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Ukraine creating international territorial defense legion – Zelensky

• otar 5y ago
  Ukraine is fighting our war right now, as an united nation. Huge respect.
  • lvl100 5y ago
    This is it. Ironic considering that EU/US is unwilling to fight a war that will benefit them the most. Ukraine is fighting this war for their country but they are also fighting to save the world from a very possible WWIII.
    • hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
      Europe is not sending a lot of weapons instead of soldiers for a single reason: nukes. Nobody wants to contribute to the end of this Earth and although Putin seems to be playing Nixon's "the president is crazy" card well, you can never be sure how far from reality he is. Edit: well, that escalated quickly: https://ria.ru/20220227/putin-1775389742.html https://ria.ru/20220227/putin-1775389742.html 'As stated in the directory on the website of the Ministry of Defense, the strategic forces "are designed to deter aggression against Russia and its allies, as well as to defeat the aggressor (inflicting defeat on him), including in a war with the use of nuclear weapons."'
      • amcoastal 5y ago
        We have a much more recent example of a crazy president that would threaten nuclear war than Nixon.
        • artificialLimbs 5y ago
          You mean the recent president that signed more peace deals in the Middle East in recent history and was the only president who also hasn’t started a war since probably I’ve been alive? That guy?
          • JoeAltmaier 5y ago
            ...by selling out the Palestinians? And dependent on a fantasy (a demilitarized Israel?!) They were an election-year stunt. Not a real effort at diplomacy.
          • amcoastal 5y ago
            Yeah the one that would tweet fire and fury and randomly blow up generals on airstrips.
      • ComputerGuru 5y ago
        There is no real fear of nuclear apocalypse when a nuclear power attacks a non-nuclear power (especially one that doesn’t have a binding defense agreement automatically activated upon attack/invasion w/ a nuclear power); we’ve seen the US do that with impunity and no repercussions. Risk of nuclear annihilation only comes when one nuclear power attacks another.
      • ThunderSizzle 5y ago
        An old senile man is occupying the office that could have stopped Putin. Putin didn't even call any bluff. Biden admitted on TV that they aren't doing to do anything weeks ago. Putin did exactly what he said he would do, and Biden is doing exactly what he said he would do. It's no wonder nothing happened when Trump was in office. How many times do we need to learn that appeasement does nothing. If the Allies stopped Germany when they remilitarized the Rhineland, Hitler would've been done without much of a war. Instead, the world appeased Hitler until it was too late. The world appeased Putin with Crimea, and then the separatists. The world is appeasing this. What's the next escalation?
    • swimminginlove 5y ago
      The EU/US joining would be what causes WWIII.
      • adventured 5y ago
        > The EU/US joining would be what causes WWIII. There's absolutely no reason to believe that is true. Russia's military is weak, their economy is extremely weak, their manufacturing base is extremely weak, and their only defensive fall-back is nuclear weapons and masses of bodies to throw at an invading force (it would be very unwise for anybody to bother invading Russia, there's no point to that). The use of nuclear weapons doesn't equate to a world war. Where would WW3 come from? Russia has very few allies and China isn't joining WW3 on their side (China would stay out of it unless attacked, they'd strategically position themselves to benefit from the damage to their peers). Belarus is a joke (and that regime would be quickly broken in a conflict). Syria is destroyed. Iran is a non-threat. What else has Russia got on their side?
        • graeme 5y ago
          The nukes are WWIII. That’s why a direct war is a massive risk.
        • pizza234 5y ago
          > There's absolutely no reason to believe that is true. WWIII, in a literal sense (that is, between world-wide alliances), won't happen, since certainly China/India have not reason to enter it. On the other hand though, Russia vs. the West is not so far fetched. Keep in mind that Putimir announced: > Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered military command to put nuclear deterrence forces on high alert after aggressive statements by Nato countries, Reuters reports. Whether this is a bluff or not, it shows a clearly deranged personality. I wouldn't be surprised if, as a matter of principle, he'd initiate a nuclear war rather than losing Ukraine. After all, invading Ukraine has been motivated entirely by principle.
    • dgellow 5y ago
      Nuclear weapons are really a horrible curse, in every single ways possible. You can see the bully coming after your neighbors and you know, they know, everybody knows you won’t do anything to defend yourself to avoid a nuclear conflict. If we wouldn’t have nukes we would join our neighbors and fight but the real risk of a complete nuclear annihilation freezes all our moves. Ukrainians and Georgians are indeed fighting our war, defending the European cause, while we are bystanders. The entire situation makes me feel sick.
      • musha68k 5y ago
        I’m still wondering at which point diplomacy started to fail so spectacularly?
        • jounker 5y ago
          When Ukrainians overthrew Putin’s puppet Yanukovych back in 2014? My personal opinion is that Putin was never negotiating in good faith. He was negotiating as a stalling tactic while prepared and/or waited for the most opportune time to invade.
          • lvl100 5y ago
            I think it’s 2011 when NATO flipped on Libya. That’s the exact moment Putin stopped being friendly to the West.
            • musha68k 5y ago
              So basically he is afraid. Dangerous.
