Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[celedhring]

I said it before, in the EU we went from "can we please not embargo Gucci loafers?" to Germany rearming in like 48 hours. I hope we get the backstory of these days at some point.

Good to see you around, BB.

And Belgium wanted a carve-out for diamonds...

Russia is still exporting gas through Ukraine to the EU like there is no war. Would be a shame if the pipelines blew up.

That's the one lever they can pull to get back at the EU and they haven't. Dependence goes both ways.

[viper37]

Hey all - Valmy reached out to me on FB wanted to know my thoughts.

Unfortunately my thoughts don't go much more profound than "Russian vessel - go fuck yourself".

I don't know why, but I always kind of identified as Ukrainian-Canadian, even though by heritage I'm only half, I don't know more than about a dozen words of the language, and my ancestors came to Canada over 100 years ago from whatever bits of eastern europe they came from.  My last name isn't even a "real" Ukrainian name - it was mangled and anglicized somewhere along the way.

...

Slava Ukraini!  Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y8Iw6Oee8I&t=154s

BB!

Glad to see you here.

As you know, my wife is Ukrainian and has plenty of relatives living in Ukraine. Some women & children are leaving (we are working on that) and some are staying to fight. 

Needless to say, the past week has been a difficult one for her, and for all of us.

I didn't think she still had relatives in Ukraine, I thought she was more like BB, descendant of Ukrainians who came here a couple of generations ago.

I can understand the difficulties.   I have zero links with Ukraine, yet I am devastated by what is happening and what will happen to this country and its people.

[Barrister]

And Belgium wanted a carve-out for diamonds...

Russia is still exporting gas through Ukraine to the EU like there is no war. Would be a shame if the pipelines blew up.

It's one of the remaining sources of cash for both Ukraine, and for Russia.

I have no idea how Europe is going to pay Russia for the gas though, even though gas is exempted from the general Russia sanctions.

[DGuller]

As an aside, Malthus, DG, or anyone else - how exactly are Ukrainians perceived in Russia proper.  I know there's a long-standing view in Russian history that Ukraine is not a real nation, that it's "little Russia" - but is there also a sense that Ukrainians are somehow 'lesser' than true Russians?  I heard something like that on a podcast with Rachel Vindman - Lt Col Vindman's wife.  She is not Ukrainian but spent several years in Ukraine and Russia (and of course her husband is Ukrainian born) and said there was prejudice against Ukrainians, but that wasn't something I'd heard before.

Russians do view Ukrainians as a brother ethnicity, but it's not as benign as it sounds.  They view it as a simpleton, dimwitted brother that you need to care for, but you do it because he's your brother and you love him anyway. 

Most Russians, like Putin, do find the idea of a separate Ukrainian nation laughable.  The fact that it currently is an independent country is regarded as a historical accident; it just so happened that whatever part of USSR was considered a republic split away by default when USSR fell, and what wasn't considered a republic stayed with Russia. 

Ukraine was a republic, so it magically became a separate nation, but most Russians didn't really accept that as something more than a formality.  Most Russian would consider it a compliment to tell a Ukrainian that they never really considered them foreigners.

[celedhring]

Russia bans twitter in addition to Facebook. Also reports that their upcoming regional elections will be postponed.

They are really getting nervous at home.

[DGuller]

Do the bans go both ways?  Facebook and Twitter sure could use being separated from Russian users.

[Josephus]

And Belgium wanted a carve-out for diamonds...

Russia is still exporting gas through Ukraine to the EU like there is no war. Would be a shame if the pipelines blew up.

It's one of the remaining sources of cash for both Ukraine, and for Russia.

I have no idea how Europe is going to pay Russia for the gas though, even though gas is exempted from the general Russia sanctions.

It's one of the most strangest things about this war (and there are a few ). But Russia is invading Ukraine and still selling gas to countries that are sanctioning it through the country it's invaded. I guess Ukraine is told not to destroy the pipelines?

[Barrister]

And Belgium wanted a carve-out for diamonds...

Russia is still exporting gas through Ukraine to the EU like there is no war. Would be a shame if the pipelines blew up.

It's one of the remaining sources of cash for both Ukraine, and for Russia.

I have no idea how Europe is going to pay Russia for the gas though, even though gas is exempted from the general Russia sanctions.

It's one of the most strangest things about this war (and there are a few ). But Russia is invading Ukraine and still selling gas to countries that are sanctioning it through the country it's invaded. I guess Ukraine is told not to destroy the pipelines?

Ukraine gets a fair bit of money for allowing those pipelines to cross the country, so I doubt there's much incentive on their part to keep them running.  That was going to be one of the impacts of Nord Stream 2 - Russia being able to cut out the Ukrainian middle-man.

[Savonarola]

Now the gloves are coming off:

Canadian diner removes poutine from name because it sounds like Putin

[Syt]

Seems YouTube might also be blocked:

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499837776656678915?s=20&t=aFO5leZ2_H07uXw8SggeYA

NEXTA
@nexta_tv⚡️⚡️⚡️

According to globalcheck, YouTube is being blocked in #Russia

[Syt]

Putin signed a bill into law today that introduces jail terms of up to 15 years for people publishing "fake news" about the Russian army as Russia moves forward with its invasion of Ukraine, reports Agence France-Presse.

The bill, which was adopted by lawmakers earlier on Friday, sets out jail terms of varying lengths and fines against people who publish "knowingly false information" about the military, with harsher penalties to hit when dissemination is deemed to have serious consequences.

Putin also signed a bill that would allow fines or jail terms of up to three years for calling for sanctions against Russia with Moscow facing harsh economic penalties from Western capitals over the invasion.

The past year has seen an unprecedented crackdown on independent and critical voices in Russia that only intensified after the start of the invasion.

Russia's media watchdog said Friday it had restricted access to the BBC and other independent media websites and blocked social media giant Facebook.

Two news outlets said they will stop reporting on Ukraine to protect their journalists, while the BBC announced a halt of its operations in Russia.

Russian media have been instructed to only publish information provided by official sources, which describe the invasion as a military operation.

State-controlled broadcasters have meanwhile reinforced government narratives about nationalism in Ukraine and Moscow's claim that Ukrainian soldiers are using civilians as human shields.

Censorship really going in full force. Not sure how effective it is, overall. Russia is not China in that regard (yet).

[mongers]

Assuming that senator Lindsey Graham has successfully trolled the Russians with his comments about a Brutus for Putin; funny to see the Putin's spokesman getting his knickers in a twist.

[The Larch]

RT America has announced it is ceasing operations.

[The Larch]

Economic isolation in the age of SaaS - Oracle have announced they're going to stop working in Russia. I cannot imagine the carnage that would cause most of the companies I've worked at

Anton Barbashin
@ABarbashin
Oracle stops working with Russia. If Microsoft does it as well, it will paralyze the country more effectively than your worst virus

Microsoft and Google have also announced they're stopping to provide products and services in Russia.

[Barrister]

Is the Russian Air Force Actually Incapable of Complex Air Operations?

https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/russian-air-force-actually-incapable-complex-air-operations

TL;DR is that Russian training is shit, they don't train in large and complex combat formations, they don't have or use modern training simulators, so maybe they're just incapable of operating more than 2 or at most 4 planes at once.