Sanctions against Russia

Germany, Italy, Hungary and Cyprus are against Russia being banned from SWIFT.

If the ban was implemented Russia could/would move immediately over to China’s CIPS

Certainly it seems that the future of Putin is in the hands of the Russian people, and it's difficult for even them to do anything. I see your point Dinahmo and it makes sense. I think the problem would be in making them realise that things need to be changed without antagonising them too much and making them agree with Putin's paranoid attitude that the rest of the world is out to get Russia.

There have been massive anti war protests in many Russian cities. I was amazed to see the sheer number of ordinary Russian citizens who have come out in support of Ukraine. I don't know how to post the link but one chap in Twitter is collating all the photos as they come in. It was very heartening to see.

I saw a film of some young people marching. I thought that they were very brave.

Apparently some sailors on a Ukraine ship, when asked to surrender told the Russians to f... off and were shot.

One of the guests on J Vine this morning told how a Russian woman living in England telephoned his show to say how her mother, living in Russia was holding a photo of the soldiers with her thumbs up. The daughter could not get her mother to understand what was happening.

Putin wants to go down in history as the saviour of Russian. More likely it will be as Putin the Terrible.

Dinahmo

I saw a film of some young people marching. I thought that they were very brave.

Apparently some sailors on a Ukraine ship, when asked to surrender told the Russians to f... off and were shot.

One of the guests on J Vine this morning told how a Russian woman living in England telephoned his show to say how her mother, living in Russia was holding a photo of the soldiers with her thumbs up. The daughter could not get her mother to understand what was happening.

Putin wants to go down in history as the saviour of Russian. More likely it will be as Putin the Terrible.

Dinahmo I think you may be referring to the guards on Snake Island, there is live footage on Twitter showing the Russian ships Captain demanding that the 13 men surrender or be shot, and yes they replied f&#k off (and a lot more apparently) and consequently they were shot dead.

It seems the Italians want exemption for luxury goods i.e Gucci etc.
Interesting how the worlds greatest communist countries are the biggest buyers of such goods,

Rees-Mogg was given just enough time to transfer all his Russian funds elsewhere!!!

Insider Trading is illegal, is it not?

I suspect Putin is fully prepared for any sanctions and has planned ways of minimising the impacts on Russia.
Protesters in Russia will apparently be treated as traitors, truly appalling but hardly surprising I guess. A very depressing and tragic situation thanks to one man.

Remember this - more relevant than ever now

tinyurl.com/mtam5tej #RussiaUkraineConflict

Sorry, link did not share properly. Ian Hislop on Have I got News for You on Conservative Party and Jonson's links to Russian Oligarchs and BungaBunga parties in Umbria.

Perhaps someone with better technical skills will share it. (please)

Sago

It seems the Italians want exemption for luxury goods i.e Gucci etc.
Interesting how the worlds greatest communist countries are the biggest buyers of such goods,

Apparently many of the pelts of the 17 million mink that were slaughtered in Denmark because of Covid, were destined for China.

You may find watching this helps clarify what is being said about the Russian money in London. Russian Money in British Politics: How London's Shaped by Oligarchs - TLDR news

Their blurb says Over recent years London (and the UK) has become increasingly influenced by Russian money and the Oligarchs who control it. So in this video, we're going to examine the impact and implications of Russian influence in Britain and why it matters now more than ever.

They seem pretty non-partisan.

sago Russia is no longer a communist country.

Gorbachev removed the constitutional role of the Communist party. This led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991. This is quite a long time ago and strange to have missed it

UK inquiry was warned of Russian infiltration, leaked testimony shows

edition.cnn.com/2019/11/08/uk/uk-russia-inquiry-intelligence-security-committee-gbr-intl/index.html

A Cross-party group says government failed to investigate reported attempts to meddle in UK elections.

The legal action has been launched in response to the UK government’s refusal to order an inquiry into the findings of the Russia report, published by the intelligence and security committee (ISC) in July 2020, which reported credible evidence of attempts by Russia to interfere with the UK’s electoral processes.

The parliamentary group bringing the action includes the Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, the former leader of the Green party Caroline Lucas, the SNP MP Alyn Smith, Lord Strasburger of the Lib Dems and the former Tory peer Lady Wheatcroft.

The group claims the government is in breach of article 3 of the first protocol to the European convention on human rights, which requires regular, free, secret-ballot elections to “ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people”.