How will it affect you if Russia invades Ukraine?

[Dien Rice]

Hi Margaret,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

It is a very difficult time, I feel... I'm very cautious regarding Covid still (because of pre-existing medical conditions that make it more dangerous for me, according to the medical experts)...

And now - even though I'm a long way away in Australia - thoughts are starting to come into my head on how I'm going to "bug out" to the outback with my wife and toddler daughter if a nuclear war starts... I think the chance is low that a nuclear war happens, but while the chance is small, I think it's not zero...

But then, I give thanks I'm not living in Kyiv or in another Ukrainian city...

I think Putin made a HUGE mistake, and did not foresee the unity of the West... They say the economy of Russia will be destroyed. Unless they can come to some kind of peace deal, Russia will probably also be dealing at least with guerrilla warfare against them in Ukraine for years to come...

And there is some indication Putin did not plan to stop at Ukraine. There are reports he planned to continue to invade Moldova... and others have speculated he would also love to take over Poland, and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia too... (Part of the problem for him for that, though, are that Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are all NATO states... Whereas Ukraine and Moldova are not... Invading a NATO state automatically triggers war against *all* NATO states...)

I can't go into details, but I'm doing consulting for some people in Switzerland, who are establishing a specific kind of business in Lithuania... So I'm talking (via video) with a Lithuanian team related to my work every week...

Hopefully those of us outside of Ukraine will get out of this safely, and I hope the best for the people of Ukraine too!

Thanks again, Margaret!

Best wishes,

Dien

Originally Posted by MMacGillivray

I hate watching the unfolding horror in Ukraine; it would be dreadful if it tipped the world into WWIII and that's why Ukraine is getting supported by countries around the world with sanctions against Russia, military hardware, financial and other support. They keep asking for NATO support and yet it doesn't appear to be forthcoming because that would give Putin the encouragement to widen the aggression to include surrounding countries (at a very minimum).

I suppose we all personalise the trauma of events like this; I have family in Germany, friends in Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, know people in Spain and France. It's easy to get overwhelmed by fear that they will somehow be sucked into this mess.

We have a family wedding in Italy during the summer - will that happen, I wonder??

The world seemed gloomy enough when we were worrying about Covid; it's several shades darker now.

Stay safe, stay well, everyone.