Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[stereotypical]

I'm leaving the thread.

I am sorry for any upset caused.

I've never played "games" and was not playing games on this thread.

I've a lot of time for cupid_stunt and like him a lot.

Sincerely sorry for any upset caused.

Don't leave the thread!

I'm relying on your posts and this thread to keep abreast of the situ in Ukraine tbh.

 

[Humberto]

Erm. It can't be both because that would make Putin a hypocrite and he can't possibly be a hypocrite?

If his burning resentment was real he wouldn't be a kleptocrat. And according to them possibly the world's richest man, I just don't think they have his mark.

 

[dilute micro]

I wouldn't be too surprised to find a few Americans going over to fight the "Ruskies" either, tbh.

Years ago there were Americans on both sides. Used to like watching youtube docs on the volunteers from across the globe who just have to get geared up and fight somewhere. Video games don't do it for them. They have to do it for real.

 

[Dystopiary]

The very same newspaper owned by Evgeny Lebedev, the Russian son of a high ranking intelligence officer? Who also hosted Boris at his infamous party castle in Italy where Boris definitely didn’t furnish Putin with kompromat from his drunken excesses?

Morning after: Boris Johnson recovers from Lebedev’s exotic Italian party

Exclusive: New prime minister refuses to say if he abandoned security for 2018 night in billionaire’s castle

www.theguardian.com

Not for a few years. After a couple of changes of hands it's now effectively in the claws of the current lord Rothermere, great grandson of the first "hurrah for the blackshirts" viscount.

 

[splonkydoo]

If his burning resentment was real he wouldn't be a kleptocrat. And according to them possibly the world's richest man, I just don't think they have his mark.

As far as I understand, Putin was initially a bit of a patsy/safe pair of hands who was chosen to lead Russian politics, without interfering too much in the affairs of the 90's oligarchs. He amassed his wealth after assuming power, whereby he managed to re-organise the Russian state and put 'manners' on the oligarchs. So no, there is nothing hypocritical at all about Putin being extremely wealthy and also being hard-felt about the poverty of the 90's . And especially if he is a nationalist.

 

[splonkydoo]

nevermind

 

[TopCat]

If he plans on attacking the UK in the summer he could have a rude awakening.

Bogged down in endless rain and mud.

 

[TopCat]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said “we must be prepared to go further”, while the sanctions were branded as “gruel” by the Liberal Democrats’ Layla Moran.

 

[bimble]

Anybody have an idea why this is happening now at the coldest time of the year? Photos of Russian troops in flimsy tents in the snow, why now?

 

[ska invita]

Anybody have an idea why this is happening now at the coldest time of the year? Photos of Russian troops in flimsy tents in the snow, why now?

yeah that crossed my mind too

 

[LDC]

Anybody have an idea why this is happening now at the coldest time of the year? Photos of Russian troops in flimsy tents in the snow, why now?

It gets much warmer there very soon, March onwards really, but looks like colder weather better for heavy vehicle movements.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/ukraine-russia-invasion-geography-weather/

“It is very inconvenient to carry out offensive operations in the spring,” said Kirill Mikhailov, an analyst at the Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent Russian open-source investigative organization that monitors Russia’s military. “Because the thaw turns ravines into creeks, and creeks into rivers. If you carry out an operation, it should be carried out either in January or February.”

 

[Artaxerxes]

Anybody have an idea why this is happening now at the coldest time of the year? Photos of Russian troops in flimsy tents in the snow, why now?

At a guess, warmer weather means less shits given by the EU and UK about Russia holding gas prices hostage

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

Putin probably won't repeat the mistake of trying to capture Moscow in the winter.

I thought Putin already controlled Moscow.

 

[og ogilby]

Anybody have an idea why this is happening now at the coldest time of the year? Photos of Russian troops in flimsy tents in the snow, why now?

Is the ground frozen and less of a muddy bog for the armoured vehicles to cross?

 

[bimble]

It gets much warmer there very soon, March onwards really, but looks like colder weather better for heavy vehicle movements.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/ukraine-russia-invasion-geography-weather/

“It is very inconvenient to carry out offensive operations in the spring,” said Kirill Mikhailov, an analyst at the Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent Russian open-source investigative organization that monitors Russia’s military. “Because the thaw turns ravines into creeks, and creeks into rivers. If you carry out an operation, it should be carried out either in January or February.”

that explains it then cheers.

 

[TopCat]

A senior US administration official said that Russia could be cut out of the international electronic payments system, Swift, in a future raft of sanctions.

