Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[two sheds]

oo do you recommend anything in particular?

 

[steveseagull]

Check this thread. The Russians seem to be broadcasting in the clear. Also lists a cacophony of other foul ups.

 

[Gramsci]

Very good analysis on Novara tonight, particularly talking about the two key issues on my mind:
-addressing the presentation of Russian failure and questioning the media narrative of the war
(im not totally convinced by the narrative of Ukraine 'winning' and Russian failure - much as I would like that to be true)
and
-the degree of the west further arming Ukrainian forces and what the consequences of that really are
(im cautious if not outright against the west putting endless arms in and standing back to watch the carnage and tutting how sad it is, meanwhile achieving their imperial objectives and also risking wider escalation)

first half hour

Watched this and yes it is good programme from Novara.

I'm finding I'm shutting up at work about Ukraine. The narrative that Putin is like Hitler and any discussion of background is tantamount to supporting Putin/ appeasement is Imo becoming the norm.

Bringing up NATO expansion as something that has contributed to this isn't on.

In the programme discussion that deeper causes to this war are due to the world being divided into competing power blocs who don't in reality have ordinary peoples interest at heart. That this subjects ordinary people as in Ukraine to endless war. It also limits choices for a different kind of world.

 

[DaveCinzano]

oo do you recommend anything in particular?

I bought No Mean Soldier and Bravo Two Zero when each came out in 93

 

[spitfire]

I bought No Mean Soldier and Bravo Two Zero when each came out in 93

That’s nothing. I wrote Bravo Two Zero.

 

[two sheds]

 

[DaveCinzano]

That’s nothing. I wrote Bravo Two Zero.

Are you Tiny, Taff, Jock, Dave, Big Dave, John, Johnny, Jon, Andy, Chris or Cuntface?

 

[spitfire]

Are you Tiny, Taff, Jock, Dave, Big Dave, John, Johnny, Jon, Andy, Chris or Cuntface?

Sorry. Read. I meant read. Bloody autocorrect.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Sorry. Read. I meant read. Bloody autocorrect.

First in balcony assaults, last in reading comprehension

 

[spitfire]

Really interesting thread here for the gear geeks amongst us.

Turns out tyres are important. Who knew?

 

[RD2003]

In the programme discussion that deeper causes to this war are due to the world being divided into competing power blocs who don't in reality have ordinary peoples interest at heart. That this subjects ordinary people as in Ukraine to endless war. It also limits choices for a different kind of world.

The Ukrainian population has been totally played by the west. They get to do the dying while 'we' get to bask in our own self-righteousness, even as few of us understand what's even going on.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

It's nice to see the youth using their superpowers for good:

Jack Sweeney, a Florida teen who tracks Elon Musk's private jet online has a new aviation-themed target: Russian oligarchs and billionaires.

The 19-year-old, who rejected Musk's $5,000 offer to delete his Twitter account, recently launched two new automated Twitter handles — @RUOligarchJets and @Putinjet — following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two profiles have amassed nearly 300,000 followers combined and provide nearly live updates of the private jets' movements along with pictures of maps locating them.

Sweeney told the Wall Street Journal that people have long been telling him to start Twitter accounts like this, and those requests ramped up after sanctions took aim at Russia's richest.

Russia's oligarchs face economic chaos at home and punishment by the West after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine. The United States and its allies have responded by sanctioning wealthy individuals who are close to the Kremlin.

Some of the jets tracked by the accounts include Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, businessman Alisher Usmanov and Leonid Mikhelson, the billionaire chairman of Russian gas producer Novatek.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Sweeney said he was stunned by the size of planes the Russian oligarchs use.

"The aircrafts these oligarchs have are absolutely crazy," Sweeney said. The country's richest are traveling on commercial-sized aircrafts like an Airbus A319 and Boeing 737. "Their planes are huge compared to other jets."

In total, the accounts track more than 40 planes and helicopters linked to Russian oligarchs. He has invited others to help bolster the amount of planes that can be tracked.

Sweeney's Twitter account tracking Musk is still live. He told Journal that he'd delete it only in exchange for a new Tesla Model 3.

https://www.ketv.com/article/teenager-tracks-elon-russian-oligarchs/39294061?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&fbclid=IwAR3WXFldc7Ko3HwNAnTgpBtfRqEeiM_XCeh5mO0CDmzUgYaHyOnzPFnrgss#

Maybe this will make tracking down oligarchs and their toys easier so they can be grounded.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Really interesting thread here for the gear geeks amongst us.

Turns out tyres are important. Who knew?

"Tire guy"

 

[Kaka Tim]

the deeper causes to this war are due to the world being divided into competing power blocs who don't in reality have ordinary peoples interest at heart.

but its been like that since - well forever. The cynical self interested "spheres of influence" power play between the US/NATO/EU and Russia has been going on for decades - there was nothing new that "provoked" Putin, no crises or move by nato he was responding to, no domestic pressure - he chose this war out of the blue. Its his own megalomania that has brought this about - and will bring his end.

 

[RD2003]

but its been like that since - well forever. The cynical self interested "spheres of influence" power play between the US/NATO/EU and Russia has been going on for decades - there was nothing new that "provoked" Putin, no crises or move by nato he was responding to, no domestic pressure - he chose this war out of the blue. Its his own megalomania that has brought this about - and will bring his end.

