Anyone think that Putin's war will spread across Europe and beyond?

I think you’re wrong about his family Monica, there are reports all over the press that he’s moved them all, including his ex wife of 30 years and mother of some of his children to an underground ‘city’ that has been built to survive nuclear attacks, in Siberia.

I read one of the headlines today saying that he has cancer. Don't know if this is true though obviously. The first casualty of war is the truth.

Varian we have no evidence that he gives a toss about his family. He is a cold and calculating psycopath, who recognises no needs but his own.

halfpint1 I think you are unduly pessimistic. In his grand parade meeting - the one with the Hollywood musical large white table, when he went round his cabinet asking each one to say yes or no to invasion, his Intelligence Chief refsed to and said he believed that further negotiations should take place.

If Putin's hand strays too close to the red button, I think someone will remove it and he will be locked up for his health! The policy of mutually assured destruction is if he uses nuclear arms, so will NATO. And no one, including the Russian general's want that.

The Dr John Campbell discussion is chilling.The Ukranian
invasion is not going to plan, he is unlikely to back down.
He has a dream of reinventing the USSR and remaining as
the leader. He has no sucession plan as no one can now
guarantee his safety if he were not leader so he will not
stop.
It would seem the worse it gets for him the worse it will get
for us all

According to Wikipedia, Putin has at least five children and two grandchildren.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin

Are we to believe he cares so little about his own family, let alone his country, that he would risk nuclear war?

I’ve seen the reports, but it doesn’t add up to me. Somebody who is seriously ill surely wouldn’t jeopardise the lives of everybody they love by forcing them to live in a bunker and giving them a very uncertain future by pursuing a mission like this. It’s more likely an attempt I’d guess to undermine his status in Russia so people believe he can be overthrown.

Casdon

Seriously? I think he’s just had a lot of poor plastic surgery.

Yes seriously. This from a neurological and psychiatric doctor, once Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and who has met the man.
Look at his face, see how that has changed, he now has an oval face. People who say oh, it's plastic surgery or Botox, I don't believe that at all.

Seriously? I think he’s just had a lot of poor plastic surgery.

There is a rumour circulating that Putin is seriously ill with stomach cancer. I think everyone is agreed that he is not in good health, his face is puffy and grey and he doesn't look well, but this is the first suggestion I have seen as to what the problem is.

There is an interesting article on Unherd unherd.com/2022/02/vladimir-putins-reckless-gamble/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups[0]=18743&tl_period_type=3&mc_cid=a4194cefba&mc_eid=be97ec1684. It says
The once patient hunter has turned reckless gambler and persuaded himself that Ukraine’s Jewish ex-comedian turned President Zelensky would promptly flee, that his government would then collapse as ministers rushed off to escape arrest, that the Defence Force would dissolve, so that Russian forces would advance unopposed to quickly seize every city, with Kyiv’s population obediently awaiting Russian rule. Then former president Yanukovych could be brought back to form a new government for the TV cameras, whose task would be to vote immediately to re-join the Russian Federation, thus ending the fighting in glorious victory for Putin and his empire.

Of course none of this has happened. It seems Putin's Intelligence Chief warned against the invasion saying negotiations were to be preferred.

To me this suggests that this invasion is the last throw of the dice for someone who knows his end is in sight and is prepared to risk everything to depart in a cloud of glory.

There are other neutral countries he might go on to invade if he is not stopped in Ukraine.

There is no chance of the war spreading beyond Ukraine with NATO on full alert daggers drawn, Russia is not stupid

Putin is in a tight spot, he expected a show of force followed by a quick surrender, it hasnt worked out like that, serious resistance by Ukraine and weather turning warm making it difficult to move heavy equipment changes the whole picture.
He probably has enough to take Kiev by force if he wants to but what happens then?, occupying Ukraine, no, he has not got the manpower.

With Ukraine mobilizing the whole country and NATO arming them, eventually Russia is going to have to back down, Putin may get deposed, he’s not omnipotent, he needs supporters and they must be getting increasingly nervous.

Who would step in in the event of an assassination? Is there an heir apparent, and what (if anything) do we know about him (or, far less likely) her?

I totaly believe he will be assinated,and not before time imo.
The world could breath a sigh of relief again.

Yes, like stripped to the waist on his horses. I read that is anabolic steroids as opposed to corticosteroids, though he may be on both.

Maybe he’s only on steroids because he does bodybuilding, likes showing himself topless doesn’t he?

I think Putin is on Steroids, he has that look
Yes, and that is probably why he is so terrified of catching covid, because steroids reduce your immunity.

Spore, the trouble with the planes is that it’s a ground battle at the moment, and one country in particular are a bit trigger happy, I just don’t know how we can stand by though.

I think Putin is on Steroids, he has that look. His generals agree with his mad ideas, for fear of their lives. I cannot see him stopping at Ukraine. Hopefully with the mobile phones still working the people will all see the truth. The Russian Orthodox Church, to which Putin belongs , yes he has no shame, are working together very slowly to get the truth out there, they know what he is, but must be careful, he could ban religion.

Dr John Campbell youtube video entitled Putins mind, is he mad?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYmt4qu00uc

interesting

Looking at Putin now he looks a bloated, ill man and an ill, maybe dying man has nothing to lose. He is completely blinkered in his obsession in dragging the Ukraine back to the Russian fold. If he succeeds will he be satisfied or will that give him the impetus to continue into other countries? I hope he isn't around long enough for the rest of the world to find out.

The situation in Ukraine has the potential to escalate. There are now talks of Poland donating their Russian made fighter jets to Ukraine and America replacing those fighter jets with new ones.

Assuming that this is true, does Ukraine have any airbases left to receive those jets or do the Ukrainian pilots have to fly them out of Poland?

Just hope Joe Biden does not screw this one up the way he screwed up the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.

We have an apartment in my country of origin, instead of a store room, we have a bomb shelter! It will come handy if the war expand beyond Europe. I dont think that will happen.

There is no chance if a wider conflict with NATO daggers drawn to respond even Putin is not that crazy.

Ukraine is becoming a nightmare for Putin, what was intended to be a show of force and a quick surrender has turned into hard grind with dogged Defence.
He can certainly take Kiev by force if he wants to but what then?, he does not have the forces to occupy the whole of Ukraine. With NATO supplying arms to Ukraine it’s hard to see it getting any easier, the weather is against him, it’s hard to move heavy equipment across wet land as it thaws.

A couple of thoughts in this fast moving time.

I think that Putin has begun to understand that turning his power on NATO will guarantee his downfall as he is learning in Ukraine that his military are not up to it, particularly if they are spread very thinly.

Therefore the nuclear threat is not so bad as first feared.

We have at some stage to come to a compromise, and one almost certainly that allows Putin to save face with the Russians , just as Kennedy ensured this for Khrushchev.
This will not only help immediate peace, but also for the long term.

GB News?

GB News that's funded by a Russian oligarch?

I'll pass, thanks.

the future is absolutely chilling. Putin is surrounded by people that say he is not strong enough, his generals and so on. World peace is no more. He says that russia is so big that even in a nuclear attack, many parts will survive but uk and europe will be gone