Kolek planning to go pro
The only guy who even thinks he has or can consolidate enough power to oust Putin is Kadyrov.And that would be worse than Putin.There is no Nelson Mandela waiting in a prison somewhere.
Russian-held regions of Ukraine vote whether to join Russia
Worst take in the thread.0.0% chance Kadyrov has support anywhere besides a border territory in the caucuses. And even there he isn't particularly well liked.Suggesting he has any support in Russia proper is absolutely wrong. Chances are that it is just another man from the FSB that will continue to run Russia as the gangster state that it currently functions as.
Probably quoting Greenwald, too.
And Snowden.
That would be epic if he was granted citizenship and then sent to the front
He never impressed me as the soldier type.
Wasn’t he a SEAL or some sort of special forces?
He was in the Army for 4 and a half months. Broke his leg in training for the special forces and was discharged.
Moving this here, to not possibly contaminate the inflation thread, but is there any chance European viewpoints on Russia may shift if the energy prices remain as crazy as they are, or even get worse?
Not sure who damaged the Nord Stream pipelines yesterday but that's possibly the best thing politically for European government leaders because they can blame Putin now for the shortage of gas and possibly maintain support for Ukraine through the winter despite the inevitable power shortages.
Linking blaming Putin and (possibly) maintaining support for Ukraine works fine in theory, but I think in reality the link will not work. The leaks are NOT good news and, I think, could end up resulting in caving in at least partially to Putin.
In addition to some poor energy decisions made over many years by the Europeans, I think an oft overlooked factor is Putin's history of offering cushy, 7 figure salaries as board members on Russian energy companies to former PMs of European countries. I believe the offers were made before the PMs left office. Germany's Shroeder is Exhibit A. Until recent years, he was publicly very proud of his friendship with his patron Putin. He reminds me of someone else who was very proud of being a friend of Putin.
Ironic cause Shroeder went to Russia boasting about not being as friendly as Helmut Kohl was with Yeltsin...then becomes besties with Vladdy like 2 years later