In Russia it's about more than the individual leader's 'megalomania.' This is the trouble-so few in the West, let alone in Britain, where we haven't been invaded in a thousand years, seem able to grasp what goes on in Russian minds. Even though everybody (?) knows they lost tens of millions at the hands of foreign invaders in living memory.

That some people in Russia demonstrate against the war is neither here nor there. They are never going to be in power, and even if they come up with a candidate and the right conditions prevail for he/her to gain office, the pressure from the real heavies in the Russian elite will bear down on them. They won't last long. And that is the case whether this adventure brings down Putin or not.

Putin, I agree, had no reason to choose this war, but it isn't as if it comes straight out of his head. It's no accident that he was put there after a decade of western interests trying to subjugate Russia through economic rape and the total ignoring of Russian concerns about NATO expansion, voiced by both Yeltsin, the western stooge, and the vaunted 'liberal' Yegor Gaider. As well as George Kennan.

 

[Raheem]

In Russia it's about more than the individual leader's 'megalomania.' This is the trouble-so few in the West, let alone in Britain, where we haven't been invaded in a thousand years, seem able to grasp what goes on in Russian minds. Even though everybody (?) knows they lost tens of millions at the hands of foreign invaders in living memory.

That some people in Russia demonstrate against the war is neither here nor there. They are never going to be in power, and even if they come up with a candidate and the right conditions prevail for he/her to gain office, the pressure from the real heavies in the Russian elite will bear down on them. They won't last long. And that is the case whether this adventure brings down Putin or not.

Putin, I agree, had no reason to choose this war, but it isn't as if it comes straight out of his head. It's no accident that he was put there after a decade of western interests trying to subjugate Russia through economic rape and the total ignoring of Russian concerns about NATO expansion, voiced by both Yeltsin, the western stooge, and the vaunted 'liberal' Yegor Gaider. As well as George Kennan.

It's great that we have someone here who can understand Russians for us.

 

[RD2003]

It's great that we have someone here who can understand Russians for us.

I don't understand the Russians any more than you do.

 

[A380]

…This is the trouble-so few in the West, let alone in Britain, where we haven't been invaded in a thousand years…

You mean apart from:

The Dutch in 1667

The change of government following invasion by a mostly Dutch army in 1688

The American Navy and Marine Corps in 1778

The French in 1797

( And that’s to say nothing of the raids, but not really invasions, by the Barbary States against the South coast in the 1600s).

Bloody hell your grasp of British actual history (as opposed to the National Myth of British Exceptionalism created and clung to by our ruling elite) apears even weaker than the simplistic views on the Russia/Ukrainian situations you seem to base your pontifications on…

 

[RD2003]

You mean apart from:

The Dutch in 1667

The change of government following invasion my a mostly Dutch army in 1688

The American navy and Marine Corp in 1778

The French in 1797

Bloody hell your grasp of British actual history (as opposed to the National Myth of British Exeptionism created and clung to by our ruling elite) apears even weaker than the simplistic views on the Russia/Ukraini situations you seem to base your pontifications on…

Blah

 

[A380]

Blah

Indeed. That seems to capture the essence of your posting.

 

[RD2003]

Indeed. That seems to capture the essence of your posting.

Blah

 

[A380]

Blah

I’d just stick to that if I were you. The value of your contributions will remain unaltered and you will significantly reduce the risk of RSI in your thumbs.

 

[RD2003]

I’d just stick to that if I were you. The value of your contributions will remain unaltered and you will significantly reduce the risk of RSI in your thumbs.

Do you really think I take notice of a nothing like you?

 

[two sheds]

or a nothing like me

 

[RD2003]

or a nothing like me

Just not interested in getting sidetracked intro trifling pseudo debates, that's all, especially in the shadow of a nuclear war. Life's too short.

But I fucking love all of you cunts really.

 

[discokermit]

has this been posted?

Russian forces line the roads around Mariupol as last convoy flees city | ITV News

Senior International Correspondent John Irvine and his team film the moment Russian tanks turn their turrets on the last convoy out of Mariupol. | ITV National News

www.itv.com

 

[discokermit]

apologies for the mail link but this is a more sober analysis, Putin is NOT crazy, the Russian invasion is NOT failing: BILL ROGGIO

 

[MrCurry]

From the BBC News Ukraine Live Updates page

The hundreds of Russian armoured vehicles heading for Kyiv currently "remain stalled" en route, according to US Defense Department Spokesman John Kirby.

“They haven’t from our best estimates made any appreciable progress in the last 24 to 36 hours,” Kirby said at a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday.

He said that the delay may be due to the forces “regrouping themselves and reassessing the progress that they have not made and how to make up the lost time”.

He added that “logistics and sustainment challenges” and “resistance from the Ukrainians” are also factors.

Unverified reports indicate that the soldiers are running out of fuel and food. Officials in regions that have fallen to Russia have claimed that troops are ransacking supermarkets for provisions and that the meals provided to them by the military are expired.

It‘s really not going well, is it?

 

[rubbershoes]

It's great that we have someone here who can understand Russians for us.

And there's never a criticism of Putin in what they say. It's always the West's fault

 

[kebabking]

It's interesting that RD2003 endlessly uses Russia's history of invasion to justify Russia's concern about NATO being on it's borders, but never considers the easterns states experience of Russian invasion/domination as being an understandable reason for them wanting to join NATO....