Serotonin said:

---

What do you think Putin's goals are?

---

In simplified fashion and excluding some of his more grandiosely stated goals for Russia, they include but are not limited to:

"Putin wants Nato to promise never to accept Ukraine (or Georgia and Moldova) as members. He wants the alliance to pull back from "frontline" countries such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact. He wants Kyiv to accept autonomous status for the Donbas region and relinquish its claim to Crimea. He wants to limit or halt deployments in eastern and southern Europe of new US medium-range missiles. More ambitious still, he wants to redesign Europe's "security architecture", to re-establish Russia's influence and extend its geopolitical reach."

1. Keep Ukraine out of NATO.
2. Open water up to Crimea
3. Maybe just a giant war game to see the actual response/resolve of the West. Build national pride, show his power to those outside and inside of Russia.

Puts tinfoil hat on.

Russia is in cohorts with China and wants Ukraine for its Ag/food production. Ukraine has some of the best Ag land in the world. Looking 100 yrs ahead.

Just spitballing.

Serotonin said:

---

This is not 1945 or even 1975. Russia cannot take over Europe. Their interests are purely regional. Do you think Putin wants to take over Germany and Sweden?

While that might temporarily relieve Germans and Swedes from their ongoing immigration problem and the rampant climate change and LGBT+ propaganda from the globalist oligarchy, Russia has neither the financial resources or manpower to run such an operation.

What do you think Putin's goals are?

Fundamentally, I have a problem spending American taxpayer money protecting Ukraine's sacred borders (est. 1991) when the Democrats fight any effort to enhance our own border defense. Why are we so concerned with protecting a random tracksuit country from another tracksuit country on the other side of the world while we refuse to construct a simple border wall or properly fund our own border security? Isn't that strange?

---

I agree they're not going to be rolling to the Atlantic. It's clear that they want hegemony over the Baltics and probably the Balkans. I think they also want to dismantle NATO entirely but that's more of a long term goal and I think they want to do that diplomatically. They also clearly want to push the US influence out of northern Middle East. Additionally I think they want to secure their border with China diplomatically.

No one is saying hey let's finance a counter invasion of the Crimea.

No one here is saying we shouldn't protect our own border.

What some people are saying is that failing to follow through on commitments in places like Ukraine is going to have incredibly severe issues later with China, Iran and elsewhere.

Texas had been part of Mexico since long before the US existed. I don't hear anyone arguing that they're entitled to take it back. That's an invalid and illogical argument. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent nation with rights consistent with such status. They have a right to remain as such under international law, which Putin wishes to violate.

#Russia'n President Vladimir Putin signs decree to conscript Russian citizens who are in reserves for "military training" in 2022.

— Doge (@IntelDoge) February 18, 2022

For those of you interested in the technical aspects of this drama, here's some of the ways (plus satellites, of course) the US is watching Russian forces closing in on Ukraine and, of course, also keeping Kiev informed, too.

KEEPING WATCH

Appreciate the thoughtful response, that makes sense.

Putin is going to look like a massive p@ssy if he doesn't do something here

and Biden will be crowing how Cumala forced Putin to back down at the last minute.

Does that sound like something Putin is going to abide?

Not a surprise but the U.S. is blaming Russia for the cyber attacks that Ukraine experienced this week (heard during the WH press briefing)

Rossticus said:

---

Serotonin said:

---

What do you think Putin's goals are?

---

In simplified fashion and excluding some of his more grandiosely stated goals for Russia, they include but are not limited to:

"Putin wants Nato to promise never to accept Ukraine (or Georgia and Moldova) as members. He wants the alliance to pull back from "frontline" countries such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact. He wants Kyiv to accept autonomous status for the Donbas region and relinquish its claim to Crimea. He wants to limit or halt deployments in eastern and southern Europe of new US medium-range missiles. More ambitious still, he wants to redesign Europe's "security architecture", to re-establish Russia's influence and extend its geopolitical reach."

---

Man, that might be the goal but I don't think they have the resources to accomplish that.

I don't think Russia even has the resources to occupy or maintain a puppet state in Ukraine.

Any leverage they have with Germany et al is due to self-inflicted energy policy in Western Europe.

Head of the LNR posted a video about evacuation on the state news outlet, but the metadata shows that the file was created two days ago (Telegram retains metadata). Testing some other videos on the channel to see other creation dates, will post below.https://t.co/yJ5jj5cD7q

— Aric Toler (@AricToler) February 18, 2022

LMCane said:

---

Putin is going to look like a massive p@ssy if he doesn't do something here

and Biden will be crowing how Cumala forced Putin to back down at the last minute.

