Ukraine

Felt I should write a post showing solidarity with our Ukrainian raters, brewers and bar owners today.

I cannot imagine what they are going through at the moment, it really is unthinkable, and hope everyone manages the best they possibly can with the ongoing situation.

I went to Ukraine for the Euro 2012 tournament and experienced very much a progressive, welcoming, extremely friendly nation rich in a distinct historical and cultural identity. To see the Russian government muscle into that is heartbreaking.

This post is also in solidarity with our Russian friends, raters, brewers and bar owners, who are also just as confused and frustrated about how this is going to pan out.

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Went to Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk last November, had a great time, both craft beer-wise and otherwise. Was booked to fly to Lviv again tomorrow. Been a few times before in 2008-13, booked in 2014 to go to Crimeaā€¦ oh. Love the place and itā€™s devastating to see it being invaded

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I travelled both to the Ukraine for the Euro 2012 and to Russia for the World Cup. Its heartbreaking to see whats happening now! Its not the people, its the leaders who cause the trouble.

Keep up the faith!

Hope to travel soon again, in PEACE!

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Never been to Ukraine, but I do have coworkers from Ukraine and my thoughts goes to him and his family. And to the whole of Ukraine people hoping this will soon come to a peaceful end. It is the Russian leaders that is causing the trouble not the Ukraine people.

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I canā€™t believe this is happening; I hoped weā€™d never see war in Europe again.

Feeling so sorry for everyone in Ukraine; I hope that this can be brought to a peaceful end as soon as possible to prevent any more suffering, and that Ukrainians will retain the right to choose who governs them.

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As someone with 4 Ukrainian grandparents and many relatives in Ukraine, today was a tough day. At least the Ratebeerians are on the right side of history.

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I shall add on a self-indulgent beer ticker note it is my great shame that I have more Russian than Ukrainian ticks.

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Itā€™s terrible. I suspect that Ukraine will survive and I hope that the international community will support rebuilding and commit to treating Ukraine as a welcome friend.

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Itā€™s admirable that Ukraine are not giving over easily, but they are not matched militarily and the longer it continues, the more it will damage the country. Putin has committed now, even if it means turning it into another Syria, the army will continue. Very sad to see it unfold in Europe. Ultimately, through sanctions the Russian people will suffer; through rising energy and grain prices the common people in Europe suffer, the entire population of Ukraine are scarred and one man alone will gain personal pride while being despised by the entire world.

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If Ukraine manage to cause enough damage then it may be an embarrassment for Putin. Although they need more armaments ratter than toothless sanctions. And not to use all their armaments up against the conscript cannon fodder.

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Having lived through a war, as a child, though I was lucky enough to be from a town where there wasnā€™t that much fighting (unlike some people I know who experienced far worse), experiencing alarms, hiding in shelters while the town was shelled, neverending scenes of death on the TV, and everything else that goes with that, along with the aftermath and the shaky rebuilding, changes in the society (for the worse in many cases)ā€¦ I cannot be but disgusted by any conflict like this. My thoughts are definitely with the Ukrainian peopleā€¦ I damn well know what they are going through. The entire ā€œriling people up to attack others claiming, falsely, that the other side are nothing but fascistsā€ scenario is scarily familiar to me.

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Shouldā€™nt this be in Off Topic?

For what it is worth, here is a twitter thread (UK centric) for ways to help Ukraine: https://mobile.twitter.com/maxfras/status/1497173251834978311

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Iā€™m still speechless about this attackā€¦ This means basically that no country in Europe is safeā€¦ Even Stalin and Hitler tried to find (fake) excuses for their attacks by staging incidences at the borderā€¦ Putin didnā€™t botherā€¦ and why would he, considering the response?! Yes, the new restrictions will hurt Russia, but this is a problem for the later time. Some of those restrictions will not start before April and they will take months or even years to have any kind of big impact. By that time the war will be long over, and the ā€œfriendsā€ of Russia will start lobbying about easing the restrictions and it will happenā€¦ see for example how Council of Europe suspended and restored voting rights of Russia after they annexed Crimea (note that the war has been slowly boiling in Ukraine since 2014, and that didnā€™t stop them from restoring Russiaā€™s voting rights!). IMHO everyone in Europe should be very worried.

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My friend you were the first who came to my mind in this grim moments. Hope everyone you hold dear is safe.

Very much like Marko Iā€™ve experienced war in my young age and I wish that to no one. Even if we havenā€™t witnessed the atrocities first hand I believe it scarred us for life on some level.

Fuck war. Fuck lunatic dictators.

Š”Š»Š°Š²Š° Š£ŠŗрŠ°Ń—Š½Ń–!

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What stood out for me today is Putin threatening Sweden and Finland if they attempted to join NATO. I think Putin feels heā€™s invincible, and needs to restore not only the former glory of the Soviet Republic, but to expand it. Georgia and Moldova could be next.

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Well, we could talk about the impact on beer production or consumption in Ukraine if thatā€™s what you genuinely think we should be talking about.

(or possibly we could talk about poor punctuation and complete lack of compassion).

But personally I think peoplesā€™ lives are the most important thing. And to me pubs and beer are first and foremost about bringing people together and supporting others through times of crisis.

To me showing support for all the victims of this war is about the most ā€œon topicā€ subject there can be at the moment.

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Learnt a new word today!

Kleptocracy (from Greek ĪŗĪ»Ī­Ļ€Ļ„Ī·Ļ‚ klĆ©ptēs, ā€œthiefā€, ĪŗĪ»Ī­Ļ€Ļ„Ļ‰ klĆ©ptō, ā€œI stealā€, and -ĪŗĻĪ±Ļ„ĪÆĪ± -kratĆ­a from ĪŗĻĪ¬Ļ„ĪæĻ‚ krĆ”tos, ā€œpower, ruleā€) is a government whose corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) use political power to appropriate the wealth of the people and land they govern, typically by embezzling or misappropriating government funds at the expense of the wider population.

<*))))))><

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This post is in solidarity with RB raters, brewers and bar owners and as such I consider it on-topic, in terms of ā€˜beer talkā€™ within Ukraine as it changes along with the country. As I type this these people are questioning their future, making an exodus from the country, weighing up what theyā€™ve spent their lives building up and whether its worth sacrificing for freedom from the Russian regime.

Only recently I tried some incredible cider from the Ukraine and my thoughts are with them as theyā€™re dealing with this situation.

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The real question is if the Ukraine falls is Poland next? How long can the Ukraine hold on? Does Putin think Germany is rightfully his also? Would Putin try and take France also? From my perspective Russia has an affinity for France. At this point how long before NATO gets involved? Obviously you cannot read Putins mind, but curious what the mind set might be.

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