We are in the "special operation" topic but np we can talk about Russia trying to break european democracies by sponsorizing far right parties and using social medias... Since decades now.
So yes; it is toxic, it is a nuisance, it is dangerous.

Btw something changed, because 30+ years ago USSR was eventally sponsorizing communist parties.



They attacked with proxy "pro-russians militias" since a while now, basically when they realized that Ukraine was on its way to leave, and that corruption and threats were not enough.

Lol. Ya, ukraine started it. Terrible decision? By being for democracy?


Ffs

Fyi- Russia is getting pwned by Ukraine.

Hope this helps.

This post was edited by said_aouita on Jan 23 2023 01:44pm

Huge debate on beard in russia. i will paste translation from french article:

War in Ukraine: the Russian army banned mobile phones ... and the port of the beard

The Russian Defense Ministry has given several guidelines to "professionalize" the army without delay. Before carrying out more ambitious military reforms by 2026.

Will the year 2023 be that of the great upheaval for the Russian army? As of January 11, the chief command of the troops present in Ukraine changed its hand, and was entrusted to the chief of staff in person, Valeré Guérassimov. The first weeks of the year were also marked by several announcements from the Russian Defense Ministry. As she thought she was carrying out a lightning war, Russia engaged in a long war, which it must now take differently.

Last week, Minister Sergei Choïgou sketched the contours of large-scale military reforms, which will be carried out between 2023 and 2026. His ministry also announced some shorter-term directives, aimed at improving the professionalism of the armed forces without delay , underlines the very serious American reflection group Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Among them, the ban for Russian soldiers engaged in Ukraine to use their mobile phone or a personal vehicle and ... to carry the beard.

Avoid news hecatombs

The prohibition to use electronic equipment for personal use in the army is theoretically already in place, but rarely respected. With this measure, the Ministry of Defense wishes to avoid a new massacre, after the Ukrainian strike which had killed at least 89 Russian soldiers (400, according to the Ukrainian military authorities), in the heart of the temporary military districts of Makiïvka on New Year's Night . Immediately after this attack, the ministry had appropriately attributed it to Russian soldiers who had used their cell phone to wish their loved ones the happy new year.

These electronic devices would have enabled Ukraine to geolocate a large concentration of soldiers and hit with precision. On the ground, this equipment is however used to pilot recognition drones and to transmit intelligence. "Tablets and smartphones are essential to modern war," said the boss of Wagner, Evguéni Prigojine, during an interview with a Russian media. Thanks to the data collected, the combatants know the general situation and can transmit vital information. ”

The ban on beard, "elementary aspect of military discipline"

More anecdotal, the obligation to shave the beard is nevertheless revealing the will of the Russian high command to professionalize its army. In its daily note dated January 16, the ISW emphasizes that the question of hygiene on front lines has often been a point of friction between the officers and their men, the latter often refusing to shave. In an interview with the Russian information site RBC, relayed by Reuters, the deputy and former Up Gradi Viktor Sobolev estimated that the ban on the beard was an "elementary aspect of the military discipline". “A soldier is seen by civilians, he must look exemplary. If he walks unrealized and poorly shaved, that honors him neither as a person nor as a soldier, "he detailed.

"This measure may seem banal, but respect or contempt for these standards are a marker of the professionalism of conventional troops," notes the ISW. In poorly efficient and demoralized units, non-compliance with these standards can fuel demoralization and poor performance. ” Still according to the ISW, these guidelines could very well have been published "in order to assess the effectiveness of the Russian army command chain".
A freshly welcomed measurement

But this measure was freshly welcomed, until some close to Vladimir Putin. "A soldier must fight. 80%of the time, he washes with a bottle, and shaving is generally a great luxury," commented Evguéni Prigojine, again on his telegram channel, calling these orders as "absurd" and "archaisms of the 1960s". The boss of Wagner also stressed that "a considerable part of Muslims and Orthodox carry a beard according to their religious customs".

An argument taken up by the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who saw in this directive a "provocation" against his soldiers, with a Muslim majority, and an act of Islamophobia. "Sobolev knows perfectly who carries a beard on the front line and why," he wrote on Telegram. With the Russian media RBC, the commander of a Donbass separatist forces brigade indicated that this measure had not yet had any repercussions on the ground. "We don't have such restrictions on the front line," he said.

/e source ofc it's a very decent one (more likely right wing/conservative paper)
https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/guerre-en-ukraine-l-armee-russe-bannit-les-telephones-portables-et-le-port-de-la-barbe-20230123


these faces



This post was edited by Meanwhile on Jan 23 2023 01:49pm

In case you didnt know:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom_in_Russia

The serfdom of the Moujik continued until 1861, where he was abolished by Alexander II. The Russian Empire then had 50 million Moujiks, or more than 80% of the population


In France the transformation of slavery into serfdom was done, through various vicissitudes, from the 4th to the 10th century, and that of the serf in a free peasant from the 10th to the end of the 18th. The last serfs were freed in France at the time of the Revolution: but this transformation was virtually accomplished when the Revolution broke out.

Specific to Russia: the serfs are not only farmers (Terfs Terriens) but also small traders and craftsmen village, hawkers, servants, they are also enlisted in the army where they will constitute the spine of Russian infantry, others are used as factory workers.

This post was edited by Meanwhile on Jan 23 2023 02:25pm

I asked you to post pre 2008 sources showing that Russia was so "toxic"

I'm waiting

BTW bolded: isn't Ukraine one of the most corrupt country in EU? Good luck with that



Ukraine - NATO membership - Crimea / Sevastopol - Russia - war

The shortest possible breakdown for dumb shits.

Yushchenko TCDD poisoning, 2004.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko#TCDD_poisoning




"toxic"

This post was edited by Meanwhile on Jan 23 2023 02:33pm

ukraine - sovereign country - internationally recognised borders - crimea belongs to ukraine

shortest possible breakdown for pootin bootlickers

During the 18th century, the sale of serfs was developed without land (=selling people), sometimes even in Public auctions, practice being legally authorized or defended.
The condition of the peasants will further worsen with the reign From Catherine II, yet "prototype of enlightened despotism":
Catherine II strengthened nobles' power in the countryside by conceding them the right of Deporting the serfs in Siberia (1765), it will institute serfdom in recently conquered Ukraine where it did not exist until then. (1783).

You are reading it right: Serfdom to Slavery emerged in Russia while Serfdom (which appeared from slavery 1000 years before) was already vastly non existant anymore in Occident...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Russia

Russia constitutes a major exception in the history of humanity, as the unique country where slavery would have been practiced by people belonging to the technically dominant group on others in the same group.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hellie)

US Confronts China Over Companies’ Ties to Russian War Effort
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/us-confronts-china-over-companies-ties-to-russian-war-effort/ar-AA16Fhje
Here we go; China helping the criminals.

What's next ? Public shaming, exposure, to encourage the boycott of the maximum amount of chinese products ?

This post was edited by Meanwhile on Jan 23 2023 08:04pm