@rah 22 February 2022 more from that month

So now Putin has played his masterstroke. He has recognised (illegally) Donetsk and Luhansk Provinces as independent and moved Russian forces (into Ukraine) to protect these so called countries. He has now created a narrative where if the Ukrainians decide to fight back and launch attacks on these two so called republics then it can be seen as "aggression against a Russian ally" and thus "justify" a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Hope it is not a portent of what is to come but when I was about 12 I saw a docu-drama called Threads about the 3rd World War and it focused on a nuke being dropped on Sheffield. Well this morning I was watching something that I had recorded yesterday and in it were two of the actors from Threads and while it is almost certainly a coincidence I want to add that one of them - the main female lead in Threads has hardly done any acting since - and this that I was watching was from 2010. So all in all if the Ukrainians strike to regain their own territory Russia will call it aggression and if they don't peace might be preserved for a time (anybody remember the Sudetens?) just like Crimea, until Putin decides to take another bite next year or the year after. We are up s___ creek people.