          • dgellow 5y ago
            Yes, I agree, it has never been in good faith. Putin is a fascist, in the true sense of the world. His ideology is based on a "natural order" in which the strong dominate the weak and a past dream of lost glory. When he's using the "blood and soil" argument or he's talking about fighting against degeneracy it's not by mistake. If you look a bit at the ideology popular among high-ranked Russian, their behavior for the past 15-20 years make more sense. For example, you can check: - the book "Foundations of Geopolitics ": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics - its author and "philosopher" Aleksandr Dugin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Dugin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Dugin Putin has a long-term vision and strategy to build a fascist empire, he has been working on this for decades.
  • pinephoneguy 5y ago
    >fighting our war Which group are they fighting for? It's a former Soviet state fighting Russia. Part of being an independent nation means being diplomatic and not pissing off your neighbor. The CSA attacked a US fort and now they don't exist either. That's just the way it goes. If by "our" you mean free democracy, eh, Ukraine wasn't exactly the bastion of free democracy you think it is. There were plenty of coups and illegitimate governments in its short life. There's nuance here but a lot of people are ignoring it and just eating up propaganda.
    • T-A 5y ago
      > It's a former Soviet state fighting Russia. It's a former Soviet state defending itself from a Russian invasion.
    • jacquesm 5y ago
      It's a formerly occupied state that is fighting its former occupier.
      • pinephoneguy 5y ago
        Ok, that's not our war.
• emteycz 5y ago
  Beware, it's criminal to fight in a foreign army for most EU citizens. Edit: There is no such thing as "willingness to prosecute" in EU, all crimes must and will be prosecuted here (the officials of many states even said so). This applies to French foreing legions too. People with dual citizenship are treated specially, each state has their own rules for that situation (sometimes approval of the other state is needed, sometimes not). Dual nationality without dual citizenship means nothing.
  • gameswithgo 5y ago
    do what is right, not what is legal
    • loonster 5y ago
      We should have never messed with their country in the first place.
      • andybak 5y ago
        Explain?
        • loonster 5y ago
          Sitting US Senator (McCain) making speeches to protesters in Kiev. Sitting VP (Biden) threatening to withhold financial aid if prosecutor isnt fired ( who happens to be investigating firm son works for).
          • livinginfear 5y ago
            Let's not forget all the military spending money Biden has given to Ukraine during his time as president, prior to this conflict kicking off. This crisis was not sudden, or unanticipated. Russia has been warning the world for a long time to back off.
            • 5y ago
• cyberlurker 5y ago
  Some British politicians have indicated they will support citizens fighting for Ukraine. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukraine-russia-war-british-troops-fight-b2024286.html?amp https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukraine-russi...
  • robkop 5y ago
    This statement is so counter to what I'd normally expect a defence minister to say that I wonder if it's being setup as a cover for British troops to be in Ukraine without bringing forth all the issues around Brits and Russians killing each other. I wouldn't be surprised if special operations groups were already in country but this would let them be a lot more liberal with showing themselves.
    • hughrr 5y ago
      This is certainly a reasonable hypothesis. Tell SAS guys they have a 3 month expenses paid holiday as civilians in Eastern Europe. Job done. ”don’t get yourselves into trouble. Wink wink”
      • robkop 5y ago
        I wonder how large you could take this strategy before it turns into a NATO intervention. Could you have 3 full battalions of British troops all take time off and decide to go fight for Ukraine on their own? Could you have a full armoured regiment take 1 month PTO and go fight for Ukraine and then suddenly have some British armour dropped off for the Ukrainian army to use? Could you say a drone command group is taking a month off then lend and lease a fleet of drones to the Ukrainian air force? This feels like a very Putinesque salami tactic, maybe we should be hitting back the say way he's hitting Ukraine.
        • jessaustin 5y ago
          This feels like the way the world ends. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/vladimir-putin-puts-russia-nuclear-deterrence-forces-on-high-alert-ukraine https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/27/vladimir-putin...
• gbronner 5y ago
  There was a lot of good literature that came out of the international brigades of the Spanish civil war
• blagie 5y ago
  I think more details would be helpful. There isn't enough in the announcement to hold a meaningful conversation. There is a tiny number of people who can drop everything and hop on an plane to Ukraine to fight. There is a much larger number of people who can do so if it still allows them to, for example: - pay their rent/mortgage back home; or - to gain citizenship so they can stay in Ukraine once the fighting stops On the other hand, I do think there is some number of millionaires / billionaires who would be willing to sponsor people too.
• eloisius 5y ago
  This link is redirecting me to some scam congratulating me for winning and asking me to sign in with Google.
• fuoqi 5y ago
  Meanwhile, national territorial defense forces (yesterday civilians who received AK-47s) work just great: https://t.me/voenkorKotenok/31303 https://t.me/voenkorKotenok/31303
  • artem247 5y ago
• livinginfear 5y ago
  In case this is not obvious to anyone reading, this is a terrible, terrible idea. Discounting the obvious risks of being killed, or injured, if you are captured as a member of a foreign paramilitary unit, you will not be afforded the same legal protections as a prisoner of war. Even after this war ends you may still find yourself imprisoned. You risk being tried as a war criminal, or even just a regular criminal being charged with murder, or another offense against the state. This has been done before by Bosnia during their conflict with Serbia. They made a call to Mujahideen of the world to defend them. The prize for participation was a Bosnian passport. Hindsight may be 20/20, however I do not see any possible scenario where Ukraine joins the EU after the dust settles. Even if Ukraine grants you a passport, it won't be worth much. Especially if Russia considers you a war criminal for your efforts.