Does that sound like something Putin is going to abide?

---

Why can't he just maintain that it was all pre-planned exercises and that the Western media was proven to be lying? That would be his play here.

I really don't think there's a full scale invasion coming. It would've already happened by now.

But I could be wrong.

Was Texas part of Mexico as recently as 1990? And actually, there are plenty of Mexicans who argue they should take it back. And unless something drastic changes in regards to immigration policy soon they almost certainly will take it back sometime within the next 50 years. More invaders crossed the US border last month alone than the total number of Russian troops massed on the borders of the Ukraine. Think about that.

Russia isn't going to invade or annex the Ukraine, but even if for some reason they wanted to, it is of no concern of ours. We have far more pressing matters to attend to.

What does Putin really want? DEPTH

Serotonin said:

---

Rossticus said:

---

Serotonin said:

---

What do you think Putin's goals are?

---

In simplified fashion and excluding some of his more grandiosely stated goals for Russia, they include but are not limited to:

"Putin wants Nato to promise never to accept Ukraine (or Georgia and Moldova) as members. He wants the alliance to pull back from "frontline" countries such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, former members of the defunct Warsaw Pact. He wants Kyiv to accept autonomous status for the Donbas region and relinquish its claim to Crimea. He wants to limit or halt deployments in eastern and southern Europe of new US medium-range missiles. More ambitious still, he wants to redesign Europe's "security architecture", to re-establish Russia's influence and extend its geopolitical reach."

---

Man, that might be the goal but I don't think they have the resources to accomplish that.

I don't think Russia even has the resources to occupy or maintain a puppet state in Ukraine.

Any leverage they have with Germany et al is due to self-inflicted energy policy in Western Europe.

---

I agree and I think that's why Putin has sort of painted himself into a corner. I believe he thought we'd back down and give in to many of his larger demands through coercion due to his view of Europe and US as overly soft and selfish (not an entirely unreasonable assumption). We defied his expectations and now his ass is between a rock and a hard place. Which side wins out? His vanity and ambition or his reason?

Additionally, I know we're working with Europe to establish alternative energy sources (where else to get NG from) in light of recent events. No clue what the progress looks like on that front Or to what degree our domestic production might be gable to assist in filling that gap.

Of course. Mainly I'm looking to obtain and communicate open source info here on the thread and not to get derailed on the rest. I definitely appreciate those who do not trust the so-called uniparty state on this. (I say so called for lack of a better term unless you prefer Deep State, it will suffice here). There is exactly zero reason to believe in our leadership as a whole. And I do appreciate the impact of defense contractors. You can see my many posts on the SpaceX thread about my thoughts on their meddling with the FAA as an example.

But that doesn't mean we can't look down the road and see what else could come down the road of completely ignoring a treaty obligation like we have with Ukraine. That doesn't mean the same as bringing them into or defending them as part of NATO.

But due concern and a watchful eye are certainly appropriate. Appreciate the response back!

74OA said:

---

What does Putin really want? DEPTH

---

That was an excellent piece, thanks for sharing.

Serotonin said:

---

LMCane said:

---

Putin is going to look like a massive p@ssy if he doesn't do something here

and Biden will be crowing how Cumala forced Putin to back down at the last minute.

Does that sound like something Putin is going to abide?

---

Why can't he just maintain that it was all pre-planned exercises and that the Western media was proven to be lying? That would be his play here.

I really don't think there's a full scale invasion coming. It would've already happened by now.

But I could be wrong.

---

I would probably agree at maybe half the forces he's brought in. The fact that Putin has pulled forces from every military district in Russia including sending troops, aircraft, ground equipment from up to 9000 km seems like a really expensive bluff. Yes, it could be. Or he could have decided against it, but the pace of provocations is picking up significantly over the last 36 hours.

teamrican1 said:

---

Was Texas part of Mexico as recently as 1990? And actually, there are plenty of Mexicans who argue they should take it back. And unless something drastic changes in regards to immigration policy soon they almost certainly will take it back sometime within the next 50 years. More invaders crossed the US border last month alone than the total number of Russian troops massed on the borders of the Ukraine. Think about that.

Russia isn't going to invade or annex the Ukraine, but even if for some reason they wanted to, it is of no concern of ours. We have far more pressing matters to attend to.

