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594 points geox | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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archildress ◴[] No.44449673[source]
I just feel extremely sad about the mass quantity of events like this happening right now because they are all aggregate to huge negative effects but the average person knows nothing of it. It feels so unfixable.
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SchemaLoad ◴[] No.44450869[source]
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jordanb ◴[] No.44451073[source]
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ben_w ◴[] No.44452789[source]
That a Ukraine loss is seen as the end of a free Europe (because Russia wouldn't stop at least until at least DDR Germany borders), is why the other European nations are collectively increasing military spending.

For a sense of scale (only scale, money is definitely not the most important criteria), the EU currently spends twice as much on their military as Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest...

So if (when) American support disappears, I expect Russia to continue to not go anywhere fast while wasting a lot of lives in the process. I also expect this to surprise Putin, as he thinks Russia is a Great Power and therefore can only be stalling if Ukraine is supported by another Great Power and doesn't recognise that (1) Russia isn't, and (2) the EU kinda is, sort of, when it feels like acting with unity rather than as 27 different nations.

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4gotunameagain ◴[] No.44453390[source]
It makes no sense whatsoever for Russia to attack more states than Ukraine.

The sole reason Russia invaded Ukraine was that it was flirting too much with NATO.

Putin might be a lunatic, but he is not stupid.

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shafyy ◴[] No.44453464[source]
It also made "no sense" for Russia to attack Ukraine. This is not about rational thinking.
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4gotunameagain ◴[] No.44453788[source]
If we are to be completely rational, what made no sense was Ukraine thinking it could be a part of NATO, or independent. It is the sad reality of existing next to a superpower. You cannot be independent. It would either be heavily influenced by Russia, or the option B they chose: in rubble.
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1. mopsi ◴[] No.44454163[source]
This line of reasoning is exactly why everyone bordering Russia is preparing for an invasion, and why no one deludes themselves with "Mr. Hitler will surely stop at Poland." It's not about NATO, ethnic Russians, or any other common excuse, but a fundamental collision between an imperialistic view of the world (represented by Putin's dictatorship) and a cooperative one (represented by the EU). Nations are naturally drawn to the EU, which does not force them to live under someone's boot, and Putin tries to stop that through raw violence.