"Will Putin Test NATO Article 5 in the Black Sea Region?" Topic

Midlander65, the Russian government does not demand control, but neutrality from neighboring countries. And this is natural.
Russia recently fought with Georgia and actually defeated its army. Is Georgia currently under Russian control? No – she is absolutely independent and pursues a balanced policy. Russia is not interested in anything else.
Recently there were anti-government riots in Kazakhstan related to the re-election of the president. CSTO troops were brought in to maintain order in the country (the bulk of these troops were Russian). After completing their mission, the Russian troops left. Is Kazakhstan a country independent from Russia? Undoubtedly. By the way, a huge number of Russians live on the territory of Kazakhstan (the territories of the former Semirechensk Cossack army have been located here since tsarist times). There are no pro-Russian "Semirechensk republics", since no one oppresses Russian-speaking citizens of Kazakhstan.

Show me the official court decisions that the Russians killed one of their traitors. They are not here. Why?

Is Russian television promoting genocide against Ukraine? What nonsense? Look at what is happening in those territories that are under Russian control – do you see genocide there? There is large-scale construction and improvement of people's lives there.
Attacks on London and Berlin are talked about only as retaliatory measures in the event of Great Britain and Germany entering the war. And this is true – in this case, no one is going to wage a conventional war – the forces will be too unequal.

Mariupol today:
YouTube link

Maybe this is a low level of analytics in the article, but it is simply brilliant compared to the level of other Western analytics)))
And yes, all countries were not ready for a new type of combat. Look at Israel and the jihadists. Such a course of events was simply impossible to imagine… The war has changed.

Almost everything is said in the article I quoted above. There is nothing to add to this. There was no idiocy – everything was balanced and analyzed. In this case, Putin acts exclusively in the interests of his country and with the support of the overwhelming majority of the Russian population. This is evidenced by the fact that every month an average of forty thousand volunteers join the Russian army.

I'm not over impressed by the prescience of the writers either: "NATO countries that have downgraded their military capabilities are no match to the Russian army. Should Putin order the invasion; Russian tanks will be in Kiev in less than 24 hours."

I agree … Are they are talking about the Russian Army currently ? Even if it would not have been attrited to 50% in the 2 years of this war ?

1) No person in his right mind likes to fight.

Seems Putin and his supporters must not think that way … or not be in their right minds ?

Cuprum2.

Your level of denial is just too much. I'm reminded of the famous line attributed (probably incorrectly) to Solzhenitsyn: 'They lie to us, we know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them.'

You just come up with so much nonsense without ever directly answering a question that it becomes pointless engaging at all. Presumably that is the point.

But, to take just the first point of your latest post: "Russia recently fought with Georgia and actually defeated its army. Is Georgia currently under Russian control? No – she is absolutely independent and pursues a balanced policy.

Lets just look at that one. Is Georgia really your best example of how Russia's neighbours are free to pursue their own choices? Aside from attacking Georgia and taking effective control of 'separatist regions', comprising 1/5 of the country, and which are now to be used for Russian military bases, "Georgia was once a beacon of democracy in the South Caucasus, but today it is backsliding toward authoritarianism and headed back into Russia's sphere of influence."

The latest example being trying to again force through a foreign agents law, modelled on the one "Putin's 2012 foreign agent law, which was a critical turning point toward authoritarianism in Russia."

link
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And, I wouldn't want people to think I don't also check on links that back up my own expectations, as well as the dubious propaganda outlets that Cuprum2 cites.
link
mediabiasfactcheck.com/reuters

There was no attack on Georgia. There was a Georgian attack on Russian peacekeepers and a corresponding military response.

The territories claimed by Georgia were forcibly annexed to Georgia during the Soviet era for administrative purposes. When the USSR was a single country, it was simply an economic issue. But between these peoples (Georgians, Abkhazians, Ossetians) there is a long-standing, centuries-old enmity. Naturally, with the collapse of the USSR, these peoples did not want to be in the same state with the Georgians, and in the 90s this resulted in a bloody massacre. Nothing has changed since then. If the Russian troops are removed from there, the massacre will resume.
Here's an example of this carnage earlier:
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The Foreign Agents Law is not modeled after Putin's law, but modeled after US law:
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US soldier detained in Russia

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Armand

"There was no attack on Georgia. There was a Georgian attack on Russian peacekeepers and a corresponding military response."

Poor Russia. Always suffering unprovoked attacks by its smaller and weaker neighbours so being left with no alternative but to invade them (sorry, obviously I meant 'conduct a special military operation') devastate their cities and annex their territory.

Moscow came to control became the World's largest territory by defending itself in other people's countries.

Can you tell me how, for example, the USA was formed? Did the Indians, Spaniards, French and English give them their lands as charity?

Tango01, stupid idiot. Yes, and a thief. I'm talking about the arrested serviceman, naturally.

"A 34-year-old foreign citizen was placed in a pre-trial detention center in Vladivostok on suspicion of theft. Lenta.ru was informed about this by the press service of the Primorye police.

We are talking about an American soldier, Gordon Black, who was detained for beating a woman and stealing 200 thousand rubles from her.

The press service of the Vladivostok police said that a 32-year-old local woman came to the duty station with a complaint about theft. She said that she worked in Korea and there she met a 34-year-old foreigner and they began a relationship. Returning to Vladivostok, the Russian woman continued to communicate with him online, and on April 10 he came to her. There was a conflict between them at her home, and after the guest left, the woman discovered the money was missing.

Criminal investigation operatives found the foreigner at the hotel. He had already bought a plane ticket and was about to fly home. But the security forces took him to the police department.

There, a criminal case was opened against him under the article of theft. He faces up to five years in prison. He is arrested until July 2".

link

However, the investigation of the case may lead to some unexpected results. Women… Emotions. She could have slandered things in vain. It will be clear later. But there is not a word about the money found on him.

"Can you tell me how, for example, the USA was formed? Did the Indians, Spaniards, French and English give them their lands as charity?"

By killing and displacing the people already living there and taking their lands and resources. By forcing those that remained to accept different beliefs, values and way of life. Motivated by personal ambition and a sense of racial and cultural superiority and a belief that it was their destiny. Even believing that God was on their size.

I'm British btw, not American but the same sort of things things apply to the build up the British Empire, and others, in the 16th-early 20th Centuries.

The difference is that Americans and British people no-longer see such actions as acceptable or as admirable and a model for current behaviour. Russia does.

No, Russia is guided by other reasons.
What were Britain's reasons for fighting the Falkland War? In Iraq? In Yugoslavia? In Afghanistan? In Libya?
Perhaps you were defending yourself? Or perhaps you were acting under a UN mandate? Or of your own volition?