Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

[Beans]

Russia may have intentionally shut down a station meaning a disruption in oil moving through Russia from Kazakhstan to the Black Sea. May be intended to further raise the cost of oil.

https://eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-cpc-pipeline-shutdown-poses-serious-economic-threat

 

[GlastonSpur]

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[Pintu]

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Europeans refusing to call out China.

 

[Buster15]

Just watching President Biden NATO news conference. He is much more comfortable speaking without a pre prepared statement than with one.
But not a particularly clear speaker. Seems to mumble a lot.

 

[sport2793]

Just watching President Biden NATO news conference. He is much more comfortable speaking without a pre prepared statement than with one.
But not a particularly clear speaker. Seems to mumble a lot.

Biden had stuttered speech as a child so that's why he still has some lapses.

 

[Rajma]

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Europeans refusing to call out China.

They never learn do they? Appeasing Putin didn’t teach them much.

 

[Pintu]

They never learn do they? Appeasing Putin didn’t teach them much.

Well they need China’s help to stop Putin. And to be honest I don’t know if the West can afford to start a trade war with China. China is not Russia. They own so much in Europe.
This is the size of their investment in the UK & EU.

And it is “diversified”, in order to buy them as much influence as possible.

Even relatively small economies like Portugal and Ireland are targeted. It’s a smart strategy to make sure China always have some political influence.

 

[Buster15]

Biden had stuttered speech as a child so that's why he still has some lapses.

Ah. Thank you for explaining that. I had a similar problem when I was young, so I can now appreciate why.

 

[Simbo]

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I'd prefere it if they'd NOT try to sort out the details and stay the hell away from it ideally.

I forget, is WSJ one of the dodgy Trump loving rags?

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

I forget, is WSJ one of the dodgy Trump loving rags?

It's the Bezos rag. Trumpy no like.

 

[hellhunter]

It's the Bezos rag. Trumpy no like.

That's the WaPo, isn't it?

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

So they start arming Russia. Then what? Bend over?

They aren't though and several factors incentivize them against that. RUS and CHI are regional rivals and it doesn't benefit China in any way to fuel Putin's agenda by supplying them with arms. They are just as interdependent on the globalized economy as the west and aren't seeking to upset their growth trajectory.

Overall, I haven't seen any evidence that either China or the west would benefit more from being entirely self-sufficient. Generally, the globalized economy helps both and people know that on both sides. Isolationism generally isn't the best policy.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

It's the Bezos rag. Trumpy no like.

No, that’s WaPo. WSJ is conservative and owned by Murdoch but not as crazy and more respectable than say the NY Post or its other US equivalents.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

That's the WaPo, isn't it?

No, that’s WaPo. WSJ is conservative and owned by Murdoch but not as crazy and more respectable than say the NY Post or its other US equivalents.

Ahh my bad. Too many acronyms. Yes I think the WSJ does like Trump although they did call him out last year as well telling the GOP to abandon him. I think they would be a traditionally right leaning paper because they like money.

 

[Simbo]

No, that’s WaPo. WSJ is conservative and owned by Murdoch but not as crazy and more respectable than say the NY Post or its other US equivalents.

We'll never know just how compromised and up Putin's ass Murdoch is, but it does make me worry when one of his 'respectable' operations goes investigating and publishing details of how/when/where Ukrainian supplies are being moved.

 

[MTF]

An interesting piece with a few anecdotes and thoughts from the fighting in the early weeks of the war:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a...r-foreign-fighters-ukraine-russia-war/627604/

 

[Simbo]

This guy... Is going to be a fun/interesting/tragic twitter account to follow.

Stumbled on him somehow when he had 200 followers bragging that he's heading out to Ukraine. Probably doing him a massive disservice here, fair play for going etc, his life is on the line... but he comes across as yer stereotypical american atention seeking military dumbass war tourist type.

Hopefully he doesn't get people killed with his twitter posts or forgetting to turn off location services. He's just reached the front lines...

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[The Firestarter]

An interesting piece with a few anecdotes and thoughts from the fighting in the early weeks of the war:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a...r-foreign-fighters-ukraine-russia-war/627604/

Very interesting and a nice point about Javelin's CLU as a FLIR device.

 

[MTF]

Biden and his undisciplined messaging strike again, this time re: chemical weapons use & potential response:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...live-updates/#link-HCEK5PRFA5BO3INO3363CK6RYE

“We would respond. We would respond,” Biden said. “If [Putin] uses it, the nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use.”
(...)
“It would trigger a response in kind,” Biden said. “Whether or not you’re asking whether NATO would cross … we’d make that decision at the time.”

If that is a misquote and actually he said "of some kind" then it needs to be clarified ASAP. It also doesn't sync with what he said before, because the US regards chemical and biological weapons as WMD, and the US doesn't have (at least officially) any chemical or biological weapons, so a response 'in kind' = nukes.

 

[Mihai]

What a character . I read a description recently that one way or another - some for worse reasons than others - nearly all foreign fighters in these conflicts are lost souls. He seems to fit the bill also, but brave of him to go out there and get in the fight.