---

I understand your point regarding Mexico but I mean, nobody on the international scene is seriously advocating to allow for Mexico to militarily (or politically) re-acquire Texas.

I do agree with you. They don't want to sack Kyiv and occupy Ukraine. They want pro-Russian populated Donbas areas to be recognized as autonomous but allowed to participate in Ukrainian politics as well as to meddle in Ukrainian politics, ensuring the development of a highly pro-Russian government that can then be leveraged to Russia's benefit and slowly degraded to the point where Russia calls all the shots.

Essentially what's been happening in Belarus since 1994 is what Putin is after. And Ukraine is calling BS on it. And Russia is threatening with the military in an attempt to pressure a favorable environment for cultivation of their preferred scenario.

GeorgiAg said:

---

will25u said:

---

---

France ready to surrender

---

But they know how to run a resistance operation once the occupation happens.

Rapier108 said:

---

GeorgiAg said:

---

will25u said:

---

---

France ready to surrender

---

But they know how to run a resistance operation once the occupation happens.

---

So does Ukraine. RESIST

🇺🇦🇩🇪 Mayor of #Kyiv #klitschko to German FM at the Munich Security Conference: "Thank you for 5,000 helmets, but it's not enough. We can't defend our country just with that." pic.twitter.com/CerBy9JuS5

— 🅰🅻🅴🆁🆃 🅲🅷🅰🅽🅽🅴🅻 (@AlertChannel) February 18, 2022

It's a valid point.

🛑🛑🛑‼️‼️‼️‼️#BREAKING
Initial reports on social media of a large explosion in Luhansk city #Ukraine #Russia #Putin pic.twitter.com/oZh1ohptYu

— parallel_universe🇺🇦 (@ignis_fatum) February 18, 2022

Germany is an embarrassment

TChaney said:

---

🛑🛑🛑‼️‼️‼️‼️#BREAKING
Initial reports on social media of a large explosion in Luhansk city #Ukraine #Russia #Putin pic.twitter.com/oZh1ohptYu

— parallel_universe🇺🇦 (@ignis_fatum) February 18, 2022

---

That's not Ukraine video. That's footage from a reactor accident in Russia 2-3 years ago.

AG 2000' said:

---

TChaney said:

---

🛑🛑🛑‼️‼️‼️‼️#BREAKING
Initial reports on social media of a large explosion in Luhansk city #Ukraine #Russia #Putin pic.twitter.com/oZh1ohptYu

— parallel_universe🇺🇦 (@ignis_fatum) February 18, 2022

---

That's not Ukraine video. That's footage from a reactor accident in Russia 2-3 years ago.

---

Russian media is also reporting there is a pipeline on fire (and will probably blame it on Ukraine).

Powerful explosion hits another city in eastern Ukraine – reports https://t.co/Jh73epSJYh

— RT (@RT_com) February 18, 2022

Pro-separatist Telegram channel claims Ukrainians have blown up a gas pipeline near Luhansk. pic.twitter.com/a5tIU2UotH

— Ilya Lozovsky (@ichbinilya) February 18, 2022

#Russia just blew up an important gas pipeline in Eastern #Ukraine & will now falsely blame it on Ukrainian forces. And their propaganda outlets started spreading it just minutes after it happened. pic.twitter.com/9bWrSvcQ0y

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 18, 2022

There is a compressor station near where the explosion was reported pic.twitter.com/ciqROhZMGl

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 18, 2022

Bumbling Biden is almost an hour late in his update to the public on this topic.

Rossticus said:

---

Texas had been part of Mexico since long before the US existed. I don't hear anyone arguing that they're entitled to take it back. That's an invalid and illogical argument. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent nation with rights consistent with such status. They have a right to remain as such under international law, which Putin wishes to violate.

---

Unrelated to the current conflict, but Texas was a part of Mexico for 15 years before Texas Independence. It didn't become a part of Mexico until 45 years after American Independence.

Russian media reporting another explosion.

BREAKING: Second explosion heard in rebel-held Luhansk in eastern Ukraine - RIA

— BNO News (@BNONews) February 18, 2022

Invasion or no invasion, the Russian assault on Ukraine is already well underway. "Some in Moscow have openly rejoiced. "The economy in Kyiv has been torn to shreds… a small matter, but pleasant," Margarita Simonyan, the editor in chief of the Kremlin-controlled RT television network, wrote on her Telegram channel."

RUIN