Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Vladier]

Have you seen the state of those tracks? No way a trains running there any time soon.

I wonder if any train using the tracks by later today is going to destroy the bridge completely. That kind of fire, I have to imagine, can't be good for the structural integrity of the tracks and the bridge itself. And yet I can easily imagine the people in charge being so afraid of appearing like they lost control of the situation that they would forgo any kind of serious inspection and rely on the bridge looking superficially fine.

[Veggie50]

I wonder if any train using the tracks by later today is going to destroy the bridge completely. That kind of fire, I have to imagine, can't be good for the structural integrity of the tracks and the bridge itself. And yet I can easily imagine the people in charge being so afraid of appearing like they lost control of the situation that they would forgo any kind of serious inspection and rely on the bridge looking superficially fine.

It goes beyond a safety issue though… the track literally got twisted, something trains can’t deal with…

I’d be surprised if they can get the burnt out train off the track in short order, let alone let another train go by.

[Templar 331]

It goes beyond a safety issue though… the track literally got twisted, something trains can’t deal with…

I’d be surprised if they can get the burnt out train off the track in short order, let alone let another train go by.

More than likely they'll save the cars still on good track and push off the ones they can't save into the water.

[Cynep]

To those obsessed with not hurting Russia too much:

Works of Russian culture will be fine. There is no Roman Republic/Empire anymore, but works of their culture still remain. There are no ancient Greek city-states anymore, but works of their culture still remain. For the betterment of the humanity, Russian Federation shouldn't exist anymore, but obviously Russian-speaking people will still exist. I know, I'm one of them. Even after there's no Russia, works of Russian culture will be fine.

If Russia doesn't undergo some process similar to what Germany did, it will remain this terrorist/Nazi state forever, they will never have a reason to change as a nation.

[Nymrohd]

To those obsessed with not hurting Russia too much:

Works of Russian culture will be fine. There is no Roman Republic/Empire anymore, but works of their culture still remain. There are no ancient Greek city-states anymore, but works of their culture still remain. For the betterment of the humanity, Russian Federation shouldn't exist anymore, but obviously Russian-speaking people will still exist. I know, I'm one of them. Even after there's no Russia, works of Russian culture will be fine.

If Russia doesn't undergo some process similar to what Germany did, it will remain this terrorist/Nazi state forever, they will never have a reason to change as a nation.

But how would that be achieved? Germany had to be demolished and effectively occupied. It was also split between the powers that be of the time. How do you occupy it without drawing China in the mess?

Also not really concerned about Russian culture being forgotten in any way. Just finding it ludicrous to suggest that they stopped creating anything worthwhile as soon as communism happened.

[Makabreska]

But how would that be achieved? Germany had to be demolished and effectively occupied. It was also split between the powers that be of the time. How do you occupy it without drawing China in the mess?

By putting enough external squeeze on them, of course. Literally no one considers invading a country possessing nukes. You bury them under the sanctions until their country collapse internally and is forced to change. China wont do shit about it.

[Iphie]

To those obsessed with not hurting Russia too much:

Works of Russian culture will be fine. There is no Roman Republic/Empire anymore, but works of their culture still remain. There are no ancient Greek city-states anymore, but works of their culture still remain. For the betterment of the humanity, Russian Federation shouldn't exist anymore, but obviously Russian-speaking people will still exist. I know, I'm one of them. Even after there's no Russia, works of Russian culture will be fine.

If Russia doesn't undergo some process similar to what Germany did, it will remain this terrorist/Nazi state forever, they will never have a reason to change as a nation.

First off, glad to see you're still safe-ish.
Secondly, the thing was that it was implied that russia never contributed anything worthwhile to humanity and that's not true. I don't think anyone said that everything needed to be destroyed, or at least that's not how I interpreted anything.

Thirdly, stay safe and keep your head down.

[Nymrohd]

By putting enough external squeeze on them, of course. Literally no one considers invading a country possessing nukes. You bury them under the sanctions until their country collapse internally and is forced to change. China wont do shit about it.