What a character

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[hellhunter]

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[UpWithRivers]

They aren't though and several factors incentivize them against that. RUS and CHI are regional rivals and it doesn't benefit China in any way to fuel Putin's agenda by supplying them with arms. They are just as interdependent on the globalized economy as the west and aren't seeking to upset their growth trajectory.

Overall, I haven't seen any evidence that either China or the west would benefit more from being entirely self-sufficient. Generally, the globalized economy helps both and people know that on both sides. Isolationism generally isn't the best policy.

Tell that to Putin and Kim jung un and the rest of the mad fkrs. Now you'll say oh but China isnt like that. Well they are literally committing genocide against the Uyghurs so I would say that would qualify as mad fkrs. And thats just the start of what they have been up to. They have already publicly stated that they will take Taiwan and form it into China even though Taiwan wants to remain independent. Tibet and Hong Kong as well. What does that sound like? Russia/Ukraine? They have said they want to be the leading nation by 2049 or something. They have hacked numerous systems - Microsoft enterprise etc just like Russia was hacking multiple systems.. I can go on and on. Loads of people have been warning about China for years just like Russia. Yes they might stay out of Russia for now. Its probably not in their best interests - at the moment. But they they want to and will fk up the West anyway they can. Say what you want about the sht US and UK and the West have done. And they have done a lot of bad sht but if China/Russia etc is running things we are all fkd.

And thats the point Im making. We need to stop thinking that they think like Westerners. They dont. They have an authoritarian system. Its the same mistake we made with Hitler. Now Putin. Oh it makes no sense. Why would they do something like that. They wont do it. But history tells us otherwise. Why dont we learn.

 

[GlastonSpur]

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Forever is a long time, sunshine.

 

[GlastonSpur]

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[GlastonSpur]

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[GlastonSpur]

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[GlastonSpur]

This is apparently a video of Kherson airport (Russian occupied city) under attack tonight. It's a massive barrage:

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[The Firestarter]

This is apparently a video of Kherson airport (Russian occupied city) under attack tonight. It's a massive barrage:

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If they retake Kherson that would be massive, it will cut a large portion of the Russian forces off. That was the first larger city to fall too.

 

[Dans]

You gotta love Russia talking about saving civilian lives while they bomb the shit out of them.

It's just a bit surreal.

They are lying sacks of shit. No-one will ever believe a word they say again.

 

[Simbo]

This is apparently a video of Kherson airport (Russian occupied city) under attack tonight. It's a massive barrage:

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The Russkies seem keen to keep filling that place with gear despite it being firmly in Ukrainian crosshairs, apparently 9th or 10th time it has been hit. All that AA fire shows there are still plenty targets.

 

[Frosty]

I am assuming that there are massive clandestine transfers of money and weapons to Ukraine that haven't and won't be announced?

 

[VorZakone]

I am assuming that there are massive clandestine transfers of money and weapons to Ukraine that haven't and won't be announced?

That'd be a good assumption. Even though Western nations have been quite open about their aid, of course not everything will be announced.

 

[calodo2003]

I am assuming that there are massive clandestine transfers of money and weapons to Ukraine that haven't and won't be announced?

Absolutely.

 

[Mickeza]

I am assuming that there are massive clandestine transfers of money and weapons to Ukraine that haven't and won't be announced?

You’ve got to think there’s all sorts of special ops going on too.

 

[RedSky]

This is apparently a video of Kherson airport (Russian occupied city) under attack tonight. It's a massive barrage:

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That's a lot of AA popping off.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Just want to query this point, its "cultural genocide" right? Cos there's a big difference the other kind that some people seem to think is going on.

Its not mass killings like the Nazis but the efforts to prevent births has been defined as genocidal intent. i.e forced sterilizations, birth control etc. This has been verified by tribunals and French parliament etc. This is on top of crimes against humanity, torture, sexual violence against the Uyghur people

 

[GlastonSpur]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a...r-foreign-fighters-ukraine-russia-war/627604/

 

[Sir Matt]

This is apparently a video of Kherson airport (Russian occupied city) under attack tonight. It's a massive barrage:

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I saw earlier that the Ukrainians were going to start making a push at Kherson tonight. Retaking the city could be incredibly difficult if the Russians don't decide to cut their losses and try to consolidate along the Eastern side of the Dnieper or at Melitopol. With the demonstrations, they may feel it's not worth it, but I can't imagine command wants the humiliating loss. Hopefully the Ukrainians don't overextend themselves and take losses they can't stand.

 

[TMDaines]

If they retake Kherson that would be massive, it will cut a large portion of the Russian forces off. That was the first larger city to fall too.

It is the only larger city to really have fallen, and even then it was more conceded than lost.

 

[TMDaines]

The wider picture in the war feels somewhat dispiriting, despite the great Ukrainian fight. The war going cold with more of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces for the foreseeable future would be absolutely shite for the country and everyone living there.