Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[frogwoman]

don't accept if he offers you a tea

Or a bottle of perfume

 

[Dystopiary]

Today we introduce a new level of batshit crazy....

Ukraine isn't going so well because of NATO, so we may have to demilitarise NATO.

There must be some presenters (not her, obviously, but maybe in the studio) who think "The FUCK are we doing? This is not remotely sane."

 

[existentialist]

someone should tell him he's become something of a pub bore

You can have that job, mate: I'm not going anywhere near it!

 

[David Clapson]

Two more oligarch suicides in recent days. 6 Russian oligarchs have died in alleged suicides since start of 2022 - National | Globalnews.ca

 

[Pickman's model]

Two more oligarch suicides in recent days. 6 Russian oligarchs have died in alleged suicides since start of 2022 - National | Globalnews.ca

you're persuaded then that these were self-murders and not assassinations

 

[kebabking]

you're persuaded then that these were self-murders and not assassinations

It's about as convincing as a Giraffe in dark glasses trying to get into a Polar Bears only nightclub....

Some of them probably have topped themselves - jetsetting lifestyles are over, assets seized, about to become this week's enemy within - but given the numybr of people who accidentally fall out of windows while having heart attacks in Putin's Russia...

 

[MrCurry]

There must be some presenters (not her, obviously, but maybe in the studio) who think "The FUCK are we doing? This is not remotely sane."

Hopefully the same applies to Fox News and Trump’s Truth Tv if that’s still going.

 

[David Clapson]

It's about as convincing as a Giraffe in dark glasses trying to get into a Polar Bears only nightclub....

Some of them probably have topped themselves - jetsetting lifestyles are over, assets seized, about to become this week's enemy within - but given the numybr of people who accidentally fall out of windows while having heart attacks in Putin's Russia...

Doubt shed about one of the 'suicides'. Evidence apparently suspicious La matança de Lloret: crim domèstic o mafiós? The son of a Russian oligarch accused of killing himself and his family says his father was murdered

 

[Diamond]

There must be some presenters (not her, obviously, but maybe in the studio) who think "The FUCK are we doing? This is not remotely sane."

I think a lot of them are a bit pissed all the time. Especially the Simonayan woman and the lead presenter. Topping up.

 

[frogwoman]

Spoiler: dead dolphins

Noooooo

 

[Pickman's model]

Spoiler: dead dolphins

Noooooo

have we had this yet?

Russia deploys trained dolphins at Black Sea naval base, satellite images show

Two dolphin pens were moved to the Sevastopol harbor base in February, concluded the US Naval Institute’s review

www.theguardian.com

 

[MickiQ]

It's about as convincing as a Giraffe in dark glasses trying to get into a Polar Bears only nightclub....

Totally going to steal that and pass it off as mine

 

[Wilf]

However in other ways things seem even more like a theatre of the absurd than before, and so part of me still struggles to take nuclear threats seriously.

Yep, me too. As always, when measuring the risk of nukes it's a case of them being catastrophic when used, but of a very low chance that they will be used. Even if you constructed some scenario of Nato troops getting involved and driving the Russians back beyond the borders of Ukraine - something that clearly won't happen - it would still remain a very low likelihood event. In the current situation of Nato countries simply providing munitions, training and the like, the chances of nukes are nil. To put it bluntly, why would the Russians, or indeed anyone, trigger a nuclear war? Yes, there'll be more missile tests and things being moved 'into place', but it's ultimately a threat and a dance (even if a dangerous one).

 

[strung out]

Biden has asked congress for an additional $33bn for Ukraine, including $20bn in military aid, $8.5bn in economic aid and $3.5bn in humanitarian aid.

Biden clearly thinks Putin is bluffing about the nukes. That's about half Russia's entire military budget for last year (maybe more when you account for all the theft and corruption in the Russian military).

Biden proposes $33bn to help Ukraine in war

The major increase in US support would include $20bn in military assistance, plus economic aid.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Brainaddict]

There must be some presenters (not her, obviously, but maybe in the studio) who think "The FUCK are we doing? This is not remotely sane."

Does anyone have a sense of how mainstream these shows are? I don't know if we're being shown the equivalent of GB News or the equivalent of the BBC.

 

[spitfire]

Does anyone have a sense of how mainstream these shows are? I don't know if we're being shown the equivalent of GB News or the equivalent of the BBC.

That's the Beeb/ITV equivalent. Russia 1 is the first channel on Russian TV when you tune a receiver in. (I used to do AV for an oligarch).

 

[spitfire]

That's the Beeb/ITV equivalent. Russia 1 is the first channel on Russian TV when you tune a receiver in. (I used to do AV for an oligarch).

And that programme or its ilk seem to be on for about 7 hours a day. Even 5 years ago.

 

[existentialist]

Does anyone have a sense of how mainstream these shows are? I don't know if we're being shown the equivalent of GB News or the equivalent of the BBC.

I think it's a bit of both. The equivalent of the BBC, as in it's the state broadcaster, but a BBC in a country being run by the paranoid loons that GBNews claims to represent...

 

[Dystopiary]

Hopefully the same applies to Fox News and Trump’s Truth Tv if that’s still going.

I'd hope so. The difference is that this is pretty much the only kind of current affairs TV in Russia now, and it's got wackier, so (I think) less of an ideological decision than it'd be for a fairly well-known commentator working on Fox News or the like.

 

[agricola]

Biden has asked congress for an additional $33bn for Ukraine, including $20bn in military aid, $8.5bn in economic aid and $3.5bn in humanitarian aid.

Biden clearly thinks Putin is bluffing about the nukes. That's about half Russia's entire military budget for last year (maybe more when you account for all the theft and corruption in the Russian military).

Biden proposes $33bn to help Ukraine in war

The major increase in US support would include $20bn in military assistance, plus economic aid.

www.bbc.co.uk

I really hope there is a comparable amount of diplomatic activity / engagement directly with them, if not to come to a peace then at least to keep communications open. Thinking they are "bluffing about the nukes" is so incredibly dangerous.

 

[DaveCinzano]

(I used to do AV for an oligarch).

What were the tips like?

 

[prunus]

What were the tips like?

Dipped in ricin.

 

[DaveCinzano]

What were the tips like?

Laced with ricin

 

[spitfire]

What were the tips like?

Didn't get any, subbed for a contractor.

Got some staff meals for a week or 2 at one point. #highlife

 

[DaveCinzano]

Dipped in ricin.

Damn you fast

 

[DaveCinzano]

Didn't get any

I hope you locked in GBN on the channel list for that

 

[spitfire]

I hope you locked in GBN on the channel list for that

Way before that was a twinkle in Andrew Neils glass eye unfortunately.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Way before that was a twinkle in Andrew Neils glass eye unfortunately.

S4C on a loop it is then

 

[frogwoman]

LOTS of disinformation about the Transnistrian government floating around on social media, president Krasnoselsky just had to issue an official denial that men of fighting age were about to be banned from leaving.

 

[Yossarian]

have we had this yet?
View attachment 320445

Russia deploys trained dolphins at Black Sea naval base, satellite images show

Two dolphin pens were moved to the Sevastopol harbor base in February, concluded the US Naval Institute’s review

www.theguardian.com

Russian military dolphins? What the fuck are they going to do with washing machines?