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Life could be about to get lively in Russia.  :wink:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-64994087

I doubt the Russian people will ever know.

He must be shit scared...  Not.
He simply won't go where he could be arrested..
Blimey there are villains all over the world that have a price on their heads... who flaunt their freedom..
Money protects..

Quote from: Scrumpy on March 17, 2023, 07:10:40 PMHe simply won't go where he could be arrested..

Well that's 123 countries out of 195 he can't visit.

Russia needs to be chucked out of the UN.

I can't see the point in issuing a warrant for Putin, who is going to actually serve it ????  :rolleyes:

Quote from: Alex on March 17, 2023, 07:58:02 PMI can't see the point in issuing a warrant for Putin, who is going to actually serve it ????  :rolleyes:

All the 123 ICC member countries are legally obliged to arrest him if he sets foot in any of those countries.

Quote from: Diasi on March 17, 2023, 08:00:09 PMAll the 123 ICC member countries are legally obliged to arrest him if he sets foot in any of its countries.

But he never leaves Russia !

Quote from: Alex on March 17, 2023, 08:00:55 PMBut he never leaves Russia !

Well not now he won't as his plane could be intercepted in any ICC member's airspace.

And he can kiss sailing in his luxury £billion yachts goodbye.

He'll be under a bigger type of house arrest.

can anybody honestly believe that he  will ever stand trial - much as he ought to?

Quote from: Michael Rolls on March 18, 2023, 05:12:02 AMcan anybody honestly believe that he  will ever stand trial - much as he ought to?

I really really hope he does get caught. Nasty, vicious, murdering, horrible man. He needs to be made to answer for his crimes.

I agree - but can anyone see it actually happening? I can't

Reports are saying he is terminally ill. If that doesn't get him there is more chance he will accidentally fall from a high rise building as so many of his opponents have already. In klepocracies such as the Mafia and the modern Russian Federation succession is rarely peaceful.

A book will follow...

Quote from: Alex on March 17, 2023, 08:00:55 PMBut he never leaves Russia !

I just read this as a reply on Quora (obviously not an accredited source but it does sound believable)

Since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin on Friday, the Kremlin has done its best to appear unfazed.

But multiple sources close to the Russian authorities have told Meduza that the Putin administration was not expecting the court's announcement, and that the severe restrictions the warrant puts on the president's ability to travel abroad could poke holes in the image he tries to project at home.
In the leadup to Russia's 2024 presidential election, the Kremlin planned to present Putin to voters as a "warrior against the West" and a "defender of Latin American and African countries against colonial oppression," Meduza's sources said.

However, that plan would necessarily involve overseas trips that Putin will now likely be unable to take; because of the warrant against him, the Russian president could theoretically be detained in any of 123 countries. According to sources close to his administration, the Kremlin is unsure how it would be possible to "ensure the security" of the president given the new circumstances.

Meduza's sources noted that even since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has regularly traveled abroad and participated in various forums and summits. In the summer of 2022, for example, he visited Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, and in the fall, he visited Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Armenia (though it's true that he hasn't visited any Western countries since the start of the full-scale war).

He'd be a fool to visit any western country.   
I can't help thinking if NATO had kept to its word, none of this would be happening.  The Ukraine guy is saying the opposite, that if Ukraine had been a member of NATO, the invasion wouldn't have happened- I guess we'll never know !

Feeling threatened isn't a valid reason for invading a country imo. You can't twat your neighbour over the head with a baseball bat just because he gives you a funny look.

Quote from: klondike on March 25, 2023, 10:46:06 PMFeeling threatened isn't a valid reason for invading a country imo. You can't twat your neighbour over the head with a baseball bat just because he gives you a funny look.

Yes, you're right, but he gave enough warnings which were ignored. 

I think ignoring his annexation of Crimea in 2014 along with Trump (accurately) pointing out the decline of NATO is probably the biggest factor. Putin believed his own propaganda then found to his cost that the Red Army is pretty much a crock with unmaintained cold war kit and a lot of ill equipped and untrained troops usable only as cannon fodder. He expected to take Kiev and so the entire country in short order and didn't. Now he won't or can't back down.

This on Breitbart highlights the current state of the Russian Military

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/26/russia-pulling-ancient-t-54-t-55-tanks-storage-war-drags-on/

Russia Pulling Ancient T-54 and T-55 Tanks from Storage as War Drags On

Ancient T-54 and T-55 tanks have been removed from storage and may soon be joining the slightly less ancient T-62s that Russia has already dusted off for use in Ukraine.