“We are not taking Swift off the table. It will remain an option that we can deploy, depending on how Russia makes its next move,” the official said.

How will Europe pay for it's gas if this happens?

 

[JimW]

colder weather better for heavy vehicle movements.

Is the ground frozen and less of a muddy bog for the armoured vehicles to cross?

This is what I've read, works the same up on the Tibetan Plateau, bit counterintuitive but apparently always been case historically. Easier to dress warm than sink in.

 

[Sprocket.]

Liz Truss says “it seems likely that Putin will follow through”
Perhaps the meagre sanctions from the UK government may be really scaring him then!

 

[cupid_stunt]

The very same newspaper owned by Evgeny Lebedev, the Russian son of a high ranking intelligence officer? Who also hosted Boris at his infamous party castle in Italy where Boris definitely didn’t furnish Putin with kompromat from his drunken excesses?

Morning after: Boris Johnson recovers from Lebedev’s exotic Italian party

Exclusive: New prime minister refuses to say if he abandoned security for 2018 night in billionaire’s castle

www.theguardian.com

Lebedev sold the i newspaper back in 2016 to Johnson Press/JPI Media, who sold it on in 2019 to the Daily Mail and General Trust, so not much of an improvement in ownership, but there you go.

TBF - the Mail group has guaranteed it's editorial independence, and it doesn't seem to have drifted to the Mail's editorial position.

 

[RileyOBlimey]

yeah that crossed my mind too

Mud.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

A senior US administration official said that Russia could be cut out of the international electronic payments system, Swift, in a future raft of sanctions.

“We are not taking Swift off the table. It will remain an option that we can deploy, depending on how Russia makes its next move,” the official said.

How will Europe pay for it's gas if this happens?

Postal orders?

 

[not-bono-ever]

It depends on the degree of exclusion. Blanket exclusion will impact the populace worse than the wealthy obviously. Russia has its own payment system like BACS and think this is semi integrated with the Chinese one, but don’t regard this as confirmed. The big outward facing banks are still not included in the sanctions, only regional ones with a direct link to the occupied territories. Petrodollars are pretty important to Russia, exclusion isn’t thread of the world but is serious. swift is not a payment system but an instruction and messaging setup, you don’t strictly need it to move cash but it’s likely an unpleasant workaround

 

[Pickman's model]

Postal orders?

50p's on a string

 

[Pickman's model]

It gets much warmer there very soon, March onwards really, but looks like colder weather better for heavy vehicle movements.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/ukraine-russia-invasion-geography-weather/

“It is very inconvenient to carry out offensive operations in the spring,” said Kirill Mikhailov, an analyst at the Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent Russian open-source investigative organization that monitors Russia’s military. “Because the thaw turns ravines into creeks, and creeks into rivers. If you carry out an operation, it should be carried out either in January or February.”

Yeh in the winter in Siberia the rivers freeze and become winter roads, it's at that time that supplies are much easier to move than other times of the year. Sure the same true in these new putinpublics, that the ground freeze (if not rivers) makes military manoeuvres easier

 

[TopCat]

Truss has also used the BBC Breakfast interview to defend the government against accusations that its sanctions are nowhere near stringent enough.

She said:

These are the toughest sanctions we’ve ever put on Russia. They’re targeting people who are very close to the Kremlin - absolutely key oligarchs. They’re targeting banks that fund the Russian military and key banks that keep the Russian regime going.
We’re also making sure that Russia won’t be able to raise sovereign debt on international markets. We’re making sure that the territorial sanctions will be in place in those regions as well. We’re targeting politicians in the Russian parliament who voted for that recognition [of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk] to take place.

 

[AnnaKarpik]

Has there been any military response (of any kind) from the Ukrainian side yet?

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Daily Report 41/2022 issued on 22 February 2022

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 703 ceasefire violations, including 332 explosions. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 579 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 1,224 ceasefire violations, including 1,149 explosions. In the previous 24 hours...

www.osce.org

 

[TopCat]

I saw a picture of a model, with no gloves and helmet undone holding a rifle in a trench.

 

[ohmyliver]

It can't be both you daft bastards. Or else you need sharper analysis.

in the same way a shoplifter couldn't be both a shoplifter, and angry at the local shop being downsized?

 

[A380]

 

[TopCat]

BBC says: "It is not yet clear if any Russian troops have yet cross the border into Ukraine. However, US satellite imagery has highlighted several new troop and equipment deployments in western Russia, and more than 100 vehicles at an airfield in Belarus near Ukraine's border."