Russia didn't hide their military buildup, they just lied and gaslit the world via their various disinformation channels into believing that Putin would have to be insane to actually invade.
And, judging by the faces on the videos that I saw, many members of his cabinet and top generals were thinking the same.
I hadn’t heard of that before.
For trolling you’d do something flashier but much easier, like fighter flyovers or a missile launch.
Personally, I thought Putin would establish a stronghold in the Donbas and gradually improve position from there. This full on assault of the entire country is shocking and seems wildly aggressive and overly ambitious.
It is very worrying to me that China tones down the invasion in their media (if that is indeed true, I don't follow Chinese media myself).
Better to let people know what war really is. Unless you want it.
This weekend China has refused to show Premiership Football because of protests at matches against the Russian invasion[1].
Right now the English FA and clubs are just ignoring that but it's a big market. How long will they ignore that revenue stream?
Already the way Disney, Netflix, Apple, NBA and Hollywood cozy up to the CCP is pretty worrying.
1. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football/china-blocks-broadc...
Yup. It's crazy how many of these are out in the wild. I mostly notice Chinese ones from my time there or ones highlighted by friends. But the Russian disinfo coming out in the lead up was insane.
I'm all for freedom of press but state sanctioned media is such a fucking blight.
To call everything and everyone Putin's propaganda and disinformation is simplistic. Hindsight is 2020, it always feels like we missed the obvious signs.