Finland’s leaders call for NATO membership ‘without delay’

There have beеn huge investments in Crimea for the last 8 years - around 1.4 trillion rubles. That is around 2.5 billion Euros. They have built two new electric stations -in Simferopol und Sevastopol, reconstructed one in Saki. There have been done huge work on water supply of Crimea since Ukraine stopped water supply. In 2020 large medical center has been opened there. And many other things. As far as Mariupol is concerned, there have been a lot of holiday houses around Mariupol, on the coast of Azov see. They can restore that and going there would be cheaper than going to Yalta. Crimea was always more expensive than the resorts on the Azov see. As far as I know they are not going to restore Azovstal, only one steel plant will stay there-zavod Ill'icha. Of course, it is pity, that the city was destroyed. But it is easier to invest money and make a resort than to make a big industrial city as Mariupol was before. I think Russia should invest money in restorations of not only Mariupol but all the cities that have been destroyed during this war, by using the frozen funds in the western banks and from internal funding.

 

What nonsense you say about East Berlin! ? Everything was rebuilt there after WW2. They have rebuilt even Reichstag which was a symbol of Nazi Germany! And yes, Russia can restore what was destroyed- Grozny is one of the examples.

 

Mebbe so, but I can't see any way in which Putin stays in charge there for very long. Not least as a reason for that is that once he's gone it's quite possible all will be forgiven. I see all sanctions lifted particularly if he's delivered to the Hague.

 

I hope he will not stay long, however, not sure that the next would be much better.

 

Back on the thread topic, even though it seems apparent that Russia will be able to take over both Donbas provinces, plus, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, thus creating its 'hooptie' land-bridge connecting the new acquisitions with Crimea, Russia will still have a MAJOR problem -- the ability to get in and out of the Bosporus Straits and the Dardanelles. "Push-come-to-shove", NATO will be able to keep Russia bottled-up in the Black Sea.

It gets worse for Russia after Finland joins NATO, because Russia's only other large 'warm-water' ingress/egress path, through the Gulf of Finland (from the Baltic Sea) can be blockaded by Finland (on the north side), and NATO-member, Estonia (on the south side). Doing that would effectively shut off shipping lanes to and from St. Petersburg.... The Baltic Sea is very shallow, so transport via submarines would not be a viable alternative (the deepest point of the Bothnian Bay is less than 480 feet deep).

Murmansk? Well, not really so much a 'warm-water' port, and to get stuff in and out of there, by way of the Barents Sea, NATO-member, Norway would be close by... plus, from Finland, Murmansk is only 113 miles (182 km) away. Again, if "push-came-to-shove", how long would it take missiles coming from bunkers on the Finnish border to, uh, close Murmansk...?

Of course, the Russians could always rely on their wonderful network of roads and highways! . And then, they'll still have their more reliable, but VERY vulnerable rail system to get 'stuff' in and out of the Motherland.

Putin should have continued to be Europe's 'bosom-buddy', supplied natural gas via the pipelines at bargain prices, and made themselves indispensable partners, along with Europe's other new 'best friend', CHINA. Things were so well for Putin, but now look at what he's done.... Was having that 'land bridge' to Crimea all THAT damned important...?!

 

Dunno...if that "land bridge" will be viable....basically if Ukraine keeps getting heavy weapons....that route will be heavily armed, the residents aren't interested in Russki Mir....and will be unrest for a long time....LDPR is a hell hole with no investment and what viable infrastructure there was ...was removed catered off to Dwarfstan or scrapped. Dwarfstan will be under heavy sanctions for decades....so it's doubtful anything will get built.

 

Uhh...vis, I was there shortly after wall was removed.....went through areas of EB,....lots old infrastructure that wasn't maintained,since Sovs didn't let EGs....some of former EG is still being upgraded and raised to Western standards....

How is Mafialand going to restore anything?....with sanctions?

These sanctions are in place for the long haul,vis...hopefully to bring it to its knees...break it up further.

 

These sanctions are for the long haul....even after Dwarfstan....this is a long game.

 

A buddy of mine was among the first Bundeswehr contingents to go into the GDR (East Germany) when 'reunification' with West Germany began. He was absolutely astonished -- he said that in many respects it was like getting into a time machine and going back to 1945!

 

Zoom, it was not an issue that Soviets have forbidden to restore something. German people could build or restore whatever they wanted. As I said, even Reichstag was restored. It was just like that. By the way, people in EG lived much better than people in Soviet Union.
Yes, with sanctions. There are a lot of human resources in Russia, and there is a lot of gas, oil and other natural resources. So basically you can completely isolate the country and it will still work fine.

 

Yeah...it was,vis....I spoke to numerous EGs....they admitted the Sovs discouraged development in areas.

Well Germans are industrious vis...they like order and efficiency....that's why they lived better than Sovs even with restrictions. Take a look at most cities and towns outside Moscow....many are dumps....

Lots human resources means f@ck all when you have no technology to develop anything and a massive brain drain....which is happening as we speak....speaking of which....why are you looking to leave?....To Germany ....easy....Germany has a great working environment with human/workers rights,a generous social program network, way of life,etc.

Mafialand is 9 mos winter, worthless currency, lousy attitude, isolation, sanogon, boyarshniki,machorka, low life expectancy....and no McDs.

 

Why should we punish Russia for what it's leader did? If the war continues I see it but right now the end of sanctions might be a good bribe to get the generals and oligarchs to overthrow the villain.

 

No McDs??, that's INHUMAN How do you people LIVE???

 

Sounds great....who comes after?....

Could be worse...or?

 

That's actually a very good way out of a situation that's gone horribly wrong! If Putin could be, uh, persuaded to step-down, and some sort of face-saving schauspiel entered into by everyone after he 'clears out his desk', things could return to a semblance of somewhat 'normal' fairly soon afterwards.

This whole indescribably awful thing could have probably been avoided if (IF) everyone had remained committed to the Minsk Agreement(s), but we can't go back in time. And it's clear now that even if Putin gets his wonderous 'land bridge' from Donbas to Crimea, he's still going to be a pariah, and Russia will be treated like treacherous, toxic waste for many years to come -- or, for as long as Putin and his closely-knit faction remain in power there....

 

What land bridge? Numerous Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky himself, repeatedly stated that they intend to retake Donbas and Crimea by force.

 

Aw, Putin will get his 'land bridge' from Donbas to Crimea, and he'll be able to keep people from sailing into the Sea of Azov, if he thinks that this is of incalculable fugging importance to the Motherland... but after the 'new' wears off and the 'thrill' is gone, he'll probably wish that he'd been a clever businessman and successful diplomat instead, and brought endless supplies of euros into the Russian treasury for energy purchases, ultimately enriching the Russian people!

. "But there's no cool goose-step parades when all you do is make money!"