Imagery of trains loaded up with T-54s, which first entered service when Joseph Stalin still ruled the Soviet empire in the 1940s, and T-55s, which entered service in the late 1950s, have been circulated in media outlets including Forbes, Newsweek, and The Washington Post in recent days.

According to the Georgia-based Conflict Intelligence Team, the footage comes from the Russian Far East, near the 1295th Central Tanks and Repair Storage Base is in Arsenyev, meaning that, like recently reactivated T-62s, the venerable armour has likely — if not certainly — been refurbished for deployment to Ukraine.

Underarmoured, underpowered, and grossly undersized compared to the Western-made Challenger 2, Leopard 2, and M1 Abrams main battle tanks now being transferred to Ukraine, the possible deployment of T-54 and T-55 series tanks has been a source of much mockery among Russia's detractors, with the likes of Carl Bildt, co-chairman of the European Council on Foreign Relations and a former Swedish prime minister, asserting it underscores how "their stocks of modern arms have been seriously depleted."

March 26, 2023, 05:31:47 PM
Mind you...

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/26/uk-military-would-need-ten-years-warning-to-be-able-to-fight-russia-says-top-general/

UK Military Would Need 'Ten Years Warning' to Fight Off Russian Invasion: Top General

The armed forces of the United Kingdom have been degraded to such a degree that they would need "five to ten years" advanced warning to be able to fend off an invasion from a power such as Russia, a former top general warned.

General Sir Richard Barrons, who served as the commander of the Joint Forces Command (JFC) — which has since been renamed to Strategic Command (StratCom) — from 2013 until his retirement in 2016, blasted the country's political leadership in Downing Street for failing to understand the paramount importance of being able to defend the realm.

"During the Cold War the Army, at all times, was ready to fight at four hours' notice. When the Cold War ended and there was no sense of existential risk to the UK, all of that was dismantled," General Sir Richard told the Daily Mail.

"Now we would need five to 10 years' notice of a Russian surprise attack to manage to deal with it. That's not a cool place to be... It's deeply disappointing."

For comparison, the Russian Federation has approximately 1,350,000 soldiers, over 30,000 armoured vehicles, and approximately 12,500 tanks, while the United Kingdom can only boast 137,000 active military personnel, just 5,015 armoured vehicles, and 227 tanks.

137,000? I thought that the army was down to 85,000?

That's all the forces I think and must have dropped further since this Wiki

The distribution of personnel between the services and categories of service on 1 April 2021 was as follows:[4]

(https://i.postimg.cc/gkcV9J2T/forces.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Armed_Forces#:~:text=The%20British%20Armed%20Forces%20are,198%2C880%20%22UK%20Service%20Personnel%22.

Ukraine has lost over 250,000 men and the life expectancy of a Ukrainian soldier in the combat zone is four hours. If they persist in fighting there won't be anyone left alive there, so I hope the Chinese peace initiative is successful.

Goodness me  !!!!!!  ... What a waste of life..   :cry: :cry:
I did not realize that the death rate was so high..

The truth is nobody knows. Ukraine give no figures. Russia give ludicrously low ones. All we see are estimates and the numbers given reflect the political view of those giving them. If Ukraine's casualty rate is that high Putin will be in Kiev by the end of the year. Where next I wonder. Warsaw? Berlin? Paris?

Quote from: Alex on March 25, 2023, 08:11:13 PMHe'd be a fool to visit any western country. 
I can't help thinking if NATO had kept to its word, none of this would be happening.  The Ukraine guy is saying the opposite, that if Ukraine had been a member of NATO, the invasion wouldn't have happened- I guess we'll never know !

If the Ukraine had been a member of NATO, Putin would, effectively, have been invading the whole of Western Europe & the USA who would be duty bound to retaliate as full participants.

If you can see this, it shows Kiev perfectly normal while the news says it's being bombed, even showing pictures.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1639998793981521922

Quote from: Ashy on March 27, 2023, 11:32:52 AMIf you can see this, it shows Kiev perfectly normal while the news says it's being bombed, even showing pictures.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1639998793981521922

Just a pity the TV & the view from the window weren't shown together in the same shot.

By the time the window comes into clear view the TV is out of view.

The first casualty of special military operations is the truth.

Whose truth you believe depends upon your pre existing bias. The only truth that ends up in history books is the victors truth. That is often revised later by new victors.

Quote from: Ashy on March 26, 2023, 09:23:04 PMUkraine has lost over 250,000 men and the life expectancy of a Ukrainian soldier in the combat zone is four hours. If they persist in fighting there won't be anyone left alive there, so I hope the Chinese peace initiative is successful.

There were thousands of young Ukrainian men at Wembley yesterday Ashy  :hmm: