or Russian soldiers, will it??!
In fairness.
I’ll try to engage Stephen’s pig ignorant speculation given he’s so widely respected by at least 3 people in here.
For a start.
Putin is not mad, on steroids etc
His first objective is to protect Russian national sovereignty from ongoing NATO encroachment on his border.
There’s nothing else to see.
People are acting shocked, appalled etc are schooled by the Western media.
The same easily-led folks on both the left and right who backed The War on Terror in Iraq, Afghanistan and then wonder why the “savages” aren’t “grateful”.
It is fair to say this is the direct result of the continuation of a Clinton era policy of electoral interference in Ukraine.
The financial stuff is another red herring.
When you’ve all the oil and gas Russia has you can do whatever the fupp you want.
Please don’t be taken in by the Stephen’s of the world.