  • sgjohnson 5y ago
    Is Russia even taking prisoners in this conflict? And I'm fairly sure that all of the volunteers would rather die than surrender themselves to Russians. So shoot a couple of more Russians and die with them, instead of surrendering.
    • fuoqi 5y ago
      >Is Russia even taking prisoners in this conflict? Are you serious? Of course it does and actively promotes defections from the Ukrainian army as best as it can.
      • sgjohnson 5y ago
        They are deliberately firing on civilian houses, so yes, I would be surprised if they were taking prisoners.
    • ganzuul 5y ago
      They have been told they are liberating a people from fascists. Again!
  • alkonaut 5y ago
• simonsg 5y ago
  This site is hacked and leads to a scam website (accessing from Singapore)
• ospzfmbbzr 5y ago
  When you see all the athletes, politicians, and actors all taking one side then surely they must be right!
  • ospzfmbbzr 5y ago
    • dgellow 5y ago
      Ah, the infamous “I’m just asking question” common to all online trolls and conspiracists. Please keep your pseudo-epistemological flame bait out of HN.
    • terafo 5y ago
      Let me tell you what do I actually know. I hears alarms. I hear gunshots. I hear explosions. I have friends who are fighting the war that was started by dictator that killed, jailed or poisoned all opposition to him that haven't fled the country. That dictator is threatening to use nukes. That dictator previously attacked our country and taken our territories(Crimea). He backed separatists in our country and sent weapons, people and equipment to that regions for 8 long years, which created humanitarian crisis. Now he attacks openly to overturn our democratically elected government(which by no means is ideal). All of that happens just because we are not willing to submit to his rule.
  • alkonaut 5y ago
    Don't forget Bashar al Assad is on the other side. Can't be sure which side is right I guess then.
    • llampx 5y ago
      Well, threaten the petrodollar and see what you get.
  • dotancohen 5y ago
    There is very little mention of the Russian perspective in Western sources. That, and the fact that all the major Western news sources show heartbreaking photographs of children, lead me to believe that an agenda is being pushed.
• musha68k 5y ago
  War is its own kind of virus, has everyone gone insane?
  • rjzzleep 5y ago
    Decades of conditioning on moral superiority, and dehumanizing the "enemy" and people are ready to jump on command. Yes they have gone insane, but then again there have been plenty of people here constantly defending using nuclear bombs as a device of peace.
    • ganzuul 5y ago
      MAD as per its namesake rested on the sanity of leadership. It was the accepted Sword of Democles and a guarantee that those entrusted with global power subscribed to a basic level of common sense: Give into aggressive instincts and die. Suddenly this guarantee which has brought us if not peace then a little breathing room was torn like a thin veneer. We have had 70 years to get our act together, dealing with the consequences that drumfire and shellshock of two world wars had on the European subconscious mind.
• DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
  I posted this because of the cyber/Tech angle in some tweets: > Ukraine’s vice PM & minister for digital transformation says an “IT army” formed & now it’s recruiting IT specialists from other countries. ‘We translated tasks in English. Task # 1: use any vectors of cyber and DDoS attacks on sites and systems of Russian govt, biz, banks.’ -- https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1497813622793379842 https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1497813622793379842 > Zelensky announced the formation of a new unit - the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine. It will be made up of foreigners who want to take part in repelling Russian aggression. -- https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1497826690822594562 https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1497826690822594562 While I can't picture myself taking up (cyber) arms against a foreign nation, aren't EU / US law quite explicit about the legality of meddling as a civilian? Or does it mean registering with the UA office will make it legal?. There are plenty on the fringes in the West who don't have a job or are totally disillusioned by their prospects for a good future. The idea that attacking Russian assets (banks, companies) from your home in say UK, France or US and with impunity could be tempting. I think calling for a "foreign cyber army" may set a dangerous precedent to vigilante hacktivism and lead to escalation. It could also get messy if not coordinated with ongoing activities. No idea how the law works in this case? Even if I would lot of the cyber is uncharted territory. I do hope it works out for them and they can recruit some top cyber brass this way.
  • dgellow 5y ago
    Telegram channel: https://t.me/itarmyofukraine2022 https://t.me/itarmyofukraine2022
    • DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
      please don't use telegram especially now that Russia is at war with the West it's terrible opsec. It's cryptographc snake-oil and the Tech is literally controlled by Russians. There is also a reason all the IS fighters organizing themselves there got pwned ;)
      • throw7576521 5y ago
• bingohbangoh 5y ago
  Time to strap up boys and girls! You too can defeat the evil Putin. It's not like there isn't precedence in our time for this either. [0] [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OWErhVyU0Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OWErhVyU0Y