Julia Ioffe spoke to a friend still in Moscow who described the mood in the city as "funereal."

[highplainsdem]

Link to tweet

[uponit7771]

1. K&R, something bad is happening ... multiple private flights Ural & to Dubai

[PlutosHeart]

5. What does that mean?

Forgive me in being stupid on this but what are thinking?

[hlthe2b]

7. It means the rich are fleeing the sinking ship to take what they can & possibly for their lives.

Maybe they are just seeing the "writing on the wall," but with Putin's house arrest of his closest advisers, the firing of generals, and obvious general paranoia, I would guess they are also fearful of (at least) unrest. But, it is possible the rumor mill has them convinced that something far more dire is in the works.

[ShazzieB]

17. I can't say I blame them.

Why sit and wait for the roof to fall in if you have a way to escape.

[BigmanPigman]

2. No wonder Putin is freaking out.

[Zorro]

15. Not sure he's freaking out

I think he's probably relishing in the knowledge he's the most feared person in the world today.

[AlexSFCA]

3. IMO, there is a huge misconception in the West about what putin wanted

Last edited Thu Mar 17, 2022, 11:30 PM - Edit history (1)

Listen to Masha Gessen, who might be the only person who knows how to interpret putin. Authoritarians THRIVE in isolation. Putin is now getting to be stalin, his role model. Because putin is not just authoritarian, he is totalitarian, very important difference. Totalitarianism is much more difficult to achieve and needs to meet certain conditions of isolation and putin could not, in his wildest dreams, imagine how quickly he can do it and we did it most of the work for him.
Most sanctions that were imposed will only embolden him. The only sanctions that truly mattered to putin’s regime is oil and gas embargo by EU were not even considered.
He has total control of oligarchs and can poison any one of them any time he wants. They get to be oligarchs cause he “lets” them. They have no influence on him.
The Russian people who are penalized the most turn out to be the ones who are most opposed to putin’s regime.

Make no mistake, putin is now likely preparing a tactical nuclear strike on Ukraine as a deterrent to the entire world. He has no use for Ukrainian people, they hate him. He knows it and it is exactly why he launched the war in the first place. The goal is genocide (millions) and creation of uninhabitable land as a buffer against NATO and as a bonus, the war allows him to transition Russia into totalitarian state in WEEKS. Did you know that they started fining people for wearing masks in public places in Moscow? Because survrilance cams (Chinese tech) can’t capture them?

Do not reveal that there are kids in the shelter, because they are his target #1. Same was in Aleppo and it worked, he faced no consequences whatsoever (only increased popularity domestically).

[Dan]

9. A tactical nuclear strike.... Interesting,... very interesting thought.

[Goodheart]

10. Your post has filled me with dread.

Sad to say, but I don't see a way out of this catastrophe for Vladimir except that he launches that nuclear strike against Ukraine. A sane man would lick his wounds and call the whole thing off, a monstrous sociopath like Putin will not.

[Zorro]

12. This is a very real and distinct possibility

Putin uses a tactical nuclear weapon on Ukraine and sits back challenging the West to do something about it. I have no doubt this is being actively considered.

[yaesu]

16. He wouldn't need to challenge the West, if he played the only card he holds NATO would come down on

him & russia like a sledgehammer. It would be quick, devastating and decisive. They are serious, they will not hesitate & you can bet the farm that those plans are all ready to implement. He may be suicidal or off his rocker enough to do it but generals under him may not be so intent on starting a nuclear war they have no way of surviving.

[hlthe2b]

18. Gessen's expertise is frightening because they are so matter-of-fact when discussing it.

No matter how informed, I just can not listen to them. To be fair, there are others with similar expertise who echo a lot of what they are saying, but not lacking in emotion when doing so. The matter-of-fact delivery is what absolutely freaks me out-- as it implies finality and such certainty as to imply hopelessness.


(Reading what I just wrote, I realize may come across as very confusing to those who do not realize I am trying to respectfully use Masha Gessen's pronouns)

[FreepFryer]

19. The weakness of Gessen's argument is exactly that confident hopelessness.

It’s emotional, not factual. The constant dispiriting nature of the worldview they have always espoused is fear dressed up as emotionlessness.

I consider their insight useful, but one-dimensional.

[Hekate]

4. I think that is the general idea of the sanctions

[Cha]

6. The Real Tragic "Catastrophe'

is Ukraine and its People.
💙💛

[Takket]

8. If they band together and give Putin the Saddam treatment, this all goes away.

[SergeStorms]

11. More like the Gaddafi treatment.

It's said he was transfixed with the way the Libyan people treated Gadaffi at the end. They say he watched the footage over and over, not believing "his" people would do that to him.

Hussein was found in the "spider" hole by American forces and executed. Either way, he's terrified the people of Russia would execute him or beat him to death in a ditch. I imagine he has a little black pill on his person at all times for just such a case.

[Mariana]

13. The US military captured Saddam Hussein.

It's not like the Iraqis overthrew his government and took care of him themselves.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

14. With a carefully structured tweak the west can manipulate Puty into a metaphorical hole.

I don't think he (or Masha Gessen) anticipated a Zelenzky and the superior fighting by Ukraine's military. Or a world so horrified and united against Putin. All we need is the Russian people to rise up in solidarity for the freedom they almost tasted. At least they could see it. They must know their future under him is bleaker than it is today.