China will definitely do shit if Russia is about to collapse; they will move in to dominate the local economy and find the periphery history and the West has successfully denied them.

[Makabreska]

China will definitely do shit if Russia is about to collapse; they will move in to dominate the local economy and find the periphery history and the West has successfully denied them.

Well, ye. This process is already happening, anyway. They defo wont offer them any help to prevent the squeeze.

[Deus Mortis]

Bridge looks fine /s

[xenogear3]

Seize their assets abroad to fund a reparations plan, I guess.

There are more foreign money invested in Russia than Russian's money abroad.

[Kronik85]

Ukraine's giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which is held by Russian forces, has lost all external power and is relying on emergency diesel generators for the electricity it needs for reactor cooling, according to the director general of the UN nuclear watchdog

Effectively concern trolling at this point but whichever party is responsible for this is dumb as shit.

[Torched]

"A referendum was held on the Kerch bridge. 99.7% of the bridge voted in favor of joining the sea,"

[Deus Mortis]

"A referendum was held on the Kerch bridge. 99.7% of the bridge voted in favor of joining the sea,"

I see the kids in Ukraine adapting the song "London bridge is falling down" to "Kerch bridge is falling down"

[Rasulis]

Wake up, check MMO, see lots of activity in this thread...

Kerch Bridge gone. Ok, a bit unexpected. Wonder what's next.

Power of Siberia gas pipeline. Blowing up a 1,000-mile pipeline should be a lot easier than a bridge.

[Iphie]

Power of Siberia gas pipeline. Blowing up a 1,000-mile pipeline should be a lot easier than a bridge.

Nord stream practice run? But seriously if that one goes I bet China won't be best pleased.

[Rasulis]

Nord stream practice run? But seriously if that one goes I bet China won't be best pleased.

Plenty of border conflicts between the Istan countries. Then we have the so-called Uighur terrorist groups. Plenty of options for plausible deniability.

What's the Chinese going to do anyway? Invade Ukraine?

[zorkuus]

It goes beyond a safety issue though… the track literally got twisted, something trains can’t deal with…

Erm, tracks can be replaced relatively "easily", no matter how twisted they are. Relative to the concrete structure the bridge is made out of anyway. If the bridge itself didn't sustain any major damage then yes they could get it up and running quite fast.

I think people are blowing the success of this sabotage out of proportion a little bit.

[Dontrike]

Looks like Russia thought the bridge would be better protected, since they boasted about 20 different protections they had in place, including dolphins. They must have been newer dolphins that didn't have the training yet.

[Breccia]

Realy a nice present for a Putins 70th

Jesus Christ! I saw the articles but didn't read them until I saw this thread...um...blow up. Sorry.

A massive fireball damaged a well-known Russian bridge Saturday that links the Crimean Peninsula and the Russian mainland, according to multiple reports.

The explosion will likely cause an immediate blow to Russia's supply route to troops fighting in southern Ukraine.

The Kerch bridge has been a longtime symbol of Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim to the Crimean Peninsula.

As a response to the explosion, Putin signed an order heightening security on the bridge late Saturday, the AP reports. Russia's federal security service, known as the FSB, will be in charge of security measures at the bridge.

Putin has also ordered an investigation into the Kerch Bridge "emergency" in Crimea, Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported Saturday.

The Kerch Strait Bridge, which runs for 12 miles, was rocked by an explosion of a truck early Saturday morning, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement, per NBC News.

The explosion “resulted in the ignition of seven fuel tanks of a train heading towards the Crimean Peninsula,” the statement said.

Multiple lanes of the bridge reportedly crashed into the Black Sea. Images show the entire bridge encapsulated by a large fireball.

The full extent of the damage, including deaths and injuries, remains unclear.

That must have taken some mission-critical timing. Besides the obvious symbolic nature of the strike, it was a commonly-used Russia military supply route until recently.