I don't see any reason to be upset with Tranquillus here. It's true he didn't answer your question, and I think it's fine to point that out, but he also raised an important question of his own, namely what do the people of Mariupol think about joining Russia. I imagine many may not be aware of the fact that before Russia taking control of it, the Ukrainian military had taken control of it after Euromaidan in 2014. They killed off a fair amount of the Mariupol police force at the time too. Some may refuse to take a look simply because it was produced by Russia's RT network, but I think that their documentary on Mariupol's recent history is educational. It can be seen here:
Mariupol: A Homecoming | RT
Here's their description of the documentary:
**
Some are miners, some guards. Here is a journalist. Press. Drivers, electricians. I worked in Moscow for 11 years. Came home on the 24th [February 2022]. And then straight down here. I was supposed to work at DonTech,” a Donbass militiaman in the Mariupol suburbs recalls. He and his comrades in arms are getting ready to enter the city. Most of the Donbass militiamen are ordinary people. They never had combat training or military experience. However, they are prepared to risk their lives to stop Ukrainian nationalists from taking their land. During the battle for Mariupol, the Donbass militia fought alongside the Russian Army to liberate the city. These people went through fierce combat to save civilians locked in their houses by Ukrainian nationalists. See the Mariupol battlefield from their perspective in our new film.
**
First he vaguely suggests that the 2014 referendums were nonsense - which almost the entire West has done (including the ever-increasingly, useless MSM).
This is blatantly untrue.
Which I showed.
After I do that?
He asks me some, unrelated question about Mariopol...which is not even
in the DPK.
He might as well ask me about Lviv.
Then when I ask him a simple question...boldly?
He skips over it completely and blathers on about something else.
The fact that most in the West are COMPLETELY clueless about the real situation in Ukraine - since 2014?
Is a large part of why so many of the ignorant masses support the West dumping shit loads of arms into Ukraine.
And painting Russia as the bad guys...since 2014.
Whilst taking the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Over a battle that is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS.
Plus, NATO promised Russia that they would NEVER enter, former Warsaw Pact countries.
And now they wanted to go into Ukraine...which used to be part of the USSR.
No wonder the Russians were skittish.
They have been invaded by almost every, major power in the world over the last 230 years - America, Canada, GB (during the civil war), Germany (twice), France, Japan and on and on.
Since February 24th, 2022?
Russia ARE - obviously - the bad guys. BIG time!!!
But from April 2014 until Putin did his INSANELY, stupid thing and invaded Ukraine proper?
Kiev WERE the bad guys.
Destroying cities and killing, thousands of innocent civilians who wanted nothing more to do with Kiev...which had just been overthrown by a US-backed coup.
And I don't give a shit what Kiev's law was on leaving their country.
If 80+% of a people in a region want to leave?
Whether it is here in America or over in Ukraine or in ANY nation?
They should be allowed to go (barring military settlements AND if they take their share of the national debt on a per capita basis).
Kiev had no right to destroy the regions that wanted to leave.
And they would have done the same to Crimea had the Russians not had a huge military presence their at Sevastopol already.
I have little patience on chat forums.
They are almost, totally FULL of trolls and/or closed minded idiots who haven't got the brains/guts to openly show that they might be wrong about their opinions on things.
Out of some childish pride.
And hide behind their computers/phones as they type out bile and blather to vent their stresses of the day.
Like the useless saps that they (mostly) really are.
However, if I over reacted?
I apologize.
With respect, Mariopol is irrelevant.
It was destroyed.
It's people - scattered to the wind.
It is impossible to now know where the residents stand.
As it will be until long after the war is over.
Only when things have calmed down for many months can true referendums/polls be taken.
Once the people feel safe.
And the funny thing is - the West freaks out that Russia destroyed it.
Yet they do not condemn Kiev for not calling it an 'open city' to save it's destruction and all the needless deaths.
How the Fuck is an advancing army supposed to take a city that refuses to declare itself 'open'?
Ask nicely and hope they let them in?
IN WW2?
France declared Paris an open city to spare it from German destruction.
And it worked.
Kiev should have done the same thing with every city of theirs that Russia tried to take.
Just as Russia should with Kherson, now that they are leaving it.
. Generally speaking, I tend to butt heads with moderators more than posters, as posters can only do what moderators allow them to do. I really like the feature here that you can thread ban people you don't want in your threads and moderators will even consider doing a thread ban after the fact, at least for newbies like me that didn't know the nature of certain posters before posting here. It lightens the load on moderators and empowers posters at the same time.