Woof999

Along with TDS, one of the most annoying overused terms of the decade.

Do they get a policeman's discount?

I'm not going to do your work for you 😉 The only data that seems to pass the sniff test is Navalny's 27% of the vote in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election. Quite the difference from 5%. With his chances of success so low, it adds weight to the question of who poisoned him and to what end. I'll accept your point about the oligarchs. Perhaps that explains where much of Putin's own substantial wealth comes from (assumption). Also noted is that Putin threw due process out the window if your account of having them imprisoned without giving them any reason is accurate, not that I feel particularly sorry for them I have an inherent distrust of any "leader" who finds himself able to hold power over a nation for decades, especiallty when laws are changed to facilitate it. Their peers would include Robert Mugabe, Xi Jingping, Hun Sen and Putin himself.

Just fact checking this. What and when was the election that Navalny stood head to head with Putin in where he achieved <1% of the vote (was that the best he achieved in a comparable election), and are you sure about the 5% figure in the Moscow mayoral election?

Actually he's scoring some good points and I like to learn, which is why I'm asking questions. Your reply is rather lacking, perhaps you can learn too.

Well I'm nothing if not gullible. So who poisoned him and to what end? ...who decides if it's fake or not? Can't the people decide for themselves?

Gotya, so I can't include the one that proves the point. There's little point in him suppressing other parties that can't get their act together and will likely never construct a meaningful opposition. You didn't answer the bit about the censorship of foreign media. While I'm at it, why were the people that were peacefully protesting about the war (sorry, special military operation) summarily rounded up? Is this the free Russia that you love, where people are voting for the man that doesn't give them much of a meaningful choice? Are you free to protest about the war in the middle of Red Square without any threat of repercussion?

Right, so if Putin is so very much for the people and is almost universally loved by the people, why is there a need to almost totally suppress any political opposition? Why is there any need for the massive (even more than the US) censorship of foreign media?

You mean like giving away a significant portion of the national resource pot of gold to a handful of "the chosen ones" to create the Oligarchs? ...and taking an even bigger pot for himself?

I'm not American, haven't visited there in more than a decade and have no plans to return. If you think that that me or most others that despise what Putin is doing just because America told me to then none of your points will ever have much validity. In fact, jog on.

Now you're starting to reveal your reality. It's not about right and wrong, or choices, it's about toeing the line with the bully or else. Foxtrot oscar to that.

Sorry Bob, don't watch either of them. Not rt.com either.

My USA? You know little to nothing about me and this proves it. I guess I was taking your lead. Read your replies in this thread. Exactly what are you trying to achieve?

Africa is a nation? Did the large ones have a stronger vote than the others? In that case China and India can pretty much vote in whatever they want. Were you in a Friends episode, "The One With The Muppet" ?

Quite possibly, but I liked the part where the vast majority told Putin to stick his "peace deal" up his jacksie.

... and who was it again that was blindly following whatever their leader told them?

I'd forgotten that Putin allowed his population that choice.

While "free" might be a little bit of a stretch, I'm rather glad that I was born in the West that you seem to loathe, rather than, perhaps, Russia (or CCCP as it would have been then).

Agreed. The reason that I loathe the guy is that the referendum, when successful was only the very start of the work that was needed to leave the EU and build a successful, sustainable economy away from the bloc.

Respect

This. He championed (along with others) the LEAVE campaign which was a crazy decision for the UK to make. As soon as the referendum was over he said "my work is done" and buggered off. Can't stand the man, although I might support some of his ideas. Just some.

Actually I'm more sympathetic to Crimea than I am to the other annexed territories. As I'm sure you know better than me, Crimea was "Russian" from the 18th century and was ceded to Ukraine when both Russia and Ukraine were part of the union. Even before 2014, the majority of people there were still more Russian than Ukrainian, although they didn't necessarily want to join Russia so much as to have more devolved power of their own. However, Putin was so confident that the wider areas of eastern Ukraine (such as Kharkiv) dreamed of integrating with Russia that I'm sure that the defence they put up against his invasion gave him at least a bit of a wakeup call. To end, I think that defeating Putin now and reclaiming ALL the territories will displace less people in the long run, at a cost to a smaller group of people in the short term. If he succeeds in keeping the areas already occupied, I don't think that there are too many people who would believe he will be content to not do exactly the same again, over and over.

Ukraine reclaiming significant territory that is rightfully theirs in not illegal. It is both legal and moral. After Crimea, Donbas and every other territory that has been illegally annexed is returned, Ukraine could facilitate anyone who wants to become Russian to have their wish. Easy, no. Impossible, absolutely not. Those that don't want to be Ukrainian simply don't need to live in Ukraine. Simples. The ONLY reason that Putin cannot agree to that is because it would finish him as a "leader". Where was the personal attack? I didn't insult you. I didn't directly call you a Putin apologist, although the implication is there I guess. I pointed out that every response that I've seen from you on any topic to do with Putin is sympathetic to Putin. Your justification in this thread for doing so is to "think of the people", while clinging to a false absolute position that it would be impossible to do anything other than let Putin have his way. There is one person alone that you should be directing that comment ("think of the people") to and he does not visit this thread.

Weren't those lives broken in 2014? Isn't Putin forcing the assimilation of thousands of Ukrainian children from areas well outside of Crimea to become Russian? Do those broken lives not matter? Why is it only now impossible to reverse Putin's crimes, when he did almost exactly what you say cannot now be done? If people in the territory of Ukraine wanted to live in Russia, they had every opportunity to cross the border and live the life of their dreams. If Putin wanted so much for them to become Russian, he could have facilitated that for them. He is on a land grab. He believes that Ukraine in its entirety belongs to Russia. He longs for the return of the failed union and he will not stop until he either achieves it or he is dead (mostly my opinion of course). The majority of your ~100 or so posts are on threads related to Putin and it's pretty clear that you support him and/or his actions, so I guess there is little value in any kind of debate.

Of course there is. Putin had to do it when he stole the land. Everything on the Crimean peninsular was fully integrated into Ukraine and had been for at least half a century. Putin undid it all. It can be undone again.