Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[DGuller]

Apparently Russia is suspending the trade of foreign currencies until September.

Looks like Putin already restored some aspects of USSR.

[Jacob]

WSJ says Russian countersanctions are coming in a few days, mainly banning the export of various raw materials.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-set-to-ban-commodity-exports-following-western-sanctions-11646768260

Also, a fun little twitter thread on Russian production capacity (TLDR, they've often outsourced their "made in Russia" products to Western countries):

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1501360272442896388

[HVC]

WSJ says Russian countersanctions are coming in a few days, mainly banning the export of various raw materials.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-set-to-ban-commodity-exports-following-western-sanctions-11646768260

Also, a fun little twitter thread on Russian production capacity (TLDR, they've often outsourced their "made in Russia" products Western countries):

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1501360272442896388

"Made in" claims are often lies, or at least very misleading. Don't know if it's the case anymore, but made in Italy shoes were often actual made in Portugal, but the last step (attaching soles IIRC) was done in Italy, for example.

That being said it's kind of funny that Russia is pulling off the "you're not sanctioning us, we're sanctioning you" card

[Richard Hakluyt]

The Guardian had an interesting piece on the head of the Russian central bank :

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/05/russias-central-bank-head-is-mourning-for-her-economy

[celedhring]

So I wake up to the news that the IAEA has lost contact with Chernobyl.

This mess just keeps on giving.

[The Brain]

So I wake up to the news that the IAEA has lost contact with Chernobyl.

This mess just keeps on giving.

It's safeguards data. Ie for keeping track of material that could theoretically be used in an atomic bomb, no matter how unsuitable*. AFAIK all materials at Chernobyl would be very unsuitable for atomic bombs, for several reasons.

*Stuff like ore is not included since it would be too silly.

[Josquius]

So I wake up to the news that the IAEA has lost contact with Chernobyl.

This mess just keeps on giving.

It's safeguards data. Ie for keeping track of material that could theoretically be used in an atomic bomb, no matter how unsuitable*. AFAIK all materials at Chernobyl would be very unsuitable for atomic bombs, for several reasons.

*Stuff like ore is not included since it would be too silly.

Packing a bunch of radioactives around a big conventional bomb and then screaming omfg Ukraine made a dirty bomb?

[Sheilbh]

The Guardian had an interesting piece on the head of the Russian central bank :

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/05/russias-central-bank-head-is-mourning-for-her-economy

That's still the biggest surprise in terms of Western sanctions to me - it is still very surprising

Apparently Russia is suspending the trade of foreign currencies until September.

Also nationalising plants of companies that have suspended operations in Russia. It really is back to the 70s.

Separately Novaya Gazeta's front page: "A release of Novaya, created in accordance with all the rules of Russia's amended Criminal Code."

[The Brain]

So I wake up to the news that the IAEA has lost contact with Chernobyl.

This mess just keeps on giving.

It's safeguards data. Ie for keeping track of material that could theoretically be used in an atomic bomb, no matter how unsuitable*. AFAIK all materials at Chernobyl would be very unsuitable for atomic bombs, for several reasons.

*Stuff like ore is not included since it would be too silly.

Packing a bunch of radioactives around a big conventional bomb and then screaming omfg Ukraine made a dirty bomb?

Radioactive materials in general are not under safeguards. There are very strong radioactive sources in industries like healthcare, food, etc. While there are national regulations for their security and so on, compared to potential atomic bomb materials they are very easy to steal or make go missing.

[Syt]

There are very strong radioactive sources in industries like [...] food

[The Brain]

 

[Solmyr]

I meant to mention this yesterday as well - apparently a Finnish petition has gathered enough signatures that Finnish parliament is going to debate applying to join NATO.

There were two petitions actually (worded in slightly different ways), but parliament doesn't directly apply to join NATO, since it's not a law but an international treaty which is decided by the government. At the moment a slight majority of Finns are in favour of joining, but the parliament still has a lot of members waffling on the issue, especially from the old Finlandized guard.

[HVC]

Ukraine announces a new commemorative stamp. "Russian warship, go fuck yourself"

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-to-release-russian-warship-go-fck-yourself-stamp-2022-3

[crazy canuck]

The Irish carry out a special parking operation at Russian embassy

https://twitter.com/wdfpodcast/status/1501156417117605896?s=21

[Syt]

https://twitter.com/Eastern_Border/status/1501515012988354560?s=20&t=T500OLma4UqGOarmHCIZGQ

On Russian ministry of 'defence' tv an old soldier said that everyone should keep the memory of guys, dying in Ukraine. But as it's illegal to talk about losses, that drove the host to hysterics and yelling at the veteran. As Russians say: Motherland will always leave you behind.

Anyone who can translate what they're saying?