Pwnallthethings
Curious if this is the 2021 plan, or an updated one, but, uh, yeah, folks who keep pretending R's long-term plans stop inside Ukraine are extremely not paying attention.
https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-politics-european-union-maia-sandu-moldova-90d280ff05db38bf0685a96c2203286b
Zelenskyy: Ukraine caught Russian plan to 'destroy' Moldova

BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his country has intercepted plans by Russian secret services to destroy Moldova, and Moldovan intelligence confirmed the claim.

Associated Press
Feb 10, 2023 at 3:45amWeb
Show threadtom4okstateFeb 10, 2023
@Pwnallthethings many people have convinced themselves there's some easy way out here. Bargain away Donetsk Luhansk and Crimea and the problem goes away is just a total misunderstanding of the lessons Moscow would take which would be 'the West is weak. They have no stomach to directly stand up to Russia and Russia will not be constrained.'
Show threadnadezhdaFeb 10, 2023
@tom4okstate @Pwnallthethings Moldova is an excellent illustration of Russia’s long-standing imaginary of recovery, either directly or through domination, of Soviet space = Russia. The Transnistria frozen conflict has been continuing for 30+ years. Given how much more important Ukraine is to that imaginary, Russia’s “patience” to recover all that “ belongs” to Russia will easily extend beyond 30 years.
Show threadAbhi Beckert 🇺🇦Feb 10, 2023
@tom4okstate @Pwnallthethings I don't think there's an "easy" way out but I do think we could save everyone (even russia) a lot of pain and suffering by just ripping the bandaid off and responding with proper force. Sometimes you just have to get your friend to punch a bully in the face.
Show threadtom4okstateFeb 11, 2023
@abhibeckert @Pwnallthethings I'm not there yet. But where I am is I think we should give them literally any weapon outside of nuclear weapons that they request. I don't think there should be any constraints on where they can use those weapons either.
Show threadDoug BostromFeb 10, 2023

@Pwnallthethings

There's a lot of history to undo while Vlad scrambles to retain grip way up the tree he's insisted on ascending, where it becomes very skinny, wavery, perilous.

A well-trodden path, always ending roughly the same way.

This map of course doesn't encompass full extent of elasticity available via fully focused motivated reasoning.

[In a real pinch, Alaska. "You ripped us off," whatever.]

(Map via Encyclopedia Britannica: https://cdn.britannica.com/50/3850-050-460382BE/Russian-expansion-Asia.jpg )

Show thread73 million secondsFeb 10, 2023
@Doug_Bostrom @Pwnallthethings Map not even including all of it since it does not include Finland but Finland was under Russia's control at one point too albeit with some autonomy.
Show threadDoug BostromFeb 10, 2023

@73ms @Pwnallthethings

Yes. I had a hard time finding a map fully conveying the range of turn the clock back!

Wikipedia's is better for that but not annotated.

Show threadEmoluMentaLassFeb 10, 2023

@Pwnallthethings. A move out of the GOP playbook, accuse your adversary of the crime you're guilty of.

Lavrov charged last week that the West was considering turning Moldova into “another Ukraine.”

Show threadJenXFeb 11, 2023
@Pwnallthethings It won’t stop and now I hear they are speaking aloud about attacking Poland??? Also- I have read that in Moldova Sandu has stepped down. Seems like bad timing for that. Can anyone explain why?