Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[maomao]

'Look at these russophobic nazis banning our players because they know we'll win'.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Have they made mention of Russian and Belarusian croquet players yet?

 

[SpookyFrank]

'Look at these russophobic nazis banning our players because they know we'll win'.

That is pretty much the standard of discourse in Russian media yes.

 

[Dystopiary]

There's a fire at the Russian Aerospace Defence Institute in Tver. It's proper fierce.

 

[Dystopiary]

There's a fire at the Russian Aerospace Defence Institute in Tiver. It's proper fierce.

More here -

5 Dead in Fire at Russian Aerospace Defense Research Institute – State Media - The Moscow Times

 

[maomao]

There's a fire at the Russian Aerospace Defence Institute in Tver. It's proper fierce.

Would be nice if it were sabotage but it's probably just a coincidence.

 

[Dystopiary]

Would be nice if it were sabotage but it's probably just a coincidence.

Yeah, I wonder.

 

[frogwoman]

This steelworks stuff is proper killing me at the moment. There are civilians there as well (mostly family members of the soldiers)

 

[frogwoman]

Don't get too excited. Russian factories famously not great at health and safety

 

[alex_]

It just smacks of people at the LTA sitting there desperately thinking of what they can do to 'help'. As empty gestures go this is up there. One of the Ukrainian players has also come out and said they don't agree with it.

I totally get banning Djokovic from the Aussie Open for being anti-vaxx, that's his choice. These players have nothing to do with the decision making of some nutter in a country they probably only rarely visit though.

Novak by name, no-vac by nature ?

 

[spitfire]

Don't get too excited. Russian factories famously not great at health and safety

There's a big chemical one on fire as well, he of the "FSB" letters has it posted amongst others.

 

[frogwoman]

There's a big chemical one on fire as well, he of the "FSB" letters has it posted amongst others.

Could be sabotage within Russia. I'd be surprised if the Ukrainian army could get that far. Could be wrong tho

 

[spitfire]

Could be sabotage within Russia. I'd be surprised if the Ukrainian army could get that far. Could be wrong tho

Yes, probably coincidence but always the possibility of a lone saboteur for the chemical factory.

Apparently the cause of the fire in the research institute was faulty wires and plastic cladding. Fast workers these Russian investigators.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Yes, probably coincidence but always the possibility of a lone saboteur for the chemical factory.

Seems a bit too much of a coincidence to me, hopefully there will be more fires, indicating something unexpected is going on.

Apparently the cause of the fire in the research institute was faulty wires and plastic cladding. Fast workers these Russian investigators.

Pinch of salt, etc.

 

[spitfire]

Seems a bit too much of a coincidence to me, hopefully there will be more fires, indicating something unexpected is going on.





Pinch of salt, etc.

Yeah I always go for cock up over conspiracy but may have half an eyebrow raised here.

 

[frogwoman]

Sushkov thinks its anti Putin Russians.

 

[friedaweed]

Yeah, had to go all the way over in Los Angeles to do it. Was a long way to trip a Mary.

The old ones...

The last time I heard that was the last time my dad said anything funny

 

[LDC]

Anything easy to read about the internal politics and power groups internally in Russian politics frogwoman or anyone? Like what forces or groupings could push Putin out, end the war, or on the other hand escalate things?

 

[rekil]

Sushkov is a billy bullshitter isn't he.

 

[frogwoman]

Sushkov is a billy bullshitter isn't he.

Is he? I've been reading a bit of his timeline and there's some plausible stuff combined with things that seem a little bit out there

 

[frogwoman]

Anything easy to read about the internal politics and power groups internally in Russian politics frogwoman or anyone? Like what forces or groupings could push Putin out, end the war, or on the other hand escalate things?

Mark Galeotti's podcast In Moscows Shadows is quite good on elite machinations, he can't really think of anything optimistic at the moment though. I'll have a look later

 

[Artaxerxes]

It’s a bit of a weird coincidence that all these military adjacent facilities burn down the same two or three days so I’d not discount sabotage entirely


Though could easily just be the shit conditions and dodgy substitutes kicking in the same day, still weird timing

 

[maomao]

all these multiparty adjecent facilities

Both not all.

 

[Dogsauce]

Sushkov thinks its anti Putin Russians.

He probably doesn’t, but it’s useful to spread such rumours.

 

[Pickman's model]

Sushkov thinks its anti Putin Russians.

I'd have thought it unlikely but with the nutty things that happen these days I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[maomao]

To be fair on Sushko he only says that if we go on to see more of this type of thing it will be down to organised resistance. Which I agree with. Still it's always nice when weapon factories burn down whatever the reason.

 

[zahir]

Zelensky interview with a Russian journalist.

 

[ska invita]

theres no doubt "resources" are a factor in this war. it would be simplistic to believe only Russia was interested in this
i posted this a few weeks back (from here):

"QUOTE: "Of course, much depends on how the war pans out. If Putin can gain control of Ukraine, that opens up significant riches to be exploited. Ukraine is rich in natural resources, particularly in mineral deposits. It possesses the world’s largest reserves of commercial-grade iron ore – 30 billion tonnes of ore, or around one-fifth of the global total. It ranks second in terms of known natural gas reserves in Europe, which today remain largely untapped. Ukraine’s mostly flat geography and high-quality soil composition make the country a big regional agricultural player. The country is the world’s fifth-largest exporter of wheat and the largest exporter of seed oils like sunflower and rapeseed. Coal mining, chemicals, mechanical products (aircraft, turbines, locomotives and tractors) and shipbuilding are also important sectors of the Ukrainian economy.

All of this remains to be fully exploited. The EU and the US have also been drooling over the prospect of getting hold of these resources. As I recently showed,1 the Ukraine government plans to sell off huge tracts of land to foreign and domestic investors to develop. That could deliver huge dividends to whichever power controls the country. Either way, once the war is over and after thousands have been killed or injured, Ukraine’s people will see little benefit."

 

[tim]

I have wondered if we're likely to see a return of people 'defecting to the west' like many did during the cold war.

This makes interesting reading...

List of Soviet and Eastern Bloc defectors - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

These days you can just move if you can get a visa from the target country

 

[cupid_stunt]

The US is now supplying 121 drones to Ukraine, which should help, but sadly they are only single use.

Newly disclosed ‘Ghost’ drones are part of America’s latest arms package for Ukraine, the Pentagon has confirmed.

The White House said earlier on Thursday that more than 121 Phoenix Ghost Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems would be provided to Ukraine as part of the new arms package.

The Pentagon said the Ghost drones are well suited for the coming fight in Ukraine’s Donbas region, which officials have described as flat terrain reminiscent of the US state of Kansas. The drones have been developed for attacking targets and are destroyed after a single use. LINK