Which is likely the end goal (assuming they don´t want to absorb Ukraine as a whole), with the Donetsk and Luhansk pseudo-states doing a “referendum” on joining the RF, as you mention afterwards.
It still baffles me how quickly that conflict was forgotten, and not just with regard to all the parallels with the current situation, but also how all Western leaders seemed to have been caught by surprise by the annexation of Crimea in 2014…
Unfortunately they do
Like it was in Crimea. But nobody of civilized world recognized it.
Same with Donbass. But there weren’t yet any referendums held there.
With Donbass being swallowed, it’s only a matter of time when they will absorb as you say the whole country. The final goal of Putin is to bring back the USSR. And events indicate he won’t stop reaching this goal
I heard of that. What do you mean here? That outside of the Ukraine nobody recognized it or that only a minority of Crimea participated?
Civilized world didn’t recognize. Developed countries.
All sorts of unrecognized countries doesn’t count.
I mean like France, Germany, USA etc didn’t, but Transnistria, Abkhazia and so on did.
As for participatioin in Crimea referendum, there were messages that ocupants used dead people as voted YES and some sort of animals too, like dogs and cats. I’m not joking. They counted animals as voted positively for Crimea to gain “independence”
Oh fuck.
Guess he felt he’d look weak if he blinked, so the bastard finally did it.
What the actual fuckk.
As they have been from the beginning, regardless of what that coc*sucker Lukashenko tries saying about “not taking part” in this so-called “military operation” 
Sadly, not recognizing it changes nothing about its factual control by Russia…
Always thought focusing on the Russian-populated areas (whether in UKR, KAZ, etc.) was the more likely strategy (aside from Belarus perhaps, which I can imagine going from the current Union State to full integration). Can´t imagine going for full USSR would come without significant dissent/resistance from the affected countries, be it Ukraine, the Caucasian, or Central Asia, though in the end there is little difference between total occupation or a lackey government. Either way, he needs to be stopped, asap.
I know it might not be much, but we appreciate the updates given especially when it’s direct experience and not filtered misinformation.
My thoughts go out to you and your family, stay safe.
Just so you know this violate the Geneva Convention. It has been almost a day and Putin has already begun committing war crimes (yes I know Wars of Aggression are also criminal)
I knew she would be the one to co-operate.
Biden announces targeted sanctions against Russian billionaires, banks, assets in the US.
Boris Johnson announces that all major Russian banks are banned from doing business in the UK, Aeroflot (Russian airline) flights banned from landing anywhere in the UK.
Go after the money, folks.
And he will deny deny and deny.
And then claim that Ukraine is the one committing war crimes. Classic Russian disinformation.
Alright I am posting a stupid Ukraine take, there have been a lot of these because people are fucking stupid and/or desperate for some amount of attention.
Man who has only ever heard of one ideological group is like:
If I were Moldova, I’d be shitting my pants right now:
They’re a former Soviet republic, they don’t have a very strong military, they’re not in NATO, and they already have a breakaway Russian-backed separatist region in Transnistria.
Cowardly. History will remember those who did not do the right thing.
I’m not sure what good the sanctions are going to do to make Putin pull his troops back. You think he didn’t know which sanctions act country could put on him once he started? He knew. He knew how much it could hurt Russia to do so. And he went ahead anyway. So unless this was always meant to be short-lived just to prove a point and he’s already counting down to ending it, the man is not likely to be swayed by sanctions, since the thought didn’t bother him enough to prevent it from happening anyway. Hope I’m wrong.
