Russian invasion of Ukraine

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Occupation is the problem though, it's close to impossible with a hostile native population.

Especially in a country that size. It would be virtually impossible.

 

[Scottyboi]

Especially in a country that size. It would be virtually impossible.

It wouldn't stay that size for long, Russian Fed is nothing but a colonial empire, it will fall apart one day soon hopefully.

 

[Irwell]

Especially in a country that size. It would be virtually impossible.

Do you need to occupy the country though or do you need to occupy Moscow?

 

[dickie davies]

Cut the head off the snake and keep enough troops stationed to cut the head off again if more former KGB agents or oligarchs try to take over, then hold free elections and keep those troops in place long enough to let democracy settle.

I know that's what we tried in Afghanistan, but I think there was a flaw to the process in Afghanistan in terms of a large number of highly religious people who disagreed with what was being implemented. I'm not convinced you'd have the same level of fundamental objection in Russia once they started to see what the alternative to a Putin-style Russia was.

That said, by no means am I advocating an attempt to invade Russia!

With the instability caused by religious nutters, it's very much in the West's interests to keep the Russian Federation as an entire entity and for it not to split up

 

[KS55]

I like seeing the Russians get a good kicking and the bravery of the Ukrainians is incredible. That said, I must have missed the lesson where we earned the right to call every Russian a scumbag for not trying to overthrow Putin. When was the last time any town or City in the U.K. made a big stand against drug dealers, rapists of kids, or political extremists / terrorists (never mind a powerful State). I vaguely remember some Southerners getting mobbed up to protect shops getting looted in the Mark Duggan riots and we / the North of England responded to the Arena bombing with stoicism.

It might be just my cynicism but I don’t see much of a revolt happening if we had a Putin like figure in charge in the U.K.

Poll tax riot.

 

[dickie davies]

It wouldn't stay that size for long, Russian Fed is nothing but a colonial empire, it will fall apart one day soon hopefully.

I fucking hope not

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

It wouldn't stay that size for long, Russian Fed is nothing but a colonial empire, it will fall apart one day soon hopefully.

It will, I’m sure, but even if you take this the territories west of the Volga it’s a fucking huge country with a hostile climate and (in parts) challenging terrain. At a guess that country would be ten times the size of Iraq.

 

[Irwell]

With the instability caused by religious nutters, it's very much in the West's interests to keep the Russian Federation as an entire entity and for it not to split up

I'm not convinced. If Russia split then some of the smaller states might start causing issues locally, but their neighbours would be much better placed to deal with them. As things stand, it's Russia that causes the issues and very few countries are able to stand up to them.

 

[Grassland Blue]

This article is a decent explanation of some of the questions you've asked above. It's behind a paywall but you can read 3 articles a month for free on there! But in short, Russia has been frequently invaded from the west over the past 500 years and it's also vulnerable without access to warm water ports throuhout winter. Hence the original annexation of Crimea. I'm not saying this is the main thing that drives Putin, but it does explain some of why what you mentioned has been in the national psyche.

Why Russia is a prisoner of geography

Haunted by the nightmares of history, Vladimir Putin is the latest Russian leader to use violence and occupation to control the European flatlands to the west.

www.newstatesman.com

This is why the Russians have a wider guage on their railways than the rest of Europe. (5' 1/4" as opposed to 4' 8 1/2")

 

[aguero93:20]

I am aware Russia has been invaded on numerous occasions but without any meaningful success by those invading. Their fear isn’t rooted in experience or logic.

It’s a akin to City fans going on about ‘typical City’ fourteen years after a takeover that has delivered six PL titles.

Like I said, it doesn’t bear up to objective scrutiny.

Genghis Khan is the only one to ever actually manage it and even that didn't last